How to Make a File Executable on Linux Mint

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In this tutorial, we'll learn how to make a file executable in Linux Mint by giving it the executable file permission using Nemo, Cinnamon's file manager. This is necessary in order to run various files that contain programs, including Bash/shell script files (.sh file extension), Python script files (.py), appimages (.appimage), among others.

To make the file executable, follow the following steps:

1: open the file properties dialog of the file that you want to make executable.

2: click on the Permissions tab.

A dialog window titled "krita-5.2.9-x86_64.AppImage Properties." It has four tabs: Basic, Permissions (active), Open With, Emblems. The main pane has various fields: Owner: virtual-curiosities - Virtual Curiosities. Access: Read and write. Group: virtual-curiosities. Access: Read and write. Access: Read-only. Execute: Allow executing file as a program (unchecked checkbox). Last changed: Thu 27 Mar 2025 10:08:50 PM-03. At the bottom, two buttons: Help and Close.
The permissions tab of a file properties dialog on Linux Mint's Nemo.

3: check "Allow executing file as a program." You can close the dialog now and it will be executable.

Note: on Linux Mint's Nemo, it's not necessary to click on a "Save" button as the change will be saved automatically, but the behavior in other file managers may vary.

Observations

Why not labels?: I can't imagine the confusion someone would have looking at these permissions without knowing what they stand for. If you look at the dialog, you have "Owner, Access, Group, Access, Access." Two "Access" one after the other. Why does group have two? It doesn't. That's the access for others, users not belonging to the specified group who aren't the specified owner. Why doesn't it have label that says "others" then? An absolute mystery!

See [What Read, Write, and Execute Permissions Mean on Linux] for more information.

Written by Noel Santos.

About the Author

I'm a self-taught Brazilian programmer graduated in IT from a FATEC. In a world of increasingly complex and essential computers, I decided to use my technical expertise in hardware, desktop applications, and web technologies to create an informative resource to make PC's easier to understand.

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