Every Minute
Runs the job every minute, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is the most frequent standard cron schedule possible. Each wildcard (*) means 'every value' for that field — every minute, every hour, every day of the month, every month, and every day of the week.
* * * * * What is the cron expression for Every Minute?
The cron expression for Every Minute is * * * * *. This five-field cron schedule uses the format minute, hour, day-of-month, month, and day-of-week. Runs the job every minute, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is the most frequent standard cron schedule possible. Each wildcard (*) means 'every value' for that field — every minute, every hour, every day of the month, every month, and every day of the week. Common use cases include health check pings and queue processing.
Field Breakdown
Example Next Run Times
- 1.
2026-04-05 12:00 - 2.
2026-04-05 12:01 - 3.
2026-04-05 12:02 - 4.
2026-04-05 12:03 - 5.
2026-04-05 12:04
Common Use Cases
- ✓ Health check pings
- ✓ Queue processing
- ✓ Real-time data sync
- ✓ Cache invalidation
Frequently Asked Questions
Is running a cron job every minute bad for performance?
It depends on the job's workload. Lightweight tasks like health checks or queue polls are fine. Heavy tasks like database backups or report generation should run less frequently to avoid resource contention.
What happens if the job takes longer than a minute?
Most cron implementations will start a new instance even if the previous one is still running. Use a lock file or mutex to prevent overlapping executions if your job is not idempotent.
Can I run a job more frequently than every minute?
Standard cron does not support sub-minute intervals. For more frequent execution, use a loop with sleep in a long-running process, or use a scheduler like systemd timers that supports seconds.