What do the 5 fields in a cron expression mean?

A cron expression has 5 fields: minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day of month (1-31), month (1-12), and day of week (0-7, where 0 and 7 represent Sunday). For example, '30 9 * * 1-5' means 'at 9:30 AM, Monday through Friday.' The visual builder lets you select each field from dropdowns instead of memorizing syntax.

How do I test a cron expression to verify it runs when I expect?

The cron expression builder shows you the next 10 execution times based on your current (or selected) timezone. This allows you to verify your expression behaves as expected before deploying it. Look for patterns like 'every 5 minutes' running at :00, :05, :10 or 'daily at 3 AM' showing the next few midnight-crossing runs.

What are the most common cron schedule patterns?

Common cron patterns include: every minute (* * * * *), every 5 minutes (*/5 * * * *), hourly at :30 (30 * * * *), daily at midnight (0 0 * * *), weekdays at 9 AM (0 9 * * 1-5), and monthly on the 1st at 2 AM (0 2 1 * *). The examples library in this tool provides 20+ ready-to-use patterns.

Cron Expression Builder

Build cron expressions visually with dropdown selectors. See plain English explanations and the next 10 execution times.

Minute

Hour

Day of Month

Month

Day of Week

* * * * *

Every minute of every hour, every day

At minute 0 — every hour

Next 10 Execution Times

Timezone

Common Examples

How Cron Expressions Work

Cron expressions use five fields separated by spaces to define execution schedules.

The Five Fields

Minute (0–59) — When to run within the hour
Hour (0–23) — Which hour of the day
Day of Month (1–31) — Which day of the month
Month (1–12) — Which month of the year
Day of Week (0–7, 0 and 7 = Sunday) — Which day of the week

Use * for "every", */N for "every N", N-M for ranges, and A,B,C for lists.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about cron expressions.

It means "every minute of every hour, every day of every month" — runs once per minute continuously.

Use */30 * * * *. The */30 means "every 30 minutes" starting from minute 0.

Day of month specifies exact dates (1-31). Day of week specifies weekdays (0-7, 0=Sunday). When both are set, the job runs if EITHER matches (OR logic).

Standard cron (5-field) does not support seconds. Some systems use 6-field cron (with seconds as the first field). This builder uses the standard 5-field format.