Cheat Sheets · Cron Cheat Sheet · Cron Every 5 Minutes — Crontab Example

Cron Every 5 Minutes — Crontab Example

*/5 * * * *

Runs every 5 minutes — at minutes 0, 5, 10, 15, and so on.

Field by field

Field	Value	Meaning
`Minute`	`*/5`	Every 5th minute (0, 5, 10, … 55)
`Hour`	`*`	Every hour
`Day of month`	`*`	Every day
`Month`	`*`	Every month
`Day of week`	`*`	Every day of the week

This is the most-copied polling interval in cron. The */5 step syntax means "starting at the field minimum, every 5th value" — so runs land exactly on 0, 5, 10, 15 minutes past the hour.

Because every server in the world that copies this expression fires at the same instants, popular APIs see traffic spikes at :00. Offset your runs to a quieter phase with a ranged step: 2-57/5 * * * * fires at 2, 7, 12, … and is equivalent in cadence.

*/5 * * * * /usr/local/bin/poll.sh

Related schedules

*/10 * * * * Every 10 minutes */15 * * * * Every 15 minutes * * * * * Every minute

FAQ

Is */5 the same as 0-55/5?
Yes — both enumerate 0, 5, 10, … 55. The range before the slash only sets where the step starts and stops.

Why did my job also fire at midnight?
It fires at :00 of every hour including 00:00 — that is expected. If you want "every 5 minutes but never at midnight exactly", exclude it in the script itself.

Does it catch up after downtime?
No. Cron has no memory — if the machine was off at 12:05, that run is simply skipped. Use a job queue or anacron-style tooling when catch-up matters.

Stop memorizing — build it interactively

Try this schedule in the Cron Editor

Full reference: Cron Cheat Sheet