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Cron Expression Generator

Build a cron schedule from presets or fields, see exactly what it means in plain English, and preview the next five run times.

Quick presets

0–59

0–23

1–31

1–12

0–6 (Sun–Sat)

Cron expression

*/5 * * * *

In plain English

“Every 5 minutes”

Next 5 runs

  • 2026-06-21 15:35 UTC · Sunday
  • 2026-06-21 15:40 UTC · Sunday
  • 2026-06-21 15:45 UTC · Sunday
  • 2026-06-21 15:50 UTC · Sunday
  • 2026-06-21 15:55 UTC · Sunday

Everything updates live in your browser session — no account, no setup.

Common cron expressions

Expression What it means
* * * * * Every minute
*/5 * * * * Every 5 minutes
0 * * * * At the top of every hour
0 0 * * * Every day at midnight
0 9 * * 1-5 At 9:00 AM, Monday to Friday
0 0 1 * * At midnight on the 1st of every month
30 3 * * 0 At 3:30 AM every Sunday

How cron expressions work

A cron expression has five fields separated by spaces. Each field controls one part of the schedule, from minutes on the left to the day of the week on the right.

* * * * *
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ └─ day of week (0–6, Sun–Sat)
│ │ │ └─── month (1–12)
│ │ └───── day of month (1–31)
│ └─────── hour (0–23)
└───────── minute (0–59)

Each field accepts a single value (5), a list (1,15,30), a range (1-5), a step (*/10 means "every 10"), or an asterisk (*) meaning "every value". Combine them to express almost any recurring schedule.

For example, 0 9 * * 1-5 runs at 9:00 AM on weekdays. Cron jobs run in the server's time zone, so always confirm whether your scheduler uses UTC or local time — the preview above is in UTC.

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Frequently asked questions

What is a cron expression?
A cron expression is a compact string of five fields that defines a recurring schedule — when a task should run. It's used by Unix cron, CI pipelines, Kubernetes CronJobs and many schedulers.
What do the five fields mean?
From left to right: minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12), and day of week (0–6, where 0 and 7 are Sunday).
What does */5 mean in cron?
The slash is a step value. */5 in the minute field means "every 5 minutes". Similarly */2 in the hour field means "every 2 hours".
Are cron jobs in UTC or local time?
It depends on the scheduler and the server's time zone configuration. Many cloud schedulers default to UTC. The next-run preview on this page is always shown in UTC so you can compare reliably.
Does this generator support seconds?
This tool uses the standard 5-field cron format (minute precision), which is what most schedulers expect. Six-field formats that add a seconds column are a non-standard extension.