How to Change File Permissions in cPanel File Manager

File permissions control who can read, write to, or execute a file on the server. Incorrect permissions are a common cause of 403 Forbidden errors and security vulnerabilities.

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How to change permissions

1. Log in at https://tpc-hosting.com/login and open cPanel.
2. Under Files , click File Manager.
3. Navigate to the file or folder you want to change.
4. Right-click the item and select Change Permissions , or select it and click Permissions in the toolbar.
5. Tick or untick the checkboxes, or type the numeric value directly.
6. Click Change Permissions.

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Recommended permissions

• 644 — regular files (PHP scripts, HTML, CSS, JS, images). Owner can read and write; everyone else can only read.
• 755 — directories and executable scripts. Owner can read, write, execute; everyone else can read and execute.
• 600 — sensitive files (wp-config.php, .env). Only the owner can read and write; no one else has access.
• 444 — read-only files that should never be modified by the web server.

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What to avoid

• 777 — gives full read, write, and execute access to everyone. This is a serious security risk and should never be used in production.
• 666 — makes files world-writable. Avoid unless absolutely necessary for a short time.

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Fixing 403 Forbidden errors

A 403 error usually means a directory does not have execute permission, or a file does not have read permission for the web server. Set directories to 755 and files to 644 as a starting point.

To change permissions recursively on a directory and all its contents, right-click the directory in File Manager and look for the Recurse into subdirectories option when changing permissions.

Updated on: 28/04/2026