Cron example · Daily

Twice a day in cron

Runs at 08:00 and 20:00 every day.

0 8,20 * * * Open in the generator

A comma-separated list in the hour field names the exact hours you want. 0 8,20 * * * runs at eight in the morning and eight in the evening; change the numbers for any pair of times.

Lists and steps can be mixed across fields but not combined in ways that need different minutes per hour. If you need 08:15 and 20:45, use two crontab lines.

Field by field

ValueFieldMeaning
0Minute
0–59
at minute 0
8,20Hour
0–23
at 08:00, at 20:00
*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

    • 0 */12 * * *twice a day at 00:00 and 12:00 · see page
    • 0 6,14,22 * * *three times a day · try it
    • 0 9,17 * * 1-5twice a day on weekdays · try it

    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

    Can one cron line run at 08:15 and 20:45?

    No. Minute and hour fields combine as a grid, so 15,45 8,20 would also fire at 08:45 and 20:15. Use two lines.