What command do I use if I want to change the permissions on all files in sub-directories, but not the sub-directories themselves? Example: maindir - subdir1 -- file1 -- file2 -- file3 - subdir2 -- file1 -- file2 -- file3 - subdir3 -- file1 -- file2 -- file3 I want to change only the permissions on the files in the sub-directories. I tried chmod -R 644 *.* , it didn't work.