A practical cron cheat sheet covering syntax, field values, special characters, and ready-to-use expressions for common scheduling patterns.
| Code / Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
* | Any value — e.g. * * * * * = every minute |
, | List of values — e.g. 1,15,30 * * * * = at minute 1, 15, and 30 |
- | Range — e.g. 1-5 * * * * = minutes 1 through 5 |
/ | Step/interval — e.g. */15 * * * * = every 15 minutes |
? | No specific value (day fields only) — used when one day field is set |
L | Last — e.g. 0 0 L * * = last day of month |
W | Nearest weekday — e.g. 0 0 15W * * = nearest weekday to 15th |
# | Nth occurrence — e.g. 0 0 * * 5#3 = third Friday |
| Code / Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
* * * * * | Every minute |
*/5 * * * * | Every 5 minutes |
*/10 * * * * | Every 10 minutes |
*/15 * * * * | Every 15 minutes |
*/30 * * * * | Every 30 minutes |
| Code / Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
0 * * * * | Every hour (at minute 0) |
0 */2 * * * | Every 2 hours |
0 */3 * * * | Every 3 hours |
0 */6 * * * | Every 6 hours |
30 * * * * | Every hour at minute 30 |
| Code / Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
0 0 * * * | Every day at midnight |
0 6 * * * | Every day at 6:00 AM |
0 9 * * * | Every day at 9:00 AM |
0 12 * * * | Every day at noon |
0 18 * * * | Every day at 6:00 PM |
0 0,12 * * * | Twice a day (midnight and noon) |
0 9,17 * * * | Twice a day (9 AM and 5 PM) |
| Code / Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
0 0 * * 0 | Every Sunday at midnight |
0 0 * * 1 | Every Monday at midnight |
0 0 * * 5 | Every Friday at midnight |
0 9 * * 1-5 | Weekdays at 9:00 AM |
0 0 * * 6,0 | Weekends at midnight |
0 9 * * 1 | Every Monday at 9:00 AM |
| Code / Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
0 0 1 * * | First day of every month at midnight |
0 0 15 * * | 15th of every month at midnight |
0 9 1 * * | First day of every month at 9:00 AM |
0 0 1,15 * * | 1st and 15th of every month |
0 0 L * * | Last day of every month |
| Code / Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
0 0 1 1 * | January 1st at midnight |
0 0 1 */3 * | First day of every quarter |
0 9 1 6 * | June 1st at 9:00 AM |
| Code / Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
0 2 * * * | Database backup — Daily at 2:00 AM |
0 9 * * 1 | Send weekly report — Monday at 9:00 AM |
0 3 * * 0 | Clear temp files — Sunday at 3:00 AM |
*/5 * * * * | Health check — Every 5 minutes |
0 0 1 * * | Invoice generation — 1st of each month |
0 0 * * * | Log rotation — Daily at midnight |
0 5 * * * | Cache warm-up — Daily at 5:00 AM |
0 8 1,15 * * | Certificate renewal check — 1st and 15th at 8 AM |
*/10 9-17 * * 1-5 | Business hours monitoring — Every 10 min, 9-5, Mon-Fri |
0 22 * * * | Off-peak processing — Daily at 10:00 PM |
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