How to check file permissions for your file using Linux/Unix/macOS Terminal Command

If you have a file or a directory on your Linux, Unix, or macOS Operating System and you want to know its permission details you can make use of the ls -l command followed by the file name, make sure to add -l for long format.

# ls -l myfile.txt
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 31 Apr  5 11:25 myfile.txt

Let's try and understand each one of the above details,

If you see a hyphen as the first character it says that the object is a file, id you see d -> directory, other characters and its meaning is mentioned below,

- -> regular file
b -> block device
c -> character device
d -> directory
D -> door
l -> symlink
p -> named pipe
s  -> socket

r -> Read Permission.
w -> Write Permission. 
x -> Executable Permission.