Cron Patterns
Per-pattern landing pages for the schedules you'll actually write. Each one includes plain-English explanation, next-run times, and copy-paste code snippets for Unix, Quartz, Kubernetes, AWS EventBridge, Spring, and GitHub Actions.
0 0 * * * Daily at Midnight
Runs once a day at 00:00 (midnight). One invocation per day.
*/5 * * * * Every 5 Minutes
Runs every 5 minutes — at :00, :05, :10, …, :55 of every hour, every day.
0 * * * * Every Hour
Runs at the top of every hour — :00 of every hour, every day. 24 invocations per day.
*/15 * * * * Every 15 Minutes
Runs every 15 minutes — at :00, :15, :30, :45 of every hour, every day. This is also the every-quarter-hour schedule; the two names describe the same expression.
*/10 * * * * Every 10 Minutes
Runs every 10 minutes — at :00, :10, :20, :30, :40, :50 of every hour, every day.
0 9 * * 1-5 Weekdays at 9 AM
Runs at 09:00 Monday through Friday — 5 invocations per week, skipping Saturday and Sunday.
* * * * * Every Minute
Runs every minute — :00, :01, :02, …, :59 of every hour, every day. The highest frequency standard cron supports.
0 0 1 * * First Day of Month
Runs at 00:00 on the 1st of every month — 12 invocations per year.
0 9 * * * Daily at 9 AM
Runs once a day at 09:00 (9 AM). One invocation per day. Common morning-kickoff schedule.
*/30 * * * * Every 30 Minutes
Runs every 30 minutes — at :00 and :30 of every hour, every day.
0 */2 * * * Every 2 Hours
Runs every 2 hours at the top of the hour — 00:00, 02:00, 04:00, …, 22:00. 12 invocations per day.
0 0 28-31 * * Last Day of Month
Runs at 00:00 on the 28th-31st (the Unix-cron workaround). Quartz, EventBridge, and Spring support `L` for true last-day-of-month.
0 12 * * * Daily at Noon
Runs once a day at 12:00 (noon). One invocation per day.
0 0 * * 1 Every Monday
Runs at 00:00 every Monday — 1 invocation per week, on the Unix day-of-week 1 (Monday).
0 */3 * * * Every 3 Hours
Runs every 3 hours at the top of the hour — 00:00, 03:00, 06:00, 09:00, 12:00, 15:00, 18:00, 21:00. 8 invocations per day.
0 0 1,15 * * 1st and 15th of Every Month
Runs at 00:00 on the 1st and 15th of every month — 24 invocations per year, the semi-monthly cadence.
*/2 * * * * Every 2 Minutes
Runs every 2 minutes — at :00, :02, :04, …, :58 of every hour. 30 invocations per hour, 720 per day.
0 */6 * * * Every 6 Hours
Runs every 6 hours at the top of the hour — 00:00, 06:00, 12:00, 18:00. 4 invocations per day.
0 9-17 * * 1-5 Business Hours (Hourly, 9 AM–5 PM Weekdays)
Runs hourly at :00 from 09:00 to 17:00, Monday through Friday — 9 runs per weekday, none overnight or on weekends.
0 */12 * * * Every 12 Hours
Runs every 12 hours at the top of the hour — 00:00 and 12:00 every day. 2 invocations per day.
0 */4 * * * Every 4 Hours
Runs every 4 hours at the top of the hour — 00:00, 04:00, 08:00, 12:00, 16:00, 20:00. 6 invocations per day.
0 0 * * 5 Every Friday
Runs at 00:00 every Friday — 1 invocation per week, on Unix day-of-week 5 (Friday).
0 0 * * 6,0 Weekends
Runs at 00:00 on Saturday and Sunday — 2 invocations per week, skipping weekdays.
0 0 1 1 * Yearly (January 1st at Midnight)
Runs at 00:00 on January 1st every year — 1 invocation per year.
