Cron: every 15 minutes
Four runs an hour, on the quarter hours. It is the same as the list 0,15,30,45, which spells the minutes out.
Open in Cron Parser The expression is filled in: change it and watch the next runs.
Expression
*/15 * * * * Meaning
At every 15th minute: :00, :15, :30, :45
Next 5 runs
Your time zone
The same schedule on other platforms
| Platform | Written as | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Linux crontab | */15 * * * * | Five fields, in the server's local time zone. A % in the command has to be escaped as \%. |
| GitHub Actions | - cron: '*/15 * * * *' | Five fields, in UTC unless a timezone (an IANA name such as Europe/Warsaw) is set next to cron. Default branch only. The shortest interval is 5 minutes; when GitHub is busy, runs start late and some are dropped. |
| Kubernetes CronJob | schedule: "*/15 * * * *" | Five fields, in the controller's time zone unless spec.timeZone is set (Kubernetes 1.27 and later). concurrencyPolicy decides what happens when runs overlap. |
| systemd timer | OnCalendar=*:0/15 | Its own calendar syntax, in a .timer unit, local time. hourly, daily and monthly match cron, but weekly means Monday. Persistent=true catches up on runs missed while the machine was off. |
| AWS EventBridge | cron(0/15 * * * ? *) | Or rate(15 minutes), which counts from when the rule was created. |
| Quartz / Spring | 0 0/15 * * * ? | Six fields, seconds first. Quartz needs ? in one of the day fields and counts Sunday as 1; Spring accepts ? and numbers days like cron. |
Common mistakes
Starting at another minute
5-59/15runs at :05, :20, :35 and :50. The range sets where the count starts.15 * * * *runs once an hourThat is a single minute, :15, not a step.
Only during working hours
Restrict the hour field as well:
*/15 9-17 * * 1-5runs every quarter hour from 09:00 to 17:45, Monday to Friday.