Cron Parser

Parse and understand cron expressions. Enter a cron schedule to see its meaning and next run times. Need help creating a cron expression? Try our Cron Expression Creator.

Cron Expression Parser

Cron expressions schedule recurring tasks in Unix systems. A pattern like "0 9 * * 1-5" means "9 AM on weekdays." This tool parses expressions and tells you in plain English when they run.

It also shows the next several execution times, so you can verify the schedule matches your intent before deploying to production.

Cron Format

* * * * *
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ └─ Day of week (0-7, Sun=0 or 7)
│ │ │ └─── Month (1-12)
│ │ └───── Day of month (1-31)
│ └─────── Hour (0-23)
└───────── Minute (0-59)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a cron expression?

A cron expression is a string of five fields that defines a schedule for automated tasks on Unix-like systems. Each field represents a unit of time: minute, hour, day of the month, month, and day of the week. The cron daemon reads these expressions and runs the associated command at the matching times.

What do the 5 cron fields mean?

The fields are, in order: Minute (0–59), Hour (0–23), Day of Month (1–31), Month (1–12), and Day of Week (0–6, where 0 and 7 both represent Sunday). For example, 30 9 * * 1 means “at 9:30 AM every Monday”.

What does * mean in cron?

An asterisk (*) means “every valid value” for that field. So * * * * * runs every minute of every hour of every day. You can also use */n as a step — for example, */15 in the minute field means “every 15 minutes”.

How do I schedule a job every 15 minutes?

Use */15 * * * *. The */15 step syntax tells cron to match every 15th value: 0, 15, 30, and 45 minutes past the hour. Similarly, 0 */6 * * * runs at midnight, 6 AM, noon, and 6 PM.

Is there a difference between 0 and 7 for Sunday?

No — both 0 and 7 represent Sunday in the day-of-week field. This dual representation exists for historical compatibility between different Unix implementations. Most modern cron daemons accept either value, but using 0 is the most widely supported convention.