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Cron example · Minutes

Every 5 minutes in cron

Runs at :00, :05, :10 and so on through :55 of every hour.

*/5 * * * * Open in the generator

The step operator */5 in the minute field means "every fifth value of the range", counted from the field minimum. So the job fires at minute 0, 5, 10 … 55, which is identical to writing 0,5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55 * * * *.

Steps count from the start of the range, not from the previous run. That matters for values that do not divide evenly: */7 gives 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56 and then jumps back to 0 at the next hour, a gap of only four minutes. Prefer intervals that divide 60 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30).

To avoid the thundering herd of every job in your fleet starting at exactly :00 and :05, offset the start: 2-59/5 * * * * runs at :02, :07, :12 and so on.

Field by field

ValueFieldMeaning
*/5Minute
0–59		every 5 minutes
*Hour
0–23		every hour
*Day of month
1–31		every day of the month
*Month
1–12 or JAN–DEC		every month
*Day of week
0–7 or SUN–SAT (0 and 7 are Sunday)		every day of the week

Next run times

Computed in your browser from the current time, so you can check the schedule against a clock you trust.

Your timezone (local)

  1. Needs JavaScript.

UTC (GitHub Actions, Kubernetes default)

    Variations

    • */5 9-17 * * 1-5every 5 minutes, 09:00–17:59, Monday to Friday · try it
    • 2-59/5 * * * *every 5 minutes, offset to :02, :07 … · try it
    • */10 * * * *every 10 minutes · see page

    Where this expression works

    • Linux and macOS crontab: as written; times follow the system timezone.
    • Kubernetes CronJob: the same five fields; UTC unless spec.timeZone is set.
    • GitHub Actions: the same syntax in UTC, minimum interval five minutes, no @ shortcuts.
    • AWS EventBridge: a different six-field syntax; do not paste this expression unchanged.

    Full platform comparison · Cron tutorial

    FAQ

    Is five minutes the shortest interval on GitHub Actions?

    Yes. Scheduled workflows run at most every five minutes, in UTC, and may be delayed or skipped under load. They also only run on the default branch.

    Does */5 run five minutes after the previous run finished?

    No. Cron is clock-driven: it fires at fixed minutes regardless of how long the last run took.