Cron Job Examples & Templates
30+ annotated cron expressions for the most common scheduling needs. Copy, modify, or open in the builder. New to cron? → Read the Cheatsheet first
Common
| Expression | Description | Name | |
|---|---|---|---|
* * * * * | Runs once every minute. | Every minute | |
*/5 * * * * | Runs every 5 minutes. | Every 5 minutes | |
*/15 * * * * | Runs every quarter-hour. | Every 15 minutes | |
*/30 * * * * | Runs twice per hour. | Every 30 minutes | |
0 * * * * | Runs at the top of every hour. | Every hour | |
0 */2 * * * | Runs every two hours. | Every 2 hours | |
0 */6 * * * | Runs at midnight, 6am, noon, 6pm. | Every 6 hours | |
0 0 * * * | Runs at 00:00 every day. | Daily at midnight | |
0 12 * * * | Runs at 12:00 every day. | Daily at noon | |
0 9 * * 1-5 | Mon–Fri at 9:00 AM. | Weekdays at 9am | |
0 10 * * 0,6 | Saturday and Sunday at 10:00 AM. | Weekends at 10am | |
0 9 * * 1 | Every Monday at 9:00 AM. | Weekly on Monday | |
0 0 1 * * | 1st day of every month at midnight. | Monthly on 1st | |
0 0 15 * * | 15th of every month at midnight. | Monthly on 15th | |
0 0 1 */3 * | Jan 1, Apr 1, Jul 1, Oct 1. | Quarterly | |
0 0 1 1 * | New Year's Day at midnight. | Annually on Jan 1 |
DevOps
| Expression | Description | Name | |
|---|---|---|---|
0 2 * * * | Database backup every night at 2am. | Nightly backup (2am) | |
0 0 * * * | Rotate and archive logs at midnight. | Log rotation (midnight) | |
*/5 * * * * | Ping health endpoint every 5 minutes. | Health check (5 min) | |
0 3 * * 0 | Purge temp files every Sunday at 3am. | Weekly cleanup (Sun 3am) | |
0 0 * * 0 | PostgreSQL VACUUM ANALYZE weekly. | DB vacuum (Sun midnight) | |
0 4 * * * | Clear CDN/Redis cache daily at 4am. | Cache purge (daily 4am) | |
0 8 * * 1 | Generate weekly report every Monday. | Report (Mon 8am) | |
0 0 * * 0 | Check TLS certificate expiry weekly. | Cert renewal check |
Kubernetes
| Expression | Description | Name | |
|---|---|---|---|
*/5 * * * * | Kubernetes CronJob every 5 minutes. | K8s: every 5 min | |
0 * * * * | Kubernetes CronJob every hour. | K8s: hourly job | |
0 0 * * * | Daily cleanup CronJob at midnight. | K8s: daily cleanup | |
0 0 * * 0 | Weekly maintenance CronJob. | K8s: weekly job |
GitHub Actions
| Expression | Description | Name | |
|---|---|---|---|
*/5 * * * * | Minimum GitHub Actions schedule frequency. | GH: every 5 min (min) | |
0 2 * * * | Nightly CI build at 2am UTC. | GH: nightly build | |
0 9 * * 1 | Weekly dependency update on Mondays. | GH: weekly on Monday |
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I use these cron expression templates?
Click Try → next to any expression to open it in the CronMaker builder where you can see the plain-English description, next execution times, and a visual calendar. Click Copy to copy the expression directly to your clipboard.
What is the most common cron expression?
0 0 * * * (daily at midnight) is the most widely used cron expression. It is the default for nightly backups, report generation, log rotation, and cache purges.Can I modify these templates?
Yes — open any template in the builder by clicking "Try →" and edit the fields or raw expression. You can save your link with the "Copy shareable link" button.