Cron Expression Generator & Explainer

Generate, validate and explain 5-field cron expressions in plain language.

Cron Expression

Use 5 fields: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week

Quick Templates

Human-readable Explanation

Next Execution Times

Enter a valid cron expression to see upcoming runs.

Cron Fields (5-Field Format)

1 - Minute (0-59)

2 - Hour (0-23)

3 - Day of month (1-31)

4 - Month (1-12)

5 - Day of week (0-6, Sunday=0)

Popular Cron Examples

0 0 * * * -> Runs every day at 00:00
*/15 * * * * -> Runs every 15 minutes
0 9 * * 1-5 -> Runs at 09:00 on weekdays
0 0 1 * * -> Runs on the first day of each month

What is a Cron Expression?

A cron expression is a compact schedule format used to define when a job should run. It is commonly used in servers, automation tools, CI/CD pipelines and cloud schedulers.

What do the cron stars mean? (Minute, Hour, Day...)

In cron, * means any value for that field. In a 5-field expression, the fields are minute, hour, day of month, month and day of week. You can also use ranges, lists and step values like */5.

Common Cron Examples

0 * * * * -> Every hour
0 0 * * * -> Every day at midnight
0 9 * * 1-5 -> Weekdays at 09:00
0 0 * * 6,0 -> Every weekend
*/10 * * * * -> Every 10 minutes

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