Cron Expression Generator + Visual Builder (Free)

Build cron expressions visually with instant preview.

Runs:
At 09:00, Monday through Friday

Visual Editor

0-59
0-23
1-31
1-12
0-6

Common Presets

Next 5 Executions

Cron Syntax Reference

Field Values Special
Minute 0-59 * , - /
Hour 0-23 * , - /
Day 1-31 * , - / L W
Month 1-12 or JAN-DEC * , - /
Weekday 0-6 or SUN-SAT * , - / L #

Special Characters

* Any value — matches every possible value
, List — 1,3,5 matches 1, 3, and 5
- Range — 1-5 matches 1 through 5
/ Step — */15 means every 15
L Last — last day of month or week
# Nth — 1#2 means second Monday

How to Use This Generator

1
Pick a preset or type
Start with a preset or edit fields directly
2
Verify the schedule
Check the description and next 5 runs
3
Copy & paste
Use in crontab, K8s, CI/CD, or cloud
The 5-Field Format
Cron uses exactly 5 fields: minute hour day month weekday. Read left to right — "at this minute, this hour, on this day, this month, this weekday." The * wildcard means "every." So 0 9 * * 1-5 reads "at minute 0, hour 9, every day, every month, Mon through Fri."

The Essentials

Minimum: 1 Minute
Standard cron's finest granularity is 1 minute
Sunday = 0 or 7
Both work on most systems. Use names (SUN) to be safe
Timezone Matters
Cron runs in the server's timezone. Always verify
Day OR Weekday
If both are set, most crons match either (not both)
5 vs 6 Fields
Some systems add a seconds field. Standard cron has 5
Always Test First
Verify next runs before deploying to production

Frequently Asked Questions

Cron Expression Syntax in 60 Seconds

A cron expression is 5 space-separated fields that describe a schedule. Read them left to right: 

┌───── minute (0-59)
│ ┌─── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌─ day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌─ month (1-12 or JAN-DEC)
│ │ │ │ ┌─ day of week (0-6 or SUN-SAT, 0=Sunday)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *

The Operators You Actually Use

  • * — every value (every minute, every hour, etc.)
  • */N — every N units (*/5 * * * * = every 5 minutes)
  • A,B,C — list (0 9,12,17 * * * = 9am, noon, 5pm)
  • A-B — range (0 9 * * 1-5 = weekdays at 9am)
  • A-B/N — range with step (0 9-17/2 * * * = every 2 hours from 9 to 17)

Common Schedules

  • */5 * * * * — every 5 minutes
  • 0 * * * * — every hour, on the hour
  • 0 9 * * 1-5 — every weekday at 9am
  • 0 0 1 * * — first of every month at midnight
  • 0 0 * * 0 — every Sunday at midnight (weekly)

Common Pitfalls

  • Day of week 0 vs 7 — both mean Sunday in most cron implementations, but some use 1-7 (Monday=1). Check your runtime.
  • Timezone — most cron daemons run in the server's local time. Set TZ explicitly or use UTC to avoid surprises.
  • Day-of-month AND day-of-week — when both are specified, standard cron uses OR (matches either), Quartz uses AND. Be careful with libraries.
  • Overlapping runs — if your job takes longer than the interval, you'll get concurrent runs. Use a lockfile or distributed lock.

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