*/20 * * * * Every 20 Minutes
Runs every 20 minutes — at :00, :20, :40 of every hour, every day. 3 invocations per hour.
0 0,12 * * * Twice Daily (Midnight and Noon)
Runs twice a day at 00:00 and 12:00 — midnight and noon. 2 invocations per day.
0 */8 * * * Every 8 Hours
Runs every 8 hours at the top of the hour — 00:00, 08:00, 16:00. 3 invocations per day, aligned to 8-hour shifts.
0 0 * * 0 Every Sunday
Runs at 00:00 every Sunday — 1 invocation per week. This is what the @weekly shortcut expands to.
0 0 1 */3 * Quarterly (1st of Every 3rd Month)
Runs at 00:00 on the 1st of January, April, July, and October — 4 invocations per year, once per calendar quarter.
0 17 * * 1-5 Weekdays at 5 PM
Runs at 17:00 (5 PM) Monday through Friday — 5 invocations per week, skipping weekends.
0 0 * * 2 Every Tuesday
Runs at 00:00 every Tuesday — 1 invocation per week, on Unix day-of-week 2 (Tuesday).
0 0 15 * * 15th of Every Month
Runs at 00:00 on the 15th of every month — 12 invocations per year, the mid-month cadence.
*/45 * * * * Every 45 Minutes
`*/45 * * * *` does NOT run every 45 minutes — it fires at :00 and :45, leaving alternating 45- and 15-minute gaps. True 45-minute spacing needs a 3-line crontab aligned to a 3-hour cycle, or an interval timer.
0 0 * * 3 Every Wednesday
Runs at 00:00 every Wednesday — 1 invocation per week, on Unix day-of-week 3 (Wednesday).
0 0 * * 4 Every Thursday
Runs at 00:00 every Thursday — 1 invocation per week, on Unix day-of-week 4 (Thursday).
0 0 * * 6 Every Saturday
Runs at 00:00 every Saturday — 1 invocation per week, on Unix day-of-week 6 (Saturday).
0 17 * * * Daily at 5 PM
Runs at 17:00 (5 PM) every day including weekends — 365 invocations a year. Hour 17, because cron uses a 24-hour clock with no AM/PM.
*/10 * * * * * Every 10 Seconds
Runs every 10 seconds. Requires a seconds-aware dialect — Spring or Quartz — because standard Unix cron is minute-precision only.
*/15 * * * * * Every 15 Seconds
Runs every 15 seconds — at :00, :15, :30, :45 of each minute. Requires a seconds-aware dialect (Spring or Quartz); standard Unix cron is minute-precision only.
*/20 * * * * * Every 20 Seconds
Runs every 20 seconds — at :00, :20, :40 of each minute. Requires a seconds-aware dialect (Spring or Quartz); standard Unix cron is minute-precision only.
*/30 * * * * * Every 30 Seconds
Runs every 30 seconds (twice a minute). Requires a seconds-aware dialect — Spring or Quartz — because standard Unix cron is minute-precision only.
*/45 * * * * * Every 45 Seconds
`*/45 * * * * *` does NOT run every 45 seconds — it fires at :00 and :45, leaving alternating 45- and 15-second gaps. True spacing needs a 4-entry 3-minute cycle, or an interval timer.
*/5 * * * * * Every 5 Seconds
Runs every 5 seconds. Requires a seconds-aware dialect — Spring or Quartz — because standard Unix cron is minute-precision only.
0 1-23/2 * * * Every Odd Hour
Runs at 01:00, 03:00, 05:00, …, 23:00 — 12 invocations a day on odd hours. The range start `1-23` is what shifts the step off even hours.
0 0 */14 * * Every Other Week
`0 0 */14 * *` does NOT run every other week — the day-of-month field resets monthly, so it fires on the 1st, 15th and 29th: 35 runs a year, not 26.
* * * * * * Every Second
Runs every second — the fastest a cron parser will schedule. Requires a seconds-aware dialect; standard Unix cron is minute-precision only.