This cron expression generator builds a schedule from simple presets, then explains it in plain English and shows the next run times. Paste an existing cron string to decode it, or tweak the five fields until the schedule reads the way you intend.
Cron is the standard way to schedule recurring jobs across schedulers, CI systems and automation platforms — and a single wrong field can mean a job never runs.
How cron expressions work
A standard cron expression has five fields, in order: minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12) and day of week (0–6, where 0 is Sunday). An asterisk means “every”. So 0 9 * * 1-5 means “at 09:00, Monday to Friday”. A slash sets a step: */5 in the minute field means “every 5 minutes”.
Common cron schedules
Every 5 minutes is */5 * * * *; hourly on the hour is 0 * * * *; daily at 9am is 0 9 * * *; weekdays at 8am is 0 8 * * 1-5; and the first of every month at midnight is 0 0 1 * *. Use the preset buttons above to load any of these and adjust from there.
Reading and debugging cron
When both day-of-month and day-of-week are restricted, standard cron treats them as an OR — the job runs when either matches. Some schedulers add a seconds field or special strings like @daily, so always check your tool’s documentation. The next-run list above is computed in your browser’s local timezone.