What is a cron expression?

A cron expression is a string of 5 fields that defines a recurring schedule for automated tasks. The fields represent: minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day of month (1-31), month (1-12), and day of week (0-7, where 0 and 7 are Sunday).

What does * mean in a cron expression?

An asterisk (*) in a cron field means "every possible value" for that field. For example, * in the minute field means every minute, and * in the month field means every month.

What does */15 mean in a cron expression?

*/15 uses the step syntax and means "every 15 units". In the minute field, */15 means every 15 minutes (at minutes 0, 15, 30, and 45). In the hour field, */6 would mean every 6 hours.

How do I run a cron job every weekday?

Use 1-5 in the day-of-week field to target Monday through Friday. For example, "0 9 * * 1-5" runs at 9:00 AM every weekday.

What is the difference between day-of-month and day-of-week in cron?

When both day-of-month and day-of-week are specified (neither is *), most cron implementations use OR logic — the job runs if either condition is met. If only one is specified, only that condition applies.

Free Tool

Cron Expression Parser

Translate cron expressions into plain English and see the next scheduled run times. Supports all five standard cron fields.

Parse a Cron Expression

min

Minute

Hour

day

Day

mon

Month

dow

Weekday

Format: minute(0-59) hour(0-23) day(1-31) month(1-12) weekday(0-7)· Use * (any), */n (every n), n-m (range), n,m (list)

Common Examples

Cron expression format

A standard cron expression has five fields: minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12), day of week (0–7). Special characters: * (any), , (list), - (range), / (step).

Common patterns

"0 * * * *" — every hour on the hour. "*/15 * * * *" — every 15 minutes. "0 9 * * 1" — every Monday at 9 AM. "0 0 1 * *" — first day of every month at midnight.

How to use

Type a cron expression into the input (e.g. 0 9 * * 1).
Click Parse — the human-readable description and next run times appear.
Or pick from the common examples to explore patterns.

All parsing runs in your browser — no data is sent to any server.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a cron expression?: A cron expression is a string of five fields that defines a recurring schedule. It is used by cron daemons and job schedulers to trigger tasks at specified times.
Does this support seconds or 6-field cron?: This tool supports the standard 5-field POSIX cron format. 6-field expressions (with a seconds field, used by Quartz Scheduler) are not currently supported.
Is this tool free?: Yes, completely free with no sign-up required. All processing happens in your browser.

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