Cron Expression Generator & Explainer
Visually build 5-part cron expressions or translate complex cron schedules into clear plain English.
Build Cron Schedule
How to Use Cron Expression Generator
- Select desired schedules from dropdowns: Minute, Hour, Day of Month, Month, and Day of Week.
- Copy the generated 5-field cron expression for your crontab, GitHub Actions, or cron job.
- To translate an existing cron schedule, paste it into the 'Explain Cron' box.
- Read the human-readable explanation displayed instantly below.
Technical Specifications & How It Works
Cron is a time-based job scheduler in Unix-like operating systems used to run maintenance tasks and automated scripts periodically.
A standard cron expression consists of 5 fields separated by spaces: Minute (0-59), Hour (0-23), Day of Month (1-31), Month (1-12), and Day of Week (0-6).
Our client-side parser generates standard expressions and produces immediate plain-language translations without remote server calls.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does '*/15 * * * *' mean in cron?
It instructs the scheduler to execute a job every 15 minutes of every hour, every day, and every month.
How do weekdays work in standard cron expressions?
0 represents Sunday, 1 is Monday, through to 6 which represents Saturday (in some systems 7 also represents Sunday).
Are special characters like L and ranges supported?
Yes, step values (*/n), comma-separated lists (1,15), and ranges (1-5) are all supported in standard cron definitions.