Cron Expression Parser
Parse and explain cron expressions with human-readable descriptions. Free online cron parser with next run times.
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What is Cron Expression Parser?
A cron expression is a string of 5 fields (minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week) used to schedule recurring tasks on Unix-like systems. For example, 0 9 * * 1-5 runs a job at 9:00 AM every weekday. Cron is widely used for automated backups, report generation, data sync, and scheduled maintenance tasks in server environments.
How to Use
- Enter a cron expression in the input field (e.g., */5 * * * *)
- The tool displays a human-readable description of the schedule
- View the next scheduled run times to verify correctness
- Check for common mistakes like invalid field values
Examples
Every 5 minutes
Weekday morning report
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Frequently Asked Questions
What do the 5 fields mean?
From left to right: minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day of month (1-31), month (1-12), day of week (0-6, where 0 = Sunday). * means 'every', */n means 'every n', and ranges like 1-5 are supported.
What's the difference between cron and crontab?
Cron is the background service (daemon) that runs scheduled tasks. Crontab is the configuration file where you define cron expressions and their corresponding commands. 'crontab -e' opens the editor to modify your scheduled jobs.
Does this support 6-field cron expressions (with seconds)?
This tool focuses on the standard 5-field cron format used by crontab. Some systems (Spring, Quartz, AWS EventBridge) use a 6-field format with an additional seconds field. Check your platform's documentation.