Cron expression builder and explainer
Translate a cron expression into plain English and see exactly when it will next run. Each field is labelled underneath, so the syntax becomes learnable rather than memorised.
Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
Five fields: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week
Runs at 09:00, on Monday to Friday.
Next 5 runs (UTC)
- 2026-07-29 09:00
- 2026-07-30 09:00
- 2026-07-31 09:00
- 2026-08-03 09:00
- 2026-08-04 09:00
Common schedules
Next-run times are in UTC. Your server or scheduler may use a different timezone, and some platforms add a sixth seconds field or support non-standard extensions such as @daily and L. When both day-of-month and day-of-week are restricted, standard cron runs on either match, not both.
How to use
- Enter an expression. Five fields: minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week.
- Read the description. The plain-English version updates as you type, and invalid fields say which one is wrong and why.
- Check the next runs. The next five run times, in UTC, so you can confirm it does what you meant.
- Or start from a preset. Common schedules are one click away.
Questions
What do the five fields mean?
In order: minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12) and day of week (0–6, with Sunday as 0). An asterisk means every value.
What happens if I set both day-of-month and day-of-week?
Standard cron runs when either matches, not both. So "0 0 13 * 5" runs on the 13th of every month AND on every Friday — a common and expensive misunderstanding.
What timezone do the next runs use?
UTC. Your scheduler may use the server’s local timezone, and if that zone observes daylight saving, jobs scheduled in the shifted hour can be skipped or run twice a year.
Does it support @daily, L or W?
No. Those are non-standard extensions supported by some schedulers (Quartz, Jenkins, Spring) but not by classic cron. This tool covers the standard five-field syntax, including ranges, lists and steps.