Free Cron Expression Builder & Parser
Build a cron schedule from simple fields, or paste in an expression to see exactly what it does in plain English.
Fields
* * * * *
Every minute.
Parse an existing expression
Frequently Asked Questions
What order are cron fields in?
Standard 5-field cron reads: minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day of month (1-31), month (1-12), and day of week (0-6, where 0 and 7 both mean Sunday). Some systems add a seconds or year field, but this covers what cron, crontab, and most schedulers expect.
What do the special characters mean?
* means "every value." A comma list like 1,15 means those specific values. A range like 1-5 means every value in between. A step like */15 means every 15th value starting from the field's minimum, and 0-30/10 combines a range with a step.
How do I schedule something for weekdays only?
Set the day-of-week field to 1-5 (Monday through Friday) and leave day-of-month as *. For example, 0 9 * * 1-5 runs at 9:00 AM every weekday.
Can I paste in an existing cron expression?
Yes — paste any 5-field cron expression into the parser box and it fills in the individual fields and generates a plain-English description, so you can check what a schedule you found online or inherited from a teammate actually does.