Each Linux file and folder are assigned to an owner, a group, and other users; neither the owner nor member of the given group. To change the access permission for the files and folders, you can change the permission for each previously mentioned category. You can also change the permission of files and folders by changing their ownership, which is to assign them to a new owner or group.

The common way to change the ownership of files and folders in Linux is by using chown and chgrp. Both are command-line tools available in all Linux and other Unix-based operating systems such as macOS and the BSDs.

Related: How to set file and folder permission on Linux
Related: How to add user to group in Linux
Related: How to remove user from groups in Linux

Steps to change user and group owner for files and folders in Linux:

  1. Launch terminal.
  2. List existing users in the system. 
    $ getent passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/usr/sbin/nologin
bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin
sys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/usr/sbin/nologin
sync:x:4:65534:sync:/bin:/bin/sync
games:x:5:60:games:/usr/games:/usr/sbin/nologin
man:x:6:12:man:/var/cache/man:/usr/sbin/nologin
lp:x:7:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/usr/sbin/nologin
mail:x:8:8:mail:/var/mail:/usr/sbin/nologin
news:x:9:9:news:/var/spool/news:/usr/sbin/nologin
uucp:x:10:10:uucp:/var/spool/uucp:/usr/sbin/nologin
proxy:x:13:13:proxy:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin
www-data:x:33:33:www-data:/var/www:/usr/sbin/nologin
backup:x:34:34:backup:/var/backups:/usr/sbin/nologin
list:x:38:38:Mailing List Manager:/var/list:/usr/sbin/nologin
irc:x:39:39:ircd:/var/run/ircd:/usr/sbin/nologin
gnats:x:41:41:Gnats Bug-Reporting System (admin):/var/lib/gnats:/usr/sbin/nologin
nobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
systemd-timesync:x:100:101:systemd Time Synchronization,,,:/run/systemd:/usr/sbin/nologin
systemd-network:x:101:103:systemd Network Management,,,:/run/systemd:/usr/sbin/nologin
systemd-resolve:x:102:104:systemd Resolver,,,:/run/systemd:/usr/sbin/nologin
messagebus:x:103:106::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
syslog:x:104:110::/home/syslog:/usr/sbin/nologin
_apt:x:105:65534::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
tss:x:106:111:TPM software stack,,,:/var/lib/tpm:/bin/false
uuidd:x:107:114::/run/uuidd:/usr/sbin/nologin
tcpdump:x:108:115::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
avahi-autoipd:x:109:117:Avahi autoip daemon,,,:/var/lib/avahi-autoipd:/usr/sbin/nologin
usbmux:x:110:46:usbmux daemon,,,:/var/lib/usbmux:/usr/sbin/nologin
rtkit:x:111:118:RealtimeKit,,,:/proc:/usr/sbin/nologin
dnsmasq:x:112:65534:dnsmasq,,,:/var/lib/misc:/usr/sbin/nologin
avahi:x:113:120:Avahi mDNS daemon,,,:/run/avahi-daemon:/usr/sbin/nologin
cups-pk-helper:x:114:121:user for cups-pk-helper service,,,:/home/cups-pk-helper:/usr/sbin/nologin
speech-dispatcher:x:115:29:Speech Dispatcher,,,:/run/speech-dispatcher:/bin/false
kernoops:x:116:65534:Kernel Oops Tracking Daemon,,,:/:/usr/sbin/nologin
saned:x:117:123::/var/lib/saned:/usr/sbin/nologin
nm-openvpn:x:118:124:NetworkManager OpenVPN,,,:/var/lib/openvpn/chroot:/usr/sbin/nologin
whoopsie:x:119:125::/nonexistent:/bin/false
colord:x:120:126:colord colour management daemon,,,:/var/lib/colord:/usr/sbin/nologin
sssd:x:121:127:SSSD system user,,,:/var/lib/sss:/usr/sbin/nologin
geoclue:x:122:128::/var/lib/geoclue:/usr/sbin/nologin
pulse:x:123:129:PulseAudio daemon,,,:/var/run/pulse:/usr/sbin/nologin
hplip:x:124:7:HPLIP system user,,,:/run/hplip:/bin/false
gnome-initial-setup:x:125:65534::/run/gnome-initial-setup/:/bin/false
gdm:x:126:131:Gnome Display Manager:/var/lib/gdm3:/bin/false
user:x:1000:1000:user,,,:/home/user:/bin/bash
systemd-coredump:x:999:999:systemd Core Dumper:/:/usr/sbin/nologin
sshd:x:127:65534::/run/sshd:/usr/sbin/nologin
shakir:x:1001:1001:shakir,,,:/home/shakir:/bin/bash
  3. List existing groups in the system. 
    $ getent group
root:x:0:
daemon:x:1:
bin:x:2:
sys:x:3:
adm:x:4:syslog,user
tty:x:5:
disk:x:6:
lp:x:7:
mail:x:8:
news:x:9:
uucp:x:10:
man:x:12:
proxy:x:13:
kmem:x:15:
dialout:x:20:
fax:x:21:
voice:x:22:
cdrom:x:24:user
floppy:x:25:
tape:x:26:
sudo:x:27:user,shakir
audio:x:29:pulse
dip:x:30:user
www-data:x:33:
backup:x:34:
operator:x:37:
list:x:38:
irc:x:39:
src:x:40:
gnats:x:41:
shadow:x:42:
utmp:x:43:
video:x:44:
sasl:x:45:
plugdev:x:46:user
staff:x:50:
games:x:60:
users:x:100:
nogroup:x:65534:
systemd-timesync:x:101:
systemd-journal:x:102:
systemd-network:x:103:
systemd-resolve:x:104:
crontab:x:105:
messagebus:x:106:
input:x:107:
kvm:x:108:
render:x:109:
syslog:x:110:
tss:x:111:
bluetooth:x:112:
ssl-cert:x:113:
uuidd:x:114:
tcpdump:x:115:
ssh:x:116:
avahi-autoipd:x:117:
rtkit:x:118:
netdev:x:119:
avahi:x:120:
lpadmin:x:121:user
scanner:x:122:saned
saned:x:123:
nm-openvpn:x:124:
whoopsie:x:125:
colord:x:126:
sssd:x:127:
geoclue:x:128:
pulse:x:129:
pulse-access:x:130:
gdm:x:131:
lxd:x:132:user
user:x:1000:
sambashare:x:133:user
systemd-coredump:x:999:
shakir:x:1001:
  4. Check current owner and group of file or folder. 
    $ stat -c "%U:%G" /var/www/html/index.html
root:root
  5. Change owner of file based on the list of system users. 
    $ sudo chown www-data /var/www/html/index.html
  6. Check current owner and group of file to confirm. 
    $ stat -c "%U:%G" /var/www/html/index.html
www-data:root
  7. Change group of file based on the list of system groups. 
    $ sudo chgrp www-data /var/www/html/index.html
  8. Change both owner and group of a directory. 
    $ sudo chown www-data:www-data /var/www/html/
  9. Change owner and group using wildcard. 
    $ sudo chown www-data:www-data /var/www/html/*
  10. Change owner and group recursively for all files and folders. 
    $ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/*
  11. Check owner and group for all files and folders. 
    $ ls -l /var/www/html/
total 20
drwxr-xr-x 2 www-data www-data  4096 Jan  24 09:58 css
-rw-r--r-- 1 www-data www-data 10918 Jan  23 19:57 index.html
drwxr-xr-x 2 www-data www-data  4096 Jan  24 09:57 js
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