Cron Job Every 5 Minutes

The expression

*/5 * * * *  /path/to/command

The */5 in the first (minute) field is a step value. It tells cron to start at minute 0 and fire every 5 minutes after that: 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55. The four remaining asterisks mean "every hour, every day of the month, every month, every day of the week", so the job repeats around the clock — twelve times per hour, 288 times per day.

Step syntax vs. an explicit list

You could write the same schedule by listing every minute:

0,5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55 * * * *

Both lines behave identically, but the step form is shorter, easier to read and far less prone to typos. Reach for the explicit list only when your interval does not divide evenly into 60 and you need full control over the exact minutes.

Useful variations

• */5 9-17 * * 1-5 — every 5 minutes, 9am–5pm, weekdays only.
• 2-59/5 * * * * — every 5 minutes but offset to 2, 7, 12 … to avoid the top-of-hour rush.
• */5 * * * 6,0 — every 5 minutes on weekends only.
• 0 */5 * * * — careful: this is every 5 hours, not minutes.

Common mistakes

The most frequent error is putting */5 in the wrong field. The minute field is first; placing the step in the second field schedules every 5 hours. Another pitfall is expecting sub-minute precision — classic Unix cron cannot run faster than once per minute. If you need every 30 seconds, use a 6-field scheduler with a seconds column, or run a small loop inside your script.

Before deploying, paste your line into the generator. It confirms the meaning in plain English and lists the upcoming executions in your local time zone, so you can be sure the interval is right.