# chown

> Change user and group ownership of files and folders.

- Change the owner user of a file/folder:

`chown {{user}} {{path/to/file}}`

- Change the owner user and group of a file/folder:

`chown {{user}}:{{group}} {{path/to/file}}`

- Recursively change the owner of a folder and its contents:

`chown -R {{user}} {{path/to/folder}}`

- Change the owner of a symbolic link:

`chown -h {{user}} {{path/to/symlink}}`

- Change the owner of a file/folder to match a reference file:

`chown --reference={{path/to/reference_file}} {{path/to/file}}`