Stop guessing what `0 0 1 * *` means. Translate complex cron expressions into plain English, visually dissect the scheduling segments, and calculate the exact next execution times instantly.
If you work with Linux, servers, cloud infrastructure, or background jobs, you will inevitably encounter Cron. It is the absolute standard for time-based job scheduling in Unix-like computer operating systems.
However, its syntax is notoriously unforgiving and difficult to read at a glance.
Does 0 12 * * 1 mean every day at 12:01, or every Monday at 12:00? (Spoiler: It's every Monday at 12:00 PM).
Our Cron Expression Explainer eliminates the guesswork.
A standard cron expression consists of exactly five fields separated by spaces:
Cron supports powerful modifiers to create complex schedules:
* (Asterisk): Matches all values for that field. (e.g., * in the hour field means "every hour")., (Comma): Separates items of a list. (e.g., MON,WED,FRI in the day-of-week field).- (Hyphen): Defines a range. (e.g., 9-17 in the hour field means 9 AM to 5 PM)./ (Slash): Specifies step values. (e.g., */15 in the minute field means "every 15 minutes").Use the interactive tool above to experiment with these modifiers and instantly see how they affect the next 5 execution dates!
A cron expression is a string comprising five or six fields separated by white space that represents a set of times, normally as a schedule to execute a routine in a computer system.
The 5 asterisks represent the 5 scheduling segments in standard cron: Minute (0-59), Hour (0-23), Day of the Month (1-31), Month of the Year (1-12), and Day of the Week (0-6). An asterisk `*` simply means 'every'.
Use the step value syntax `*/5 * * * *`. The `*/5` in the minute column tells the system to execute the job at every 5th minute.
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