How to Parse Cron Expressions

Build and understand cron schedule expressions visually. Free cron parser that shows next run times, explains syntax in plain English, and generates expressions.

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Step-by-Step Guide

1

Enter a cron expression

Type a cron expression (e.g., "0 9 * * 1-5" for weekdays at 9am) or use the visual builder to create one by selecting minute, hour, day, month, and weekday.

2

Read the plain English description

The tool translates your cron expression into a human-readable sentence like "At 09:00, Monday through Friday" so you can verify it does what you intend.

3

Check next run times

See the next 5-10 scheduled execution times calculated from now. This confirms your schedule runs when you expect it to.

4

Copy and use

Copy the expression for your crontab, CI/CD pipeline, or scheduler config. The standard 5-field format works with most Unix systems and cloud schedulers.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What do the 5 cron fields mean?
Minute (0-59), Hour (0-23), Day of month (1-31), Month (1-12), Day of week (0-6, where 0 is Sunday). Use * for "every" and , for multiple values.
How do I run a job every 5 minutes?
Use */5 * * * * — the */5 in the minute field means "every 5 minutes". Similarly, */2 in the hour field means "every 2 hours".
What is the difference between cron and crontab?
Cron is the scheduler daemon. Crontab (cron table) is the file where you define your scheduled jobs. Edit it with "crontab -e" on Unix systems.
Related Reference

Cron Cheat Sheet

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