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Cron expression

Every day at 3 AM

Runs once a day at 03:00, a common time for backups and maintenance.

0 3 * * * Open in Cron Expression Parser

Field by field

Field Value Matches
Minute 0 0
Hour 3 3
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).

  1. Thu, Jan 1, 2026, 03:00
  2. Fri, Jan 2, 2026, 03:00
  3. Sat, Jan 3, 2026, 03:00
  4. Sun, Jan 4, 2026, 03:00
  5. Mon, Jan 5, 2026, 03:00
  6. Tue, Jan 6, 2026, 03:00

Ready-to-use versions

crontab 
0 3 * * * /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-day-at-3am
spec:
  schedule: "0 3 * * *"
  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 3 * * *'
  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 3 * * ?

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 3 * * *")

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

FAQ

› Can daylight saving time affect a 3 AM job?

Yes. In zones that switch at 2 or 3 AM, the hour can be skipped or repeated. Vixie cron compensates in some cases, but running in UTC avoids the problem.

› Which time zone does 0 3 * * * 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 3 * * * 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.