Run a Cron Job Every 2 Minutes
*/2 in the minute field fires on every even minute — :00, :02, :04 through :58 — around the clock. It's the step to reach for when once a minute is more than a job needs but five minutes is too slow: queue drains, near-real-time syncs, quick health checks.
*/2 * * * *In plain English: Every 2 minutes.
Field by field
| Field | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Minute | */2 | every 2 minutes |
| Hour | * | every hour |
| Day of month | * | every day |
| Month | * | every month |
| Day of week | * | every weekday |
Variations
1-59/2 * * * *odd minutes (:01, :03 …) — pair it with */2 to alternate two jobs*/2 9-17 * * 1-5every 2 minutes, weekdays, 09:00–17:590-58/2 * * * *the explicit-range spelling of the same scheduleTweak any of these in the crontab explainer to see the schedule in plain English and its next run times.
Frequently asked questions
Does */2 run on even or odd minutes?
Even ones. A step counts from the start of the range — minute 0 for * — so */2 matches 0, 2, 4 … 58. Use 1-59/2 for the odd minutes.
How do I stop runs from overlapping?
If a run can take longer than two minutes, wrap it in flock: */2 * * * * flock -n /tmp/job.lock /path/to/job. A second copy exits immediately instead of piling up.
New to cron syntax? Read Cron Expressions Explained, Field by Field. Job not firing? Work through Cron Job Not Running? 10 Things to Check.