Cron Expression Builder
Build, parse, and understand cron expressions visually.
Quick Presets
Visual Builder
Direct Input
Generated Expression
0 * * * *
Every hour at minute 0
Next 5 Scheduled Runs
1
Mon, Feb 23, 2026
11:00 PM
2
Tue, Feb 24, 2026
12:00 AM
3
Tue, Feb 24, 2026
01:00 AM
4
Tue, Feb 24, 2026
02:00 AM
5
Tue, Feb 24, 2026
03:00 AM
Field Summary
Minute
0
Hour
*...
Day
*...
Month
*...
Weekday
*...
What is a Cron Expression?
A cron expression is a string of five fields that defines a schedule for running tasks automatically. Originally developed for Unix-like operating systems, cron has become the standard way to schedule recurring jobs across servers, cloud platforms, and automation tools.
Cron expressions are used in Linux/Unix crontab, AWS CloudWatch Events, GitHub Actions, Kubernetes CronJobs, CI/CD pipelines, and many task scheduling systems.
Cron Syntax Explained
A standard cron expression consists of five space-separated fields. Each field can contain specific values, ranges, or special characters.
┌───────────── minute (0-59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0-6)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *
│ ┌───────────── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0-6)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *
Special Characters
*- Any value (wildcard),- Value list separator (e.g., 1,3,5)-- Range of values (e.g., 1-5)/- Step values (e.g., */15 means every 15)
Common Examples
0 9 * * 1-5- Every weekday (Mon-Fri) at 9:00 AM*/15 * * * *- Every 15 minutes0 0 1 * *- Midnight on the first day of each month0 */4 * * *- Every 4 hours at minute 0
Common Use Cases
- Automated database backups (e.g., daily at 2 AM)
- Generating and sending scheduled reports
- Cleaning up temporary files or logs
- Running health checks and monitoring scripts
- Sending reminder emails or notifications