diff --git a/src/filemanager.html b/src/filemanager.html
index 199e0dca2..ecde438b0 100644
--- a/src/filemanager.html
+++ b/src/filemanager.html
@@ -183,7 +183,8 @@
     <div class="modal-dialog">
       <div class="modal-content">
         <div class="modal-header">
-          <h4 class="modal-title">{{ 'filemanager.chownDialog.title' | tr:{ fileName: chownEntry.entry.fileName } }}</h4>
+          <!-- TODO remove fileName later once all translations have been updated -->
+          <h4 class="modal-title">{{ 'filemanager.chownDialog.title' | tr:{ fileName: selected[0].fileName } }}</h4>
         </div>
         <div class="modal-body">
           <form role="form" name="chownEntryForm" ng-submit="chownEntry.submit()" autocomplete="off">
@@ -192,7 +193,7 @@
               <div class="control-label" for="inputNewOwner" ng-show="chownEntry.error">{{ chownEntry.error }}</div>
               <select class="form-control" id="inputNewOwner" name="newOwner" ng-model="chownEntry.newOwner" ng-options="a.value as a.name for a in owners" ng-disabled="chownEntry.busy"></select>
             </div>
-            <div class="form-group" ng-show="chownEntry.entry.isDirectory">
+            <div class="form-group" ng-show="chownEntry.showRecursiveOption">
               <input type="checkbox" id="inputNewOwnerRecursive" ng-model="chownEntry.recursive">
               <label class="control-label" for="inputNewOwnerRecursive">{{ 'filemanager.chownDialog.recursiveCheckbox' | tr }}</label>
             </div>
diff --git a/src/js/filemanager.js b/src/js/filemanager.js
index d8e38e45f..e5d57a268 100644
--- a/src/js/filemanager.js
+++ b/src/js/filemanager.js
@@ -668,18 +668,19 @@ app.controller('FileManagerController', ['$scope', '$translate', '$timeout', 'Cl
     $scope.chownEntry = {
         busy: false,
         error: null,
-        entry: null,
         newOwner: 0,
         recursive: false,
+        showRecursiveOption: false,
 
-        show: function (entry) {
+        show: function () {
             $scope.chownEntry.error = null;
-            $scope.chownEntry.entry = entry;
-            $scope.chownEntry.newOwner = entry.uid;
+            // set default uid from first file
+            $scope.chownEntry.newOwner = $scope.selected[0].uid;
             $scope.chownEntry.busy = false;
 
             // default for directories is recursive
-            $scope.chownEntry.recursive = entry.isDirectory;
+            $scope.chownEntry.recursive = !!$scope.selected.find(function (entry) { return entry.isDirectory; });
+            $scope.chownEntry.showRecursiveOption = !!$scope.chownEntry.recursive;
 
             $('#chownEntryModal').modal('show');
         },
@@ -687,9 +688,11 @@ app.controller('FileManagerController', ['$scope', '$translate', '$timeout', 'Cl
         submit: function () {
             $scope.chownEntry.busy = true;
 
-            var filePath = sanitize($scope.cwd + '/' + $scope.chownEntry.entry.fileName);
+            async.eachLimit($scope.selected, 5, function (entry, callback) {
+                var filePath = sanitize($scope.cwd + '/' + entry.fileName);
 
-            Client.filesChown($scope.id, $scope.type, filePath, $scope.chownEntry.newOwner, $scope.chownEntry.recursive, function (error) {
+                Client.filesChown($scope.id, $scope.type, filePath, $scope.chownEntry.newOwner, $scope.chownEntry.recursive, callback);
+            }, function (error) {
                 $scope.chownEntry.busy = false;
                 if (error) return Client.error(error);
 
@@ -824,7 +827,7 @@ app.controller('FileManagerController', ['$scope', '$translate', '$timeout', 'Cl
                 click: function ($itemScope, $event, entry) { $scope.renameEntry.show(entry); }
             }, {
                 text: tr['filemanager.list.menu.chown'],
-                click: function ($itemScope, $event, entry) { $scope.chownEntry.show(entry); }
+                click: function ($itemScope, $event, entry) { $scope.chownEntry.show(); }
             }, {
                 text: tr['filemanager.list.menu.extract'],
                 displayed: function ($itemScope, $event, entry) { return !entry.isDirectory && isArchive(entry.fileName); },