File and folder permissions control who can read, write, or execute a file on your server. Getting them wrong is a common cause of “500 Internal Server Error” or a blank white screen.
Reading a permission number
Permissions are shown as three digits (e.g. 644 or 755), one each for the file’s owner, group, and everyone else. Each digit is a sum of: 4 (read), 2 (write), 1 (execute). So 644 means the owner can read and write, while group and others can only read; 755 adds execute for everyone, which folders and scripts need.
The standard, safe defaults
- Folders: 755
- Regular files (images, CSS, PHP): 644
- Scripts that must execute directly (rare on shared hosting): 755
Changing permissions in File Manager
- Open Files > File Manager in cPanel.
- Right-click the file or folder and choose Change Permissions (or select it and click Permissions in the toolbar).
- Tick the boxes or type the numeric value directly, then save.
Never use 777
Setting 777 (read/write/execute for everyone) is a common “quick fix” some tutorials suggest — avoid it. It means any process on the server, including a compromised script, can rewrite that file. If something needs 777 to work, the underlying issue is almost always an ownership mismatch, not a genuine need for world-writable access.
Fixing permissions in bulk
File Manager’s Change Permissions dialog has a “Recurse into subdirectories” option for applying a permission to an entire folder tree at once — useful after a migration or restore where every file ended up with the same (often wrong) permission.
If a WordPress site specifically is throwing permission errors, the common fix is 755 for all directories and 644 for all files, applied recursively, then correcting wp-config.php to 640 if you want it locked down further.