What is a cron expression?

A cron expression is a string of 5 fields (minute, hour, day, month, weekday) that defines a schedule for recurring tasks in Unix-like systems.

What do the special characters mean?

* means any value, / means step (*/5 = every 5), , means list (1,3,5), - means range (1-5), and specific numbers mean exact values.

Can I see when my cron job will run next?

Yes. Enter your cron expression and the tool will show the next scheduled execution times, plus a human-readable description.

Cron Expression Parser

Parse cron expressions to human-readable descriptions with next scheduled run times.

Cron Expression

Minute (0-59) (0-59)

Hour (0-23) (0-23)

Day (1-31) (1-31)

Month (1-12) (1-12)

Weekday (0-6) (0-6)

Quick Presets

About Cron Expressions

Cron is a time-based job scheduler in Unix-like systems. A cron expression consists of 5 fields: minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. Special characters include * (any), / (step), , (list), and - (range). Used extensively in CI/CD, scheduled tasks, and automation.

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How to Use

Enter a cron expression (5 fields: minute hour day month weekday)
Or click a quick preset button for common schedules
View the human-readable description
Check the next scheduled run times

Common Use Cases

Setting up scheduled tasks on Linux servers
Configuring CI/CD pipeline schedules
Planning cron jobs for backups
Debugging crontab entries

Cron Expression Parser

About Cron Expressions

More Tools

How to Use

Common Use Cases

Frequently Asked Questions