Workflows not triggering on schedule

[TommyWieght]

So I got multiple workflows that should trigger every 4 hours. The first one every 4 hours on the 0th minute and the other one every 4 hours on the 20th minute. I also got a personal one that triggers every 6 hours. Only one of the 3 seems to start. If I disable one the second in line does trigger every 4 hours. Is this by design? I should be able to have multiple on schedule triggers, right?

[ruthwik]

It’s not by design — you should definitely be able to run multiple workflows on different schedules at the same time in n8n. Each workflow’s Cron trigger is independent, so having one set to run every 4 hours on the 0th minute, another every 4 hours on the 20th minute, and a third every 6 hours should all work without interfering with each other.

If only one workflow starts while the others don’t, that suggests something else may be happening, such as:

1. Workflow execution mode – Make sure all workflows are set to “Active” and not accidentally paused.

2. Concurrency/queue limitations – If you’re running n8n with limited execution concurrency (for example, with queues), one long-running workflow could block another if they overlap.

3. Cron overlap – Check if your server’s timezone or cron scheduling logic might be causing them to collide unexpectedly. Check your workflow settings for timezone.

4. Instance setup – If you’re running multiple n8n instances or using queues, confirm that triggers are properly registered on the main process.

You should be able to have multiple scheduled triggers running without issue. If this behavior continues, I’d recommend:

• Reviewing the Execution logs in each workflow to confirm whether triggers are firing.

• Checking your n8n version (as older versions had some scheduling-related bugs).

• Restarting n8n to ensure all Cron jobs are registered properly.

[TommyWieght]

Hi @ruthwik, first of all, thanks for your response.

I am on Running version [email protected]

1. As shown in my screenshot, they are set to active. Could they be paused somewhere else?

2. They run for about 6 minutes each. There’s a 20 min interval between them but neither of them start at all on the workflow. The one in my personal is the only one working right now which triggers every 4 hours instead of 3 so that one shouldn’t cause the overlap neither.

3. Answered above, shouldn’t be possible

4. I’m only running the Cloud instance I use. When triggering by hand they work flawless, what does “registered on the main process” mean? It’s a time based trigger that only triggers the flow behind it. Not a pre-trigger to flow over into another work flow if that makes sense.

Last time it triggered was 20:00:21 and then no more triggers happened. Nothing has changed.

[ruthwik]

@TommyWieght Can you share the error, if at all there is any error.
If you want, paste the exact cron expressions you’re using and your local timezone, and I’ll sanity-check the next expected fire times.

May I also know the cloud instance details , is it trial version ?

[TommyWieght]

I’ve put the trigger on every 20 minutes and now two work instead of just one… could there be a too long of a pause? I’m so confused.

Screenshot below is the one not triggering. It’s a paid cloud instance. My Timezone is GMT +1 (but this shouldn’t matter if it should be triggered every 3 hours right?)

[ruthwik]

Within each 3-hour interval, the trigger will fire at the 20th minute of the hour.
For example: 12:20, 3:20, 6:20, 9:20

You should wait 3 hours to see this trigger to work, for testing purpose try reducing the hours.

[TommyWieght]

@ruthwik I know, I’ve waited over 24 hours with this setup..