# phpman > man > chgrp(1)

> **TLDR:** Change group ownership of files and directories.
>
- Change the owner group of a file/directory:
  `chgrp {{group}} {{path/to/file_or_directory}}`
- Recursively change the owner group of a directory and its contents:
  `chgrp {{-R|--recursive}} {{group}} {{path/to/directory}}`
- Change the owner group of a symbolic link:
  `chgrp {{-h|--no-dereference}} {{group}} {{path/to/symlink}}`
- Change the owner group of a file/directory to match a reference file:
  `chgrp --reference {{path/to/reference_file}} {{path/to/file_or_directory}}`

*Source: tldr-pages*

---

[CHGRP(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/CHGRP/1/markdown)                                    User Commands                                   [CHGRP(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/CHGRP/1/markdown)



## NAME
       chgrp - change group ownership

## SYNOPSIS
       **chgrp** [_OPTION_]... _GROUP_ _FILE_...
       **chgrp** [_OPTION_]... _--reference=RFILE_ _FILE_...

## DESCRIPTION
       Change  the  group of each FILE to GROUP.  With **--reference**, change the group of each FILE to
       that of RFILE.

### -c --changes
              like verbose but report only when a change is made

### -f --silent --quiet
              suppress most error messages

### -v --verbose
              output a diagnostic for every file processed

### --dereference
              affect the referent of each symbolic link (this is the default), rather than the  sym‐
              bolic link itself

### -h --no-dereference
              affect  symbolic links instead of any referenced file (useful only on systems that can
              change the ownership of a symlink)

### --no-preserve-root
              do not treat '/' specially (the default)

### --preserve-root
              fail to operate recursively on '/'

       **--reference**=_RFILE_
              use RFILE's group rather than specifying a GROUP value

### -R --recursive
              operate on files and directories recursively

       The following options modify how a hierarchy is traversed when the **-R** option is  also  speci‐
       fied.  If more than one is specified, only the final one takes effect.

### -H

### -L

### -P

       **--help** display this help and exit

### --version
              output version information and exit

## EXAMPLES
       chgrp staff /u
              Change the group of /u to "staff".

       chgrp -hR staff /u
              Change the group of /u and subfiles to "staff".

## AUTHOR
       Written by David MacKenzie and Jim Meyering.

## REPORTING BUGS
       GNU coreutils online help: <<https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>>
       Report any translation bugs to <<https://translationproject.org/team/>>

## COPYRIGHT
       Copyright  ©  2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later
       <<https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>>.
       This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.  There is NO WARRANTY,  to
       the extent permitted by law.

## SEE ALSO
       [chown(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/chown/1/markdown), [chown(2)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/chown/2/markdown)

       Full documentation <<https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/chgrp>>
       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) chgrp invocation'



GNU coreutils 8.32                          January 2026                                    [CHGRP(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/CHGRP/1/markdown)