Scheduling Tasks in Spring Boot with @Scheduled

Modern applications often need to perform background tasks automatically — like sending emails, cleaning logs, syncing data, or generating reports. A simple and elegant way in Scheduling Tasks in Spring Boot is with @Scheduled Annotation.

In this guide, we’ll explore how to use Spring Boot @Scheduled tasks, including:

Enabling scheduling
Using fixed rate and fixed delay
Writing cron expressions
Real-world scheduling examples
Error handling and async execution

Scheduling Tasks in Spring Boot with @Scheduled

✅ Step 1: Enable Scheduling

First, annotate your main application class with @EnableScheduling:

package com.kscodes.springboot;

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;

import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;

import org.springframework.scheduling.annotation.EnableScheduling;

@SpringBootApplication

@EnableScheduling

public class TaskSchedulerApplication {

public static void main(String[] args) {

SpringApplication.run(TaskSchedulerApplication.class, args);

}

🔁 Step 2: Use @Scheduled Annotation

You can annotate any @Component method with @Scheduled to run it automatically.

⏱ Option 1: Fixed Rate

Runs at a regular interval from the start of the previous execution.

package com.kscodes.springboot.scheduler;

import org.springframework.scheduling.annotation.Scheduled;

import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;

@Component

public class FixedRateScheduler {

@Scheduled(fixedRate = 5000) // Every 5 seconds

public void scheduleTask() {

System.out.println("📢 Fixed Rate Task - " + System.currentTimeMillis());

}

⌛ Option 2: Fixed Delay

Runs with a delay after the completion of the previous execution.

@Scheduled(fixedDelay = 5000)

public void scheduleTaskWithDelay() {

System.out.println("📢 Fixed Delay Task - " + System.currentTimeMillis());

}

⏳ Option 3: Initial Delay + Fixed Rate

Use initialDelay to delay the first execution, then follow fixedRate.

@Scheduled(initialDelay = 3000, fixedRate = 7000)

public void scheduleWithInitialDelay() {

System.out.println("📢 Delayed Start Task - " + System.currentTimeMillis());

}

📆 Option 4: Cron Expression

For complex scheduling like “Every Monday at 10AM”:

@Scheduled(cron = "0 0 10 * * MON")

public void cronJob() {

System.out.println("📅 Cron Task - Monday 10AM");

}

Cron Format: second minute hour day month day-of-week
Example: "0 0/15 * * * *" → Every 15 minutes

📌 Real-World Examples

💌 Send Email Every Night

@Scheduled(cron = "0 0 2 * * *") // Every day at 2 AM

public void sendDailyEmailReport() {

// email logic

}

🧹 Delete Old Logs Weekly

@Scheduled(cron = "0 0 3 * * SUN") // Every Sunday at 3 AM

public void cleanLogs() {

// cleanup logic

}

⚠️ Handling Exceptions

By default, a thrown exception stops future executions.

Wrap your logic with try-catch to avoid interruption:

@Scheduled(fixedRate = 10000)

public void safeTask() {

try {

// risky task

} catch (Exception ex) {

System.err.println("❌ Error in scheduled task: " + ex.getMessage());

}

⚙️ Async Execution of Tasks

Use @Async to run scheduled tasks in parallel.

Step 1: Enable Async

@EnableAsync

@EnableScheduling

@SpringBootApplication

public class MyApp {}

Step 2: Annotate Method

@Async

@Scheduled(fixedRate = 2000)

public void parallelTask() {

System.out.println("🏃 Running in background: " + Thread.currentThread().getName());

}

📝 Customizing Scheduling via application.yml

You can define values externally using @Scheduled(${...}) and application.yml:

scheduler:

cleanup-rate: 5000

@Scheduled(fixedRateString = "${scheduler.cleanup-rate}")

public void externalConfiguredTask() {

// task

}

✅ Summary

Scheduling Tasks in Spring Boot with @Scheduled provides a simple way to automate recurring jobs in your application. Whether it’s a cron-based job or fixed interval task, Spring gives you full control over scheduling.

In this guide, you learned following items:

How to enable scheduling
Fixed rate vs fixed delay
Cron expressions
Async tasks and exception handling

Use Spring Boot @Scheduled tasks to automate your background workflows and keep your services self-maintaining and efficient.