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Google Cloud Scheduler cron expression: twice a day at 9am and 9pm
To run a Google Cloud Scheduler job twice a day at 9am and 9pm, use:
0 9,21 * * *At minute 0, during hours 09, 21.
Your week at a glance
Upcoming runs
| # | Local | UTC | From now |
|---|
Copy-ready code
Why use this schedule
A morning and an evening run. Listing the two hours with a comma keeps the intent obvious to the next person reading the config, which matters more than saving a few characters.
- Morning and evening status reports
- Syncing inventory before and after business hours
- Refreshing a feed twice daily
First runs, as an example
Starting from 1 January 2027, evaluated in UTC:
| # | Date and time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fri, 01 Jan 2027, 09:00:00 |
| 2 | Fri, 01 Jan 2027, 21:00:00 |
| 3 | Sat, 02 Jan 2027, 09:00:00 |
| 4 | Sat, 02 Jan 2027, 21:00:00 |
| 5 | Sun, 03 Jan 2027, 09:00:00 |
| 6 | Sun, 03 Jan 2027, 21:00:00 |
Twice a day at 9am and 9pm in every dialect
| System | Expression |
|---|---|
| Google Cloud Scheduler (this page) | 0 9,21 * * * |
| Quartz | 0 0 9,21 * * ? |
| Spring | 0 0 9,21 * * * |
| Crontab | 0 9,21 * * * |
| Kubernetes | 0 9,21 * * * |
| AWS EventBridge | 0 9,21 * * ? * |
| Jenkins | H 9,21 * * * |
| GitHub Actions | 0 9,21 * * * |
| node-cron | 0 9,21 * * * |
| Apache Airflow | 0 9,21 * * * |
| Azure Functions | 0 0 9,21 * * * |
Need to translate a different expression? Use the cron converter.
Ready-to-use Google Cloud Scheduler config
Drop this into your project. The expression is the one above.
gcloud scheduler jobs create http my-job \
--schedule="0 9,21 * * *" \
--time-zone="Etc/UTC" \
--uri="https://example.com/run" \
--http-method=POSTThe Google Cloud Scheduler fields, in order: minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day-of-month (1-31), month (1-12), day-of-week (0-7, 0 and 7 = Sunday).
Things to watch out for in Google Cloud Scheduler
- Pick the time zone explicitly (the default is UTC). Cloud Scheduler runs on wall-clock time, so a local zone can make jobs run or skip around daylight saving changes.
- Cloud Scheduler takes any tz database zone (default UTC) and runs on wall-clock time, so daylight saving can make jobs run or not run unexpectedly. Google recommends UTC to avoid that.
The common mistake with this schedule
Writing 9-21 means every hour from 9 to 21, not just those two. Use a comma for exactly two values.
Frequently asked questions
How do I run a Google Cloud Scheduler job twice a day at 9am and 9pm?
Use 0 9,21 * * *. At minute 0, during hours 09, 21.
What is the twice a day at 9am and 9pm cron expression in other systems?
Quartz: 0 0 9,21 * * ?; Spring: 0 0 9,21 * * *; Crontab: 0 9,21 * * *. The table on this page lists every dialect.
Which time zone does Google Cloud Scheduler use for this schedule?
Cloud Scheduler takes any tz database zone (default UTC) and runs on wall-clock time, so daylight saving can make jobs run or not run unexpectedly. Google recommends UTC to avoid that.