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Cron Expression Explainer
Decode any cron expression into plain English. Shows the next 5 scheduled times and a field-by-field breakdown. Works fully offline.
Common presets
Field order
minute (0–59)
hour (0–23)
day of month (1–31)
month (1–12)
day of week (0–6, Sun=0)
hour (0–23)
day of month (1–31)
month (1–12)
day of week (0–6, Sun=0)
Special characters
* = any value
, = list (1,3,5)
- = range (1-5)
/ = step (*/15)
, = list (1,3,5)
- = range (1-5)
/ = step (*/15)
Cron Expression Explainer
Enter a 5-field cron expression to decode it into a plain-language description, see the next scheduled run times, and get a field-by-field breakdown. Use the preset buttons to explore common patterns.
What is a cron expression?
Cron is a Unix job scheduler. A cron expression tells the system when to run a task, using five fields separated by spaces:
┌── minute (0–59)
│ ┌── hour (0–23)
│ │ ┌── day of month (1–31)
│ │ │ ┌── month (1–12)
│ │ │ │ ┌── day of week (0–6, Sun=0)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *Special characters
*— matches every value in the field,— list separator:1,3,5-— range:1-5(Monday to Friday)/— step:*/15(every 15 minutes),0/2(every even minute from 0)
Examples
0 9 * * 1-5— 9:00 AM every weekday*/30 * * * *— every 30 minutes0 0 1,15 * *— midnight on the 1st and 15th of every month0 6 * * 0— 6:00 AM every Sunday