20 Common Cron Expressions: From Every Minute to Every Year
March 2026 · 7 min read
While cron syntax is concise, writing correct scheduling rules is not always easy. This article collects 20 of the most commonly used cron expressions covering scheduling scenarios from every minute to every year.
Basic Schedules
| # | Expression | Description |
|---|
| 1 | * * * * * | Every minute |
| 2 | */5 * * * * | Every 5 minutes |
| 3 | */15 * * * * | Every 15 minutes |
| 4 | */30 * * * * | Every 30 minutes |
| 5 | 0 * * * * | Every hour on the hour |
Daily Schedules
| # | Expression | Description |
|---|
| 6 | 0 0 * * * | Every day at midnight |
| 7 | 0 6 * * * | Every day at 6 AM |
| 8 | 0 9,18 * * * | Every day at 9 AM and 6 PM |
| 9 | 0 9-17 * * * | Hourly from 9 AM to 5 PM |
| 10 | 30 2 * * * | Every day at 2:30 AM |
Weekly Schedules
| # | Expression | Description |
|---|
| 11 | 0 9 * * 1-5 | Weekdays at 9 AM |
| 12 | 0 0 * * 0 | Every Sunday at midnight |
| 13 | 0 10 * * 1 | Every Monday at 10 AM |
| 14 | 0 0 * * 6,0 | Every weekend at midnight |
Monthly and Yearly Schedules
| # | Expression | Description |
|---|
| 15 | 0 0 1 * * | First of every month at midnight |
| 16 | 0 0 1,15 * * | 1st and 15th of every month |
| 17 | 0 0 L * * | Last day of every month |
| 18 | 0 9 1 1 * | January 1st at 9 AM |
| 19 | 0 0 1 */3 * | First day of every quarter |
| 20 | 0 0 1 1 * | January 1st at midnight |
Note: Some cron implementations (like standard Vixie cron) do not support extended syntax like L (last day). Verify which syntax your scheduling system supports.
Parse Your Expressions
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References
- crontab.guru. "The cron schedule expression editor." https://crontab.guru/
- Amazon Web Services. "Schedule expressions for rules." AWS Documentation. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eventbridge/latest/userguide/eb-cron-expressions.html
- Kubernetes. "CronJob." Kubernetes Documentation. https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/workloads/controllers/cron-jobs/