CronParse

Cron Schedule Explainer

Enter a cron expression — get a plain-English description of the schedule.

Cron expression

Schedule

Every 5 minutes

Minute: every 5 minutes
Hour: every hour
Day of month: every day
Month: every month
Day of week: every day

What you entered

Expression: */5 * * * *

1
Minute field
*/5= every 5 minutes
2
Hour field
*= every hour
3
Day of month
*= every day
4
Month
*= every month
5
Day of week
*= every day

Result

Schedule: Every 5 minutes

The cron expression "*/5 * * * *" means: Every 5 minutes. Cron uses five fields — minute, hour, day-of-month, month, and day-of-week — where * means "every" and */N means "every Nth."}

Common cron expressions in plain English

The five fields are minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. An asterisk means every value; */n means every nth.

Expression	Means
* * * * *	Every minute
/5 * * *	Every 5 minutes
/15 * * *	Every 15 minutes
0 * * * *	At minute 00 of every hour, every day
0 /6 * *	Every 6 hours, at minute 00
0 0 * * *	At 12:00 AM, every day
0 9 * * *	At 9:00 AM, every day
30 3 * * *	At 3:30 AM, every day
0 9 * * 1-5	At 9:00 AM, on Mon-Fri
0 12 * * 1,3,5	At 12:00 PM, on Mon, Wed, Fri
30 3 * * 0	At 3:30 AM, on Sun
0 0 1 * *	At 12:00 AM, on day 1 of the month
0 0 1 1 *	At 12:00 AM, on day 1 of the month, in Jan

Day-of-week 0 and 7 both mean Sunday. When you set both day-of-month and day-of-week, standard cron runs the job when either matches, not both, which catches people out.

Cron expression format

A standard cron expression has 5 fields: minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day of month (1-31), month (1-12), day of week (0-6, Sun=0). * means 'every', */5 means 'every 5th', 1-5 means 'range 1 through 5', 1,3,5 means 'specific values'. Example: '0 9 * * 1-5' = 9:00 AM on weekdays.

Common cron patterns

Every minute: '* * * * *'. Every hour: '0 * * * *'. Daily at midnight: '0 0 * * *'. Every Monday at 9 AM: '0 9 * * 1'. First of each month: '0 0 1 * *'. Every 15 minutes: '*/15 * * * *'. Weekdays at 6 PM: '0 18 * * 1-5'.

Frequently asked questions

I have '0 */6 * * *' — when does this run?

Every 6 hours: at midnight (0:00), 6:00, 12:00, and 18:00. The */6 in the hour field means 'every 6th hour starting from 0'. Paste the expression above for a plain-English description.

How do I schedule a job for weekdays only at 9 AM?

Use '0 9 * * 1-5'. The 5th field (day of week) accepts ranges: 1-5 means Monday through Friday (0 = Sunday, 6 = Saturday). The 0 9 sets the time to exactly 9:00 AM.

What's the difference between 5-field and 6-field cron?

Standard cron uses 5 fields (minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week). Some systems (like Quartz or Spring) add a 6th seconds field at the front. This tool parses the standard 5-field format.