Cron Expression: Every 5 Minutes (*/5 * * * *)
The expression */5 * * * * uses a step value in the minute field to fire every five minutes: at :00, :05, :10, and so on through the hour. The other fields stay wildcards, so it repeats all day, every day.
Every five minutes is a popular sweet spot for polling APIs, syncing data, and running monitoring checks — frequent enough to feel near-real-time without hammering resources. The next runs below update live in your browser.
*/5 * * * *Every 5 minutes.
6/24/2026, 7:05:00 AM6/24/2026, 7:10:00 AM6/24/2026, 7:15:00 AM6/24/2026, 7:20:00 AM6/24/2026, 7:25:00 AM| Field | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
Minute | */5 | every 5th minute (0,5,10…) |
Hour | * | every hour |
Day of month | * | every day |
Month | * | every month |
Day of week | * | every weekday |
*/5 * * * *→Runs at :00, :05, :10 … :55 — twelve times an hour.The /5 step starts at minute 0 and repeats across the whole hour.
Frequently asked questions
What does */5 mean in a cron expression?
The /5 is a step value applied to the minute field. Combined with the implicit range 0–59 it selects minutes 0, 5, 10, 15 and so on, firing every five minutes.
How many times a day does */5 * * * * run?
Twelve times an hour multiplied by 24 hours equals 288 runs per day.
Does */5 start at minute 0?
Yes. The step counts from the start of the range, so the first match each hour is :00, then :05, :10, and so on up to :55.