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Cronjob.de › Crontab reference › Every minute

Running a cron job every minute

Five asterisks, * * * * *, mean: every minute, around the clock. It is the shortest interval cron knows. It is used for queues, such as emails or orders that should not sit for five minutes.

* Minute 0-59
* Hour 0-23
* Day 1-31
* Month 1-12
* Weekday 0-7

Open and adjust in the crontab generator ›

Meaning

What the expression says exactly

All five fields are * and restrict nothing: every minute, every hour, every day, every month, every day of the week. That makes 60 runs an hour and 1,440 a day.

*/1 * * * * means the same. The usual way of writing it is five asterisks, though, and every scheduler understands that.

The next runs

  • Sat, 14 Nov 2026, 01:16
  • Sat, 14 Nov 2026, 01:17
  • Sat, 14 Nov 2026, 01:18
  • Sat, 14 Nov 2026, 01:19
  • Sat, 14 Nov 2026, 01:20

Calculated in German time when this page was loaded.

Variants

Similar schedules

* 8-18 * * 1-5 Every minute, but only on weekdays from 8:00 to 18:59. Adjust
* 0-5 * * * Every minute, but only at night from 0:00 to 5:59, for example for an import that would get in the way during the day. Adjust
*/2 * * * * Every other minute: 0, 2, 4 … 58. Adjust
*/5 * * * * Every 5 minutes. That is enough for most tasks, and at Cronjob.de it is free. Adjust

Watch out for

Typical mistakes with this interval

Cron cannot go below one minute

Cron checks once a minute whether anything is due. There is no field for seconds. On your own server one trick helps: a second line that puts sleep 30; before the command. It then runs every 30 seconds.

Runs must not overtake each other

If a run takes longer than 60 seconds, the next one starts before the previous one has finished. With every minute this happens sooner than with any other interval. On Linux, flock -n before the command prevents it: the command only starts if no other run holds the lock file.

The target has to answer quickly

When called from outside, the response should come well within a minute. Cronjob.de waits 60 seconds on the paid plans. Process only what is sure to finish in that time per call, for example the next 50 emails from the queue.

Own server

How it looks in the crontab

Open with crontab -e and add one line. The first starts a PHP script directly, the second calls an address. Replace paths and address with your own.

* * * * * flock -n /tmp/skript.lock /usr/bin/php /pfad/zu/skript.php >/dev/null 2>&1
* * * * * curl -fsS https://ihre-domain.de/cron.php >/dev/null

Without your own server

How it works at Cronjob.de

No command-line access needed: you enter the address of your script and click the schedule together. You can also type the expression above directly, or describe the interval in one sentence and have it suggested. Cronjob.de uses German time.

Five cronjobs are free forever, on the five-minute grid. One-minute intervals start with Plus. How to prepare a script on shared web space for this is explained in the web space guide.

FAQ

Common questions

Is every minute free at Cronjob.de?
No. The free plan runs on the five-minute grid. One-minute intervals start with Plus at €17.88 a year. You can try them for free during the first 14 days after signing up.
Does a cron job every minute put load on the server?
The call itself hardly does. What matters is what the script does. If there is nothing to do, it should be finished within a few milliseconds. If it searches the whole database every time, every 5 minutes is the better choice.
How do I run a job every 30 seconds?
Not with cron alone; the smallest unit is the minute. On your own server you add two lines, the second with sleep 30; before the command. At Cronjob.de one minute is the shortest interval.

Create your cronjob now

Create an account, enter the address, click the schedule. Five cronjobs are free forever, the first 14 days run on the Unlimited plan.

Start for free To the crontab generator

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