Controlling file permissions

Use file permissions to control access to your files and directories. As the owner of a file, you can change who can read, write, and execute the file. You also can alter permissions for a certain group and all other users. For example, suppose you are part of a group of users that your system administrator has named "accounts." You might want to give yourself (the owner) read, write, and execute permissions on a file, allow the "accounts" group only to read the file, and set the permissions so that others cannot even view the file.

To display a file's properties, first select the file, then select Properties from the File menu. The Properties dialog box shows the file's size, date last modified, access permissions, owner, group, and number of links.

If you own the file, you can change these permissions by clicking on the appropriate buttons and boxes. Click on Reset to restore the original file permissions.