What is a cron expression?

A cron expression is a string of five (or six) fields that defines a recurring schedule for automated tasks. The standard five-field format is: minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12), and day of week (0–7, where both 0 and 7 mean Sunday). Special characters like * (any), , (list), - (range), and / (step) let you describe complex schedules compactly.

How do I run a cron job every 5 minutes?

Use the expression */5 * * * * — the */5 in the minute field means 'every 5 minutes'. You can enter this directly in the editor or pick it from the Quick Presets panel. The next-run preview will confirm the cadence.

What does * mean in a cron expression?

An asterisk (*) means 'every valid value'. For example, * in the hour field means 'every hour'. Combined with other fields, * * * * * means 'every minute of every day'.

How do I schedule a job on weekdays only?

Set the day-of-week field to 1-5 (Monday to Friday). For example, 0 9 * * 1-5 runs at 09:00 every weekday. The editor's human-readable output confirms the schedule instantly.

Is this cron expression editor free?

Yes — 100% free, no login required, and all parsing runs entirely in your browser. Your cron expressions are never sent to a server.

Does this tool support seconds in cron expressions?

This editor uses the standard 5-field Unix cron format (minute, hour, day, month, weekday). Extended 6-field formats (with a leading seconds field, used by some schedulers like Spring or AWS EventBridge) are not currently supported.

Free Cron Tool for Developers

Build & Parse Cron
Expressions Instantly

Write a cron schedule and see exactly when it runs — in plain English. Build visually, use quick presets, and preview the next 10 execution times without opening a man page.

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Human-Readable

Instantly translate any cron expression into plain English — no guesswork, no man pages.

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Next Run Times

Preview the next 10 scheduled run times so you can verify your schedule before deploying.

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Visual Builder

Set minute, hour, day, month, and weekday fields individually, or pick a quick preset.

Cron Expression

Minute

Hour

Day

Month

Weekday

At 9:00 AM on weekdays

Parsed successfully — 5-field Unix cron format

Quick Presets

Next 10 Runs

1Thu, Jul 23, 2026, 09:00 AM

2Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 09:00 AM

3Mon, Jul 27, 2026, 09:00 AM

4Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 09:00 AM

5Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 09:00 AM

6Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 09:00 AM

7Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 09:00 AM

8Mon, Aug 3, 2026, 09:00 AM

9Tue, Aug 4, 2026, 09:00 AM

10Wed, Aug 5, 2026, 09:00 AM

Syntax Reference

Symbol	Meaning	Example
*	Any / every value	* in hour = every hour
,	List of values	1,3,5 = 1st, 3rd, 5th
-	Range of values	1-5 = values 1 through 5
/	Step / every N	*/15 = every 15 units

Minute

0 – 59

Hour

0 – 23

Day

1 – 31

Month

1 – 12