Bookmark this reference of standard cron schedules for everyday server administration and background jobs:
| Schedule | Expression | Plain English Description |
|---|---|---|
| Every minute | * * * * * | Runs at the start of every minute |
| Every 5 minutes | */5 * * * * | Runs every 5 minutes (0, 5, 10, ...) |
| Every 15 minutes | */15 * * * * | Runs every quarter hour |
| Hourly | 0 * * * * | At minute 0 of every hour |
| Daily at midnight | 0 0 * * * | At 00:00 every day |
| Daily at 3:30 AM | 30 3 * * * | Ideal for nightly maintenance backups |
| Every weekday morning | 0 9 * * 1-5 | At 9:00 AM Monday through Friday |
| Weekly on Sunday | 0 0 * * 0 | At midnight every Sunday |
| Monthly | 0 0 1 * * | At midnight on the 1st of every month |