Field reference
A cron expression has 5 fields, in order: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week. Each field accepts a number, * (any), a range (1-5), a list (1,15,30), or a step (*/15).
Results are provided for informational purposes only and may contain errors. Please verify important information independently. Use of this tool is at your own risk.
What the Cron Expression Explainer does
The Cron Expression Explainer translates a standard five-field cron expression into plain English, so you can confirm a schedule before you deploy it. The five fields are minute, hour, day of month, month and day of week.
It understands the usual cron syntax: * for every value, lists with commas (1,15), ranges with a dash (1-5) and steps with a slash (*/15). Days of the week use 0 for Sunday through 6 for Saturday.
When to use it
- Reviewing a crontab, a Kubernetes CronJob or a CI schedule written by someone else.
- Checking an expression before deploying it. A wrong field can run a job every minute instead of once a day.
- Explaining a schedule in documentation or a code review.
Worked example
*/15 * * * *
Runs every 15 minute(s).
0 9 * * 1-5
At 09:00, on Monday through Friday.
30 2 1 * *
At 02:30, on day-of-month 1.
Common questions about the Cron Expression Explainer
Does it support seconds or a year field?
No. It explains the standard five-field format used by crontab and most schedulers. Six- or seven-field expressions from Quartz or Spring are rejected with an error.
Which time zone does the schedule use?
Cron itself has no time zone. The job runs in the time zone of the machine or service that runs it, which is often UTC on servers. The Time Zone Converter helps you work out the local time.
How are day of month and day of week combined?
In classic cron, if both fields are restricted, the job runs when either one matches. For example, 0 0 1 * 1 runs on the 1st of the month and also on every Monday.
Is this tool free?
Yes, it's free to use. No signup, no email required. Get results on this page.
How do I get my result?
Use the tool on this page. Your result appears here; no email delivery is required.