Cron Expression Generator
Build cron expressions with presets or custom fields — get an instant plain-English description and copyable crontab syntax. Runs entirely in your browser.
Quick presets
Fields
0-59
0-23
1-31
1-12
0-6 (Sun-Sat)
What this means
Cron syntax reference
| Field | Allowed values |
|---|---|
| Minute | 0–59 |
| Hour | 0–23 |
| Day of month | 1–31 |
| Month | 1–12 (or JAN–DEC) |
| Day of week | 0–6, 0 = Sunday (or SUN–SAT) |
Frequently Asked Questions
What do the five fields in a cron expression mean?+
From left to right: minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12), and day of week (0–6, where 0 is Sunday). An asterisk (*) means "every value" for that field. Most schedulers — cron, crontab, Kubernetes CronJobs, GitHub Actions — use this same five-field format.
What does */N mean in a cron field?+
A slash defines a step value. */15 in the minute field means "every 15 minutes" (0, 15, 30, 45). 0 */4 means "at minute 0, every 4 hours" (00:00, 04:00, 08:00, …). Steps can also apply to ranges, like 1-30/5 (every 5th value from 1 through 30).
Can I specify multiple values or ranges in one field?+
Yes. Use commas for a list (1,15 means the 1st and 15th), and hyphens for an inclusive range (MON-FRI means Monday through Friday). These can be combined: 1,15 9-17 * * MON-FRI runs at the top of every hour from 9 AM to 5 PM, on the 1st and 15th of the month, Monday through Friday.
What timezone does cron use?+
Standard cron runs in the system timezone of the machine or container executing it — not UTC by default. Cloud schedulers vary: GitHub Actions and many CI systems run cron triggers in UTC regardless of repository settings. Always check your platform's documentation, especially around daylight saving time transitions.
Related Tools
How to use
- Click a preset for a common schedule, or edit the five fields directly.
- Each field accepts
*, a number, a list (1,15), a range (1-5), or a step (*/15). - The cron expression and a plain-English description update instantly.
- Copy the expression and paste it into your crontab, CI config, or scheduler.