Cron Expression Parser
Translate any cron expression into plain English and see the next run times — with common presets.
This runs
at 9:00 AM on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Next 5 runs (your local time)
0
minute
9
hour
*
day (month)
*
month
1-5
day (week)
Standard 5-field cron format. Fields: minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12), day of week (0–6, Sunday = 0). Supports *, ranges (1-5), lists (1,3,5) and steps (*/15).
About this tool
Cron expressions are famously cryptic: five fields of numbers, asterisks and slashes that encode a schedule, readable fluently by almost no one. Is 0 9 * * 1-5 daily at 9? Weekdays at 9? This parser removes the guesswork — paste an expression and read exactly what it means in plain English, then see the next five times it will actually fire.
The plain-English translation handles the full standard syntax: asterisks (every), ranges (1-5 for Monday to Friday), lists (1,3,5), and steps (*/15 for every 15 minutes), across all five fields. The next-run times are computed against your local clock and shown with full dates, so an abstract schedule becomes concrete — you can confirm 0 0 1 * * really does mean the first of each month before you commit it to a crontab or a CI config.
A row of presets covers the schedules people set most often — every 15 minutes, hourly, daily at a time, weekdays, first of month — as both a shortcut and a set of worked examples to learn the syntax from. Malformed expressions get a specific error naming the offending field rather than failing silently. Everything runs in your browser: the tool describes and simulates cron schedules but, of course, doesn't execute anything.
How to use the Cron Expression Parser
- 1Paste a 5-field cron expression, or tap a preset to start.
- 2Read the plain-English description of when it runs.
- 3Check the next 5 run times, shown in your local time, to confirm it's what you meant.
- 4The field breakdown shows how each part is interpreted.
Frequently asked questions
What do the five cron fields mean?
In order: minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12), and day of week (0–6, where 0 is Sunday). So 30 14 * * * is 'at 14:30 every day'. This parser labels each field and translates the whole expression for you.
What does */15 mean in cron?
The slash is a step: */15 in the minute field means 'every 15 minutes' (0, 15, 30, 45). */2 in the hour field means every 2 hours. It's shorthand for evenly-spaced intervals, and this parser expands it in both the description and the run times.
How do day-of-month and day-of-week interact?
In standard cron, when both are restricted (not *), the job runs when EITHER matches — a common source of surprises. '0 0 1 * 1' runs on the 1st of the month AND every Monday, not only on Mondays that fall on the 1st. This tool's next-run times reflect that real behaviour.
Does this tool actually schedule anything?
No — it's a parser and simulator. It explains what an expression means and computes when it would fire, entirely in your browser, so you can validate a schedule before putting it into your own crontab, CI pipeline or scheduler. It never runs jobs itself.
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