Cron Expression Explainer
Use this free cron expression explainer to read any cron schedule in plain English — paste the expression and see when it runs.
Enter a cron expression to see it explained in plain English.
This explains standard 5-field cron — some systems use 6 fields (with seconds) or special words like @daily, which this tool does not cover.
How to use this cron expression explainer
Step 1: Paste or type a cron expression into the box. A cron expression has 5 fields, separated by spaces: minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. For example, type 0 9 * * 1-5 and the tool reads it straight away.
Step 2: Read the plain-English sentence at the top of the result. It tells you, in ordinary words, when the schedule runs. Underneath it, the field-by-field breakdown table shows each of the 5 fields, the value you entered, and what that value means on its own.
Step 3: Try the preset buttons if you want examples to start from. Each button fills the box with a common schedule — every minute, every hour, daily at midnight, weekdays at 9 AM, or monthly on the 1st — and the explanation updates at once. Change any number and the sentence changes with it.
Worked example: 0 9 * * 1-5
Take the expression 0 9 * * 1-5 and read it field by field, from left to right. The first field is the minute, and it is 0, so the job runs at the start of the hour. The second field is the hour, and it is 9, so it runs at 9 in the morning. Put those two together and you get 9:00 AM.
The third field is the day of the month, and it is a star, which means every day of the month — no restriction there. The fourth field is the month, and it is also a star, so it runs in every month. The fifth field is the day of the week, and it is 1-5, a range from Monday (1) to Friday (5). So the full sentence is: At 9:00 AM, Monday to Friday. That is a typical office-hours schedule: a report, a backup or a reminder that goes out on weekday mornings and never at the weekend.
Notice how each field narrows the schedule down. The minute and hour fix the time of day, and the day fields fix which days it happens on. If you changed the last field to a single 0, the same time would run only on Sundays. If you changed it to a star, it would run every day at 9:00 AM.
The 5 fields
A cron expression always has its fields in the same order: minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week. The minute runs from 0 to 59, the hour from 0 to 23 (midnight is 0, noon is 12), the day of the month from 1 to 31, the month from 1 to 12, and the day of the week from 0 to 7, where 0 and 7 both mean Sunday. Getting the order right is the most common source of mistakes, because the day of the month and the day of the week look similar but do different jobs.
Each field can hold a star, which means every value; a single number; a comma list, such as 1,15, which means at 1 and 15; a range, such as 1-5; or a step, such as */15, which means every 15, or 0-30/10, which means every 10 from 0 to 30. Months can also be written as names, from JAN to DEC, and days of the week as names, from SUN to SAT, in upper or lower case. A star in the minute field with a star in the hour field means the job runs every minute, so use stars with care.
Common schedules
Most schedules you will meet use a small set of patterns. Every minute is * * * * *. Every hour, on the hour, is 0 * * * *. Daily at midnight is 0 0 * * *, and daily at 2:30 in the morning, a quiet time for backups, is 30 2 * * *. A weekly job on Sunday evening might be 0 18 * * 0, and a monthly job on the 1st at midnight is 0 0 1 * *.
Steps are handy for regular intervals: */15 * * * * runs every 15 minutes, and 0 */6 * * * runs every 6 hours, at midnight, 6 AM, noon and 6 PM. Weekday-only schedules use a range in the last field, such as 0 9 * * 1-5 for weekdays at 9 AM. Once you can read these patterns, you can read almost any cron expression you find in a server, a hosting panel or a tutorial, because they are all built from the same five fields and the same few symbols.
Frequently asked questions
What is a cron expression?
It is a short string of 5 fields that describes a repeating schedule — when a job should run, and how often. Servers and hosting panels use cron expressions to run backups, send reports and repeat other jobs automatically.
What do the 5 fields mean?
In order, they are minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12) and day of week (0–7). A star in a field means every value, so 0 9 * * 1-5 runs at 9:00 AM, Monday to Friday.
What does */15 mean?
It means every 15. In the minute field, */15 means the job runs every 15 minutes — at 0, 15, 30 and 45 minutes past each hour. The step tells cron to count in jumps of 15 instead of every value.
Is 0 or 7 Sunday?
Both — 0 and 7 mean Sunday in the day-of-week field. Monday is 1 and Saturday is 6, so a weekday schedule is written 1-5.
Does this tool run the schedule?
No — it only explains when the schedule runs; nothing runs here. Paste an expression, read the plain-English meaning, then use the schedule in your own server or hosting panel.