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⏱️ Cron Expression for Every 3 Minutes

CronForge — visual crontab editor with timezone + DST

The cron expression to run a job every 3 minutes is */3 * * * *. Load it in the builder below to see exactly when it will next fire in your own timezone, check it against a DST transition, and copy it in the syntax your platform expects.

Expression

Every 3 minutes.
minute · hour · day-of-month · month · day-of-week   (5 fields, 24h clock)

Presets

Visual editor click cells to toggle

Minute (0-59)
Hour (0-23)
Day of month (1-31)
Month (1-12)
Day of week (0-6, Sun=0)

Next 10 fire times

    What */3 * * * * does

    The */3 in the minute field is a step value. It means 'starting at minute 0, then every 3 minutes'. The four remaining asterisks mean every hour, every day of the month, every month and every day of the week — so the job runs continuously, all year.

    Within any given hour it fires at :00, :03, :06, :09, :12, :15 ..., giving 20 runs per hour and 480 per day.

    The mistake people make

    Dropping the */ changes the meaning completely. 3 * * * * runs once an hour, at minute 3 — not every 3 minutes. The slash is what turns a value into an interval.

    Every 3 minutes divides evenly into 60, so the schedule stays aligned to the top of each hour.

    Frequently asked questions

    What is the cron expression for every 3 minutes?

    */3 * * * *. The */3 step in the minute field fires the job every 3 minutes, starting at minute 0 of each hour.

    How many times does */3 * * * * run per day?

    480 times — 20 per hour, 24 hours a day.

    Related cron expressions

    Cron Expression for Every Minute*/1 * * * * Cron Expression for Every 2 Minutes*/2 * * * * Cron Expression for Every 4 Minutes*/4 * * * * Cron Expression for Every 5 Minutes*/5 * * * * Cron Expression for Every 6 Minutes*/6 * * * * Cron Expression for Every 10 Minutes*/10 * * * * Cron Expression for Every 12 Minutes*/12 * * * * Cron Timezone and DST Behavior by Platform30 2 * * 0

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