What is a cron expression?

A cron expression is a compact string of five (or six) fields that defines a repeating schedule: minute, hour, day-of-month, month and day-of-week. Cron daemons use it to decide when to run a job.

How do I create a cron expression?

Start from a preset, edit the expression directly while the field-by-field guide shows the allowed values for each field, or click random for a valid example. The plain-English description and next run times update live as you type.

What does */5 * * * * mean?

It runs every 5 minutes. The */5 in the minute field means 'every 5th minute', and the asterisks in the other fields mean every hour, every day, every month and every weekday.

Does CronChief support seconds and macros?

Yes. Toggle 6-field mode to add a leading seconds field, and macros like @hourly, @daily, @weekly, @monthly, @yearly and @reboot are all recognised.

Which timezone are the run times shown in?

Whichever you choose in the Timezone selector. CronChief uses the IANA timezone database so daylight-saving transitions are handled correctly, and it defaults to your browser's timezone.

Build & decode any cron expression in plain English.

Paste a schedule to see what it means and exactly when it runs next — in your timezone — or create one from scratch with the field guide, presets and a random generator. Copy it and ship with confidence.

“Every 5 minutes”

next at 2026-06-21 23:10:00 · in 1 minute

expands to */5 * * * *

*	any value
,	value list separator
-	range of values
/	step values
0-59	allowed values

Building one? Edit the expression above, tap a field for its allowed values, hit random, or start from a preset:

Presets

Seconds (6-field) Timezone Show

Next runs

UTC

Sun, Jun 21, 2026 · 11:10 PM UTC in 1 minute
Sun, Jun 21, 2026 · 11:15 PM UTC in 6 minutes
Sun, Jun 21, 2026 · 11:20 PM UTC in 11 minutes
Sun, Jun 21, 2026 · 11:25 PM UTC in 16 minutes
Sun, Jun 21, 2026 · 11:30 PM UTC in 21 minutes
Sun, Jun 21, 2026 · 11:35 PM UTC in 26 minutes
Sun, Jun 21, 2026 · 11:40 PM UTC in 31 minutes

What is cron?

Cron is the time-based job scheduler built into Unix-like systems. You hand it a cron expression — a terse line of fields — and it runs your command on that schedule, forever, without you thinking about it again.

A standard expression has five fields, separated by spaces:

┌───────────── minute        (0 - 59)
│ ┌─────────── hour          (0 - 23)
│ │ ┌───────── day of month  (1 - 31)
│ │ │ ┌─────── month         (1 - 12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───── day of week    (0 - 6, Sunday = 0)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *   →  every minute

Each field accepts a few building blocks:

* — every value (“every minute”, “every hour”).
, — a list, e.g. 1,15,30.
- — a range, e.g. 9-17 (9am through 5pm).
/ — a step, e.g. */5 (every 5th value).

CronChief also understands the convenience macros — @hourly, @daily, @weekly, @monthly, @yearly and @reboot — and an optional leading seconds field for 6-field schedulers like Quartz or Cronos.

Heads up: day-of-month and day-of-week are OR-ed when both are restricted. 0 0 13 * 5 means “midnight on the 13th and every Friday”, not “Friday the 13th”.

Common cron expression examples

A quick reference of frequently used schedules. Click any expression to load it in the tool above and see its next run times in your timezone.

Expression	Meaning
* * * * *	Every minute
/5 * * *	Every 5 minutes
/15 * * *	Every 15 minutes
0 * * * *	Every hour, on the hour
0 0 * * *	Every day at midnight
0 9 * * 1-5	9:00 AM, Monday to Friday
0 9-17 * * *	Every hour from 9 AM to 5 PM
0 22 * * 1-5	10:00 PM on weekdays
0 0 * * 0	Every Sunday at midnight
0 0 1 * *	Midnight on the 1st of each month
0 0 1,15 * *	Midnight on the 1st and 15th
30 3 * * 6	3:30 AM every Saturday
0 0 1 1 *	Midnight on January 1st (New Year)
/30 9-17 * 1-5	Every 30 minutes, 9–5, on weekdays
0 0 /2 *	Midnight every other day

Frequently asked questions

What is a cron expression?: A cron expression is a compact string of five (or six) fields that defines a repeating schedule: minute, hour, day-of-month, month and day-of-week. Cron daemons use it to decide when to run a job.
How do I create a cron expression?: Start from a preset, edit the expression directly while the field-by-field guide shows the allowed values for each field, or click random for a valid example. The plain-English description and next run times update live as you type.
What does */5 * * * * mean?: It runs every 5 minutes. The */5 in the minute field means 'every 5th minute', and the asterisks in the other fields mean every hour, every day, every month and every weekday.
Does CronChief support seconds and macros?: Yes. Toggle 6-field mode to add a leading seconds field, and macros like @hourly, @daily, @weekly, @monthly, @yearly and @reboot are all recognised.
Which timezone are the run times shown in?: Whichever you choose in the Timezone selector. CronChief uses the IANA timezone database so daylight-saving transitions are handled correctly, and it defaults to your browser's timezone.