Cron Expression Generator
Build cron expressions without memorizing the syntax, or paste one to see what it really does.
“At 09:00 on weekdays.”
Common schedules
Edit minute
Pick one or more. Consecutive values are written as a range.
Next runs
Upcoming run times appear here.
Syntax at a glance
Minute
0–59
Hour
0–23
Day of month
1–31
Month
1–12
Day of week
0–6
| Symbol | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| * | Any value | * * * * *Every minute |
| , | List of values | 0 9,17 * * *At 09:00 and 17:00 |
| - | Range, inclusive | 0 9 * * 1-5At 09:00 on weekdays |
| / | Step through a range | */15 * * * *Every 15 minutes |
| JAN–DEC | Month names | 0 0 1 JAN,JUL *Jan 1 and Jul 1 |
| SUN–SAT | Weekday names (0 or 7 = Sunday) | 0 18 * * FRIAt 18:00 on Friday |
| @daily | Shortcut, also @hourly, @weekly, @monthly, @yearly, @reboot | @dailyAt 00:00 every day |
Questions
What is a cron expression?
A cron expression is five fields separated by spaces: minute, hour, day of month, month and day of week. Together they describe when a scheduled job runs. For example, 30 2 * * * means 02:30 every day. Cron is used by Linux crontab, Kubernetes CronJobs, GitHub Actions, CI systems and most cloud schedulers.
How do I build one without memorizing the syntax?
Start from a common schedule, then click a field and pick a mode: Every, Interval (like every 15 minutes), Range (like Monday through Friday), or Specific values. The expression, the plain-English description and the next run times update as you go.
Why does my job run on more days than expected?
When both day of month and day of week are set (neither is *), cron runs on days that match either one, not both. So 0 0 13 * 5 runs on every 13th and on every Friday, not only Friday the 13th. The tool flags this whenever it applies.
Which time zone does cron use?
Cron runs in the time zone of the machine or service running it, which is often UTC on servers and in the cloud. Use the Local / UTC switch on the run list to check when a schedule will fire on each.
Does it support seconds, L, W or #?
No. This tool follows standard 5-field cron as used by crontab and most schedulers. Seconds fields and the L, W, # and ? characters come from Quartz and similar libraries. If you paste one of those, the error explains what's different.