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Cron Expression Builder & Decoder
Build cron schedules visually, decode any cron string to plain English, and preview the next run times instantly.
// Set your schedule
// Your cron expression
* * * * *
Runs every minute, every hour, every day.
// Next 5 scheduled runs
// Paste any cron expression
─ minute
─ hour
─ day (month)
─ month
─ day (week)
Common Cron Expression Examples
Ready-to-use cron expressions for the most common scheduling needs.
| Expression | Meaning | Use Case | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| * * * * * | Every minute | Health checks, real-time monitoring | Common |
| 0 * * * * | Every hour at :00 | Hourly reports, cache refresh | Common |
| 0 0 * * * | Every day at midnight | Daily backups, log rotation | Common |
| 0 9 * * 1-5 | 9 AM on weekdays | Daily standup reminders, business reports | Common |
| 0 0 * * 0 | Every Sunday at midnight | Weekly database cleanup, digests | Common |
| 0 0 1 * * | 1st of every month at midnight | Monthly invoices, billing cycles | Common |
| */5 * * * * | Every 5 minutes | API polling, queue processing | Common |
| */15 * * * * | Every 15 minutes | Price checks, feed updates | Common |
| 0 8,12,18 * * * | At 8 AM, 12 PM, 6 PM daily | Notification bursts, sync jobs | Advanced |
| 0 0 1 1 * | January 1st at midnight | Yearly resets, annual reports | Advanced |
| 30 23 * * 5 | Friday at 11:30 PM | End-of-week archiving | Advanced |
| 0 0 1,15 * * | 1st and 15th of each month | Bi-monthly payroll, reminders | Advanced |
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about cron expressions.
What is a cron expression?
A cron expression is a string of 5 space-separated fields that defines a recurring schedule for automated tasks on Unix-based systems. The fields represent, in order:
minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. For example, 0 9 * * 1-5 means "run at 9:00 AM, Monday through Friday."What does * (asterisk) mean in a cron expression?
An asterisk
* is a wildcard that means "every possible value" for that field. For example, * in the hour field means every hour. * * * * * — all five fields as wildcards — means the job runs every single minute.How do I run a cron job every 5 minutes?
Use the step operator with a slash:
*/5 * * * *. The */5 in the minute field means "every 5 minutes starting from 0." You can apply the same pattern to any field — */2 in the hour field means every 2 hours, and so on.What is the difference between day of month and day of week?
Field 3 (day of month) targets a specific date in the calendar month, like the 1st or the 15th. Field 5 (day of week) targets a specific weekday, from Sunday (0) to Saturday (6). If you set both to non-wildcard values, most cron implementations will run the job when either condition is true — not both simultaneously.
How do I schedule a cron job on weekdays only?
Set the day-of-week field (field 5) to
1-5, which covers Monday through Friday. For example, 0 9 * * 1-5 runs a job at 9:00 AM every weekday. To target only weekends, use 0,6 in the same field.Can I use multiple values in a single cron field?
Yes. Use commas to list specific values and hyphens for ranges. For example,
0 8,12,18 * * * runs at 8 AM, noon, and 6 PM. 1-5 in the day-of-week field means Monday through Friday. You can also combine them: 1-3,5 means Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.What is the cron syntax for "once a month"?
To run a job once a month, set the day-of-month field to a specific date and leave the others as wildcards. For example,
0 0 1 * * runs at midnight on the 1st of every month. Change 1 to any date between 1 and 28 to target a different day reliably across all months.Why is my cron job not running at the expected time?
The most common reason is a timezone mismatch. Cron daemons run in the server's system timezone, which may differ from your local time. Always verify your server timezone with
timedatectl on Linux. Other causes include syntax errors in the expression, the cron service not running, or file permission issues on the script being executed.Is this cron expression builder free to use?
Yes, completely free with no account or signup required. The entire tool runs in your browser — no data is sent to any server. You can use it as many times as you like, bookmark it, and share it freely.