Run a Cron Job Every 10 Minutes
*/10 in the minute field fires at :00, :10, :20, :30, :40, and :50 — six runs per hour, 144 per day. It's a common middle ground: frequent enough for near-real-time syncs, sparse enough that a slightly slow job won't overlap itself.
*/10 * * * *In plain English: Every 10 minutes.
Field by field
| Field | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Minute | */10 | every 10 minutes |
| Hour | * | every hour |
| Day of month | * | every day |
| Month | * | every month |
| Day of week | * | every weekday |
Variations
*/10 8-18 * * *every 10 minutes during an extended workday5-55/10 * * * *every 10 minutes at :05, :15, :25 … — offset from the hour boundary*/10 * * * 6,0every 10 minutes on weekends onlyTweak any of these in the crontab explainer to see the schedule in plain English and its next run times.
Frequently asked questions
Is */10 the same as 0,10,20,30,40,50?
Yes — a step over the full range expands to exactly that list. The step form is just shorter and easier to change later.
Can I do every 7 minutes the same way?
You can write */7, but because 60 isn't divisible by 7 the gap resets at the top of each hour: :00, :07 … :56, then :00 again — only 4 minutes after :56. Steps that don't divide 60 drift like this every hour.
New to cron syntax? Read Cron Expressions Explained, Field by Field. Job not firing? Work through Cron Job Not Running? 10 Things to Check.