Cron expression
Every 5 minutes during business hours
*/5 9-17 * * 1-5
Runs every five minutes from 09:00 to 17:55, Monday to Friday.
Runs per month
≈ 2,317
Next run (UTC)
Thu 14:20
On CronEngine
Runs on the free plan
What each part means
| Minute | */5 | every 5 minutes |
| Hour | 9-17 | from hour 9 to 17 |
| Day of month | * | every day of the month |
| Month | * | every month |
| Day of week | 1-5 | from Monday to Friday |
Next runs
- 1 Thursday 22 October 2026 14:20 UTC
- 2 Thursday 22 October 2026 14:25 UTC
- 3 Thursday 22 October 2026 14:30 UTC
- 4 Thursday 22 October 2026 14:35 UTC
- 5 Thursday 22 October 2026 14:40 UTC
See these in your own timezone, or change the schedule →
Good to know
- The hour range 9-17 includes the whole 17:00 hour, so the last run is at 17:55. Use 9-16 to stop at 16:55.
- It runs about 2,300 times a month instead of 8,640, roughly a quarter of a round-the-clock schedule.
Typical uses: Keeping a dashboard fresh for people at work, near real-time syncs only when someone is watching.
Copy and paste
crontab -e
Crontab
*/5 9-17 * * 1-5 /path/to/script.sh
.github/workflows/scheduled.yml
GitHub Actions
on:
schedule:
- cron: '*/5 9-17 * * 1-5'
GitHub Actions reads this in UTC, and scheduled runs can start late when GitHub is busy. How to start it on time.
routes/console.php
Laravel
Schedule::command('your:command')->cron('*/5 9-17 * * 1-5');
Variations
| */5 9-16 * * 1-5 | Every 5 minutes, last run at 16:55 |
| */5 * * * * | Every 5 minutes, all day → |
Questions
What is the cron expression for every 5 minutes during business hours?
*/5 9-17 * * 1-5. Runs every five minutes from 09:00 to 17:55, Monday to Friday.
Can GitHub Actions run every 5 minutes during business hours?
Yes, with cron: '*/5 9-17 * * 1-5'. GitHub Actions reads this in UTC, and scheduled runs can start late when GitHub is busy.