Write

Updated: 10/18/2022 by Computer Hope

Write may refer to any of the following:

Binary code flowing to or from a USB flash drive.

1. With data or a storage device, writing takes information and moves it to an alternate location. For example, saving data onto a diskette is the same as writing information to a diskette. In the picture, a yellow USB (universal serial bus) thumb drive has binary (0's and 1's) information going into it to help represent writable media.

Almost all media is writable, meaning any information can be written to it. However, you will receive a write error if a disk or drive is write-protected or you don't have permission to write to the media.

Tip

In contrast to writing is reading.

2. Linux command, see the write command page for further information.

3. In general, on a computer, write describes typing text. For example, when you type text into a search engine like Google, you are "writing" in your search query.

Tip

A word processor is software used to write a letter or document.

4. When dealing with permissions or security, write is a setting that lets a user or computer write to a file. For example, if a file is read-only, the computer cannot make changes to a file.

In MS-DOS and the Windows command line, a file can be made read-only using the attrib command. In Linux, the write attribute can be adjusted using the chmod command.

Attributes, Hardware terms, Read, Rewrite, Save, Write mode