Every 4 hours Cron Expression (0 */4 * * *)

0 */4 * * * Open in Cron Expression Parser

Field by field

Field	Value	Matches
Minute	0	0
Hour	*/4	0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20
Day of month	*	Every value
Month	*	Every value
Day of week	*	Every value

Next run times

Example: the first 6 runs after January 1, 2026 (UTC).

Thu, Jan 1, 2026, 04:00
Thu, Jan 1, 2026, 08:00
Thu, Jan 1, 2026, 12:00
Thu, Jan 1, 2026, 16:00
Thu, Jan 1, 2026, 20:00
Fri, Jan 2, 2026, 00:00

Ready-to-use versions

crontab

0 */4 * * * /path/to/command

Add the line with crontab -e. It runs in the server's time zone unless CRON_TZ or TZ is set.

Kubernetes CronJob

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: every-4-hours
spec:
  schedule: "0 */4 * * *"
  timeZone: "Etc/UTC"
  concurrencyPolicy: Forbid
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          restartPolicy: OnFailure
          containers:
            - name: job
              image: busybox:1.36
              command: ["/bin/sh", "-c", "date; echo run"]

Set spec.timeZone (Kubernetes 1.27+); without it the schedule follows the controller manager's time zone, usually UTC.

GitHub Actions

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 */4 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch:

GitHub Actions always uses UTC, accepts intervals of 5 minutes or more, and may start scheduled runs late under load.

Quartz

0 0 */4 * * ?

Quartz puts seconds first and needs ? in either day-of-month or day-of-week. Days are 1–7 from Sunday, so names are safer.

Spring

@Scheduled(cron = "0 0 */4 * * *")

Spring @Scheduled(cron = …) takes six fields: seconds, then the usual five.

FAQ

› How do I run every 4 hours starting at 2 AM?

Use 0 2-23/4 * * *, which runs at 02:00, 06:00, 10:00, 14:00, 18:00 and 22:00.

› Which time zone does 0 */4 * * * run in?

Cron uses the time zone of the machine or service that runs it. On Linux that is the system time zone unless CRON_TZ or TZ is set; Kubernetes CronJobs accept spec.timeZone; GitHub Actions always uses UTC.

› How can I check this schedule before deploying it?

Open 0 */4 * * * in the Cron Expression Parser on this site. It explains each field and lists the upcoming runs in your local time or UTC, right in your browser.