What is a cron expression?

A cron expression is a string of 5 (or 6) space-separated fields that defines a schedule. The fields represent minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. For example, '0 9 * * 1-5' means 'at 9:00 AM, Monday through Friday'. Cron expressions are used in Unix/Linux systems, CI/CD pipelines, cloud schedulers, and task automation tools.

How do I read a cron expression?

Read a cron expression left to right: minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day of month (1-31), month (1-12), day of week (0-6). An asterisk (*) means 'any value'. For example, '30 14 * * *' means 'at 2:30 PM every day'. Use our parser to instantly convert any cron expression to human-readable text.

What do the special characters in cron mean?

* (asterisk) = any value, , (comma) = list of values (e.g., 1,3,5), - (hyphen) = range (e.g., 1-5 means 1 through 5), / (slash) = step (e.g., */5 means every 5). Some implementations also support ? (no specific value), L (last), W (weekday), and # (nth occurrence).

What are common cron presets?

@yearly or @annually = '0 0 1 1 *' (Jan 1 midnight), @monthly = '0 0 1 * *' (1st of month midnight), @weekly = '0 0 * * 0' (Sunday midnight), @daily or @midnight = '0 0 * * *' (every midnight), @hourly = '0 * * * *' (every hour). These shortcuts work in most cron implementations.

Does cron support seconds?

Standard Unix cron uses 5 fields (minute through day of week) and does not support seconds. However, some systems like Spring Scheduler, Quartz, and AWS CloudWatch support a 6th field for seconds at the beginning of the expression. Our parser supports both 5-field and 6-field formats.

How do I calculate next cron run times?

Our cron parser automatically calculates the next 10 execution times for any valid cron expression. It shows exact dates and times so you can verify your schedule is correct before deploying. You can also see the interval between runs.

Cron Expression Parser

Our cron expression parser translates cron schedules into plain English and calculates upcoming execution times. Paste any cron expression and instantly see what it means, when it will run next, and whether the syntax is valid. Supports standard 5-field crontab format (minute, hour, day, month, weekday), extended 6-field format with seconds, and common presets like @daily, @hourly, @weekly. All processing happens in your browser.

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calendar_today Updated: April 2026

auto_awesome AI Insights AI

New

Cron Expression

Presets:

*/5 * * * *

MIN HOUR DOM MON DOW

0-59 0-23 1-31 1-12 0-6

translate

Human Readable

Every 5 minutes

Field Breakdown

Next 10 Execution Times

auto_awesome AI Analysis

Cron Analysis:

Expression: */5 * * * *
Schedule: Every 5 minutes

Tip: Use crontab -l to list your current cron jobs.

lightbulb Tips

•*/5 = every 5, using the step operator
•0 = Sunday, 1 = Monday ... 6 = Saturday
•@daily, @hourly, @weekly are handy shortcuts
•Always test cron before deploying

How to Use This Calculator

edit

Enter Expression

Type or paste a cron expression (5 or 6 fields). Use presets for common schedules.

translate

Read Description

See the human-readable translation of what your cron expression does.

schedule

Check Next Runs

View the next 10 execution times to verify your schedule is correct.

build

Build Expression

Use the interactive builder to create a new cron expression from scratch.

The Formula

A cron expression is a schedule definition using 5 space-separated fields: minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day of month (1-31), month (1-12), and day of week (0-6, where 0=Sunday). Each field can use wildcards (*), ranges (1-5), lists (1,3,5), and step values (*/5). Some systems support a 6th field (seconds) at the beginning.

┌───────────── minute (0-59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0-6, Sun=0)
* * * * *

lightbulb Variables Explained

* Any value (wildcard)
, Value list separator (e.g., 1,3,5)
- Range of values (e.g., 1-5)
/ Step values (e.g., */5 = every 5)

tips_and_updates Pro Tips

*/5 * * * * means every 5 minutes — the / is the step operator

0 0 * * 0 runs at midnight every Sunday (day 0 = Sunday in most systems)

Use @daily, @hourly, @weekly, @monthly as shortcuts for common schedules

Day of week: 0=Sun, 1=Mon, 2=Tue, 3=Wed, 4=Thu, 5=Fri, 6=Sat

Both day-of-month and day-of-week can't be specific simultaneously in standard cron

Month names (JAN-DEC) and day names (SUN-SAT) work in many cron implementations

Always test cron expressions before deploying — off-by-one errors are common

Parse & Understand Cron Expressions Online

Our free cron expression parser translates cron schedules into human-readable text and shows upcoming execution times. Validate cron syntax, understand each field, and verify your schedules before deploying. Supports standard 5-field and extended 6-field cron formats.