Cron Parser
Parse cron expressions into human-readable schedules and preview the next execution times. All processing in your browser.
Common Presets
Field Reference
| Minute | Hour | Day of Month | Month | Day of Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-59 | 0-23 | 1-31 | 1-12 | 0-6 |
| Example: */5 * * * * = Every Minute */5 | ||||
| # | In |
|---|
Could not calculate next execution times
Invalid Cron Expression
How to Use Cron Parser
Enter cron expression
Type a standard 5-field or 6-field cron expression in the input field.
Read human description
The expression is instantly translated into a readable sentence.
Preview next runs
View the next scheduled execution times to verify your expression.
What is Cron?
Cron is a time-based job scheduler in Unix-like operating systems. Users configure scheduled jobs (cron jobs) using cron expressions — a string of five fields separated by spaces that together define the schedule.
Cron Expression Syntax
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, 0=Sunday)
Special Characters
Frequently Asked Questions
The tool supports standard 5-field cron (minute hour day month weekday) and recognizes common special strings like @yearly, @monthly, @weekly, @daily, and @hourly.
The tool calculates the next N execution times using your current local time as the starting point, accurate to the minute.
Yes. Common shortcuts like @yearly, @monthly, @weekly, @daily, @hourly are recognized and expanded.
The classic Vixie cron format has five fields: minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day-of-month (1-31), month (1-12 or names), and day-of-week (0-7, where both 0 and 7 mean Sunday). Some schedulers - Quartz, Spring - add a sixth leading seconds field. This parser detects which layout you use from the field count.
* means every value; */5 in the minute field means every 5 minutes; 1-5 is an inclusive range (for example weekdays in the day-of-week field); and mon,wed,fri lists individual values. They combine: 0 9-17/2 * * * runs at 9:00, 11:00, and so on through 17:00 every day.
Midnight daily is 0 0 * * *. Every 6 hours is 0 */6 * * * - the */6 step in the hour field hits 00:00, 06:00, 12:00, and 18:00. Sunday 3 AM weekly is 0 3 * * 0. This parser computes the next runs so you can confirm the schedule before installing it.
Nine times out of ten it is a timezone mismatch: cron evaluates against the server's local clock (some implementations honor CRON_TZ= or TZ= lines in the crontab). Daylight-saving transitions are the second culprit - jobs scheduled inside the spring-forward gap may be skipped, which Vixie cron documents. Docker containers default to UTC unless you set TZ.
Cron is the classic Unix scheduler: simple, minute-resolution, with no built-in catch-up for missed jobs. systemd timers add second precision, Persistent=true recovery for runs missed while the machine was off, and journald logging. Windows Task Scheduler offers a GUI, event triggers, and run-as-soon-as-possible-after-missed semantics. Kubernetes CronJob plays the same role in cloud-native stacks.
Related Tools
Authoritative References
Primary sources behind this tool - official standards and specifications, not secondhand summaries.