Cron Expression Parser
Parse cron expressions and see when they will run next. Supports standard 5-field cron syntax.
Cron Expression
minute
hour
day
month
weekday
Human Readable
Enter a cron expression to see description
Next Executions
- Parse expression to see schedule
Field Breakdown
| Minute | Hour | Day of Month | Month | Day of Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| * | * | * | * | * |
| 0-59 | 0-23 | 1-31 | 1-12 | 0-6 (Sun-Sat) |
Cron Syntax Reference
Special Characters
* | Any value |
, | Value list (1,3,5) |
- | Range (1-5) |
/ | Step (*/15 = every 15) |
Field Ranges
| Minute | 0-59 |
| Hour | 0-23 |
| Day | 1-31 |
| Month | 1-12 or JAN-DEC |
| Weekday | 0-6 or SUN-SAT |
Examples
0 0 * * * | Daily at midnight |
*/5 * * * * | Every 5 minutes |
0 9 * * 1 | Mondays at 9 AM |
0 0 1 * * | Monthly on 1st |
What is Cron?
Cron is a time-based job scheduler in Unix-like operating systems. Users can schedule jobs (commands or scripts) to run periodically at fixed times, dates, or intervals. Cron expressions define when these jobs should execute.
Cron Expression Format:
* * * * *
min hour day month weekday
min hour day month weekday
Frequently Asked Questions
Standard Unix cron uses 5 fields (minute, hour, day, month, weekday). Some systems like Quartz add a 6th field for seconds at the beginning. This tool supports the standard 5-field format.
Both work in most implementations! Sunday can be represented as 0 or 7. Saturday is 6. You can also use three-letter abbreviations: SUN, MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI, SAT.
By default, cron uses the system timezone. In cloud environments, servers often use UTC. Always verify your server's timezone with
date command, or set the TZ environment variable explicitly.