How to remove permissions of a folder in ubuntu

Hello friends......

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Here I am going to show you a trick about how to remove permissions of a folder in ubuntu or you can say how to lock a folder in ubuntu without using any software. Currently I am working on ubuntu 13.10, but this trick will work on all versions of ubuntu. So let's begin...

Step 1:-

 I have two folders in my VIDEOS folder as you can see in the picture below. I want to lock the folder PRIVATE so that no body can see my private data or I can say that I want to remove permissions of that folder.

Step 2:-

Open TERMINAL window by pressing "Alt+Ctrl+t" keys together. After that reach to the folder you want to lock. For that use "cd" and "ls" command. Here are the description of some commands you will need to reach the parent directory of your desired folder in the terminal.

cd - to enter in a directory or folder. for ex-

cd Videos

Note that the folder name must be accurate. You can type the first two or three alphabets and then press TAB key, If the folder name is unique it will automatically detect the folder.

ls - to view the contents of that directory or folder. for ex-

ls  

Step 3:-

Now I have reached the parent directory of private folder. I will use the "chmod" command to remove permissions of the private folder. For ex-

 chmod -rwx private/

 

Here the symbol minus"-" is used to remove the permissions and "rwx" denotes read, write, executable permissions respectively. When you hit enter you can see a little lock sign on you folder looking like this...

If you will try to open this folder now it will say that "You don't have the required permissions to view the contents of this folder."

Step 4:-

Now If you want to give back permissions, just replace the minus symbol "-" with a plus symbol "+". For ex-

 

chmod +rwx private/

 

Don't forget to reach the parent directory first. Now you will see that the little lock sign is removed. It will look like this...

If all goes well you will be able to lock a folder in ubuntu. If you have any queries please ask it into comments. Like Us on FACEBOOK for more updates.

Thank you