How is Spring cron different from Unix cron?

Spring cron uses 6 fields and adds a seconds field at the start. Unix cron uses 5 fields starting at minutes.

Why does my expression throw a parse error in Spring?

The most common cause is using 5 fields (Unix) or 7 fields (Quartz). Spring requires exactly 6 fields: second minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week.

What does the * character mean?

It means every valid value for that field. For example, * in the minute field means every minute.

How do I run a task every 5 minutes in Spring Boot?

Use @Scheduled(cron = "0 */5 * * * *"). The seconds field must be 0, not *, otherwise it fires every second within those minutes.

Do I need @EnableScheduling?

Yes. Add @EnableScheduling on a @Configuration class (or your main application class) for @Scheduled methods to be picked up.

How do I set a timezone?

Use the zone attribute: @Scheduled(cron = "0 0 9 * * MON-FRI", zone = "Asia/Kolkata").

Can Spring cron use L, W, and # like Quartz?

Since Spring 5.3, the day-of-month and day-of-week fields support L, W, and # special characters.

Why does MON-FRI work but 1-5 sometimes does not?

Spring's day-of-week field is 0-7 (SUN=0 or 7). Some users expect 1-5 to mean Monday-Friday but Quartz uses 1-7 (SUN=1). Use MON-FRI to be unambiguous.

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Field reference

Second0–59Required first field

Minute0–59Use 0 with hour rules

Hour0–2324-hour clock

Day1–31Use ? to defer to weekday

Month1–12JAN…DEC also accepted

Weekday0–7SUN=0 or 7 · MON-FRI safe

Special characters

*Every value in the field ?No specific value (day fields only) ,List, e.g. MON,WED,FRI -Range, e.g. 9-17 /Step, e.g. */5 LLast (day-of-month / weekday) WNearest weekday to date #Nth weekday, e.g. MON#1

Pro tips

6 fields, not 5. Always start with a seconds field — usually 0.
Set the zone. Cloud servers default to UTC. Add zone = "Asia/Kolkata" for human times.
Enable scheduling. Annotate a config class with @EnableScheduling or jobs are silently ignored.
Use names, not numbers for weekdays (MON-FRI) to dodge Quartz/Unix off-by-one bugs.

Cron expression

0 0 9 * * MON-FRI

Valid expression

Human description

Runs every weekday at 9:00 AM

Next 5 runs

@Scheduled annotation

With timezone

Full component

009**MON-FRI

Sec
0–59Min
0–59Hour
0–23Day
1–31Month
1–12Weekday
0–7

Spring cron vs Unix cron — the seconds field

Spring's cron parser is intentionally close to the Unix cron most developers know, but it adds one extra field at the very front: seconds. So while a Unix crontab line is 5 fields (min hour dom month dow), every Spring @Scheduled(cron = "…") expression must be exactly 6 fields: second minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week. If you copy a 5-field expression from a server crontab into Spring, it will throw a parse error at boot. The flip side is also true — Quartz expressions ship with 6 or 7 fields (an optional year), and the 7-field form will not parse in Spring either. Spring requires exactly 6.

The 5 most common Spring cron mistakes

Wrong field count. Pasting a 5-field Unix or 7-field Quartz expression. Spring needs 6.
Using * instead of 0 in the seconds field. * */5 * * * * fires every second during those minutes — almost never what you want. Use 0 */5 * * * *.
Numeric weekdays vs names. Spring treats SUN=0 (and SUN=7). Quartz treats SUN=1. Use MON-FRI instead of 1-5 to avoid the off-by-one ambiguity.
Timezone gotchas. Without a zone attribute the cron runs in the server's default timezone, which on cloud hosts is usually UTC — not your local time. Always set zone = "Asia/Kolkata" (or similar) for human-relative schedules.
Forgetting @EnableScheduling. @Scheduled methods are silently ignored unless scheduling is enabled on a @Configuration class (or your main application class).

Spring vs Quartz

Spring's built-in scheduler is fine for simple, in-process jobs. Quartz is a heavier library with clustering, persistence and misfire policies. Pick Spring scheduling when one node is enough; pick Quartz when jobs must survive restarts or run exactly once across a cluster.

	Spring @Scheduled	Quartz
Fields in expression	6 (sec required)	6 or 7 (year optional)
Day-of-week numbering	0–7 (SUN=0 or 7)	1–7 (SUN=1)
Persistence / clustering	No	Yes (JDBC store)

20 most-used Spring cron patterns

Expression	Description	Use case
0 * * * * *	Every minute	Heartbeat ping
/30 * * * *	Every 30 seconds	Fast polling
0 /5 * * *	Every 5 minutes	Cache refresh
0 /10 * * *	Every 10 minutes	Queue drain
0 /15 * * *	Every 15 minutes	Metrics flush
0 0 * * * *	Every hour on the hour	Hourly report
0 30 * * * *	Every hour at :30	Off-peak sync
0 0 /2 * *	Every 2 hours	Batch ETL
0 0 0 * * *	Daily at midnight	Nightly rollup
0 0 9 * * *	Daily at 9 AM	Morning email
0 0 9 * * MON-FRI	Weekdays at 9 AM	Standup digest
0 0 18 * * FRI	Fridays at 6 PM	Weekly newsletter
0 0 10 * * SAT,SUN	Weekends at 10 AM	Weekend backup
0 0 0 1 * *	1st of month, midnight	Invoicing
0 0 0 L * *	Last day of month	Month-end close
0 0 0 1 1 *	Jan 1st, midnight	Yearly reset
0 0 12 * * *	Daily at noon	Lunch reminder
0 0 2 * * SUN	Sundays at 2 AM	Weekly cleanup
0 15 10 ? * MON-FRI	Weekdays at 10:15	Daily report
0 0 0 1 /3	Quarterly (1st)	Quarterly billing

FAQ

Why doesn't * * * * * work in Spring?

That's a 5-field Unix expression. Spring needs 6 fields. Prepend a 0 for seconds: 0 * * * * *.

What does the ? mean?

It's a "no specific value" placeholder, valid only in the day-of-month or day-of-week field. Use it when you specify one and want to leave the other unconstrained.

Does Spring support L, W and #?

Yes, since Spring 5.3. L = last day, W = nearest weekday, # = nth weekday of the month (e.g. MON#1 = first Monday).

How do I make a job run only once?

Cron is not the right primitive for one-shot work — use @Scheduled(initialDelay = ..., fixedDelay = Long.MAX_VALUE) or trigger from ApplicationReadyEvent.

Why is my method running twice?

You probably loaded the same @Configuration twice (e.g. component scan plus explicit import) or you have two instances of the bean. Check for duplicate @EnableScheduling.

Can I read the cron value from application.yml?

Yes: @Scheduled(cron = "${app.report.cron}"). Spring resolves the property at startup.

How do I disable a scheduled job at runtime?

Set the cron value to - (a single dash). Spring treats it as disabled.

What timezone is used by default?

The server's default timezone. On most cloud hosts that is UTC. Always set zone explicitly if your schedule is human-relative.