Cron Expression Explainer
Enter a cron expression (a crontab schedule) to get a plain-language explanation and a list of upcoming run times in the time zone you choose. It also supports 6-field expressions with seconds and macros like @daily, all processed in your browser.
Minute Hour Day Month Weekday
Supports 5 fields (minute hour day month weekday) or 6 fields with seconds first. You can use * , - /, the names JAN–DEC and SUN–SAT, and macros such as @daily.
Calculating...
| Minute | 0 | 0 |
|---|---|---|
| Hour | 9 | 9 |
| Day | * | every |
| Month | * | every |
| Weekday | 1-5 | 1-5 |
Calculating...
How to use
- Enter "minute hour day month weekday" separated by spaces under "Cron expression" (e.g. 0 9 * * 1-5). You can also insert common expressions with the buttons.
- "What this means" shows a plain-language description and the values each field represents. If the syntax is wrong, you'll see which field caused the problem.
- Under "Upcoming run times", choose a time zone and how many runs to show to list the run times after the current time.
- Use "Copy to clipboard" to copy the list of run times in ISO 8601 format.
About this tool
Cron expressions specify when recurring jobs run in Linux crontab, GitHub Actions, Kubernetes CronJobs, and many cloud schedulers. An expression like "*/15 9-18 * * 1-5" is hard to read at a glance, and a mistake can make a job run at unexpected times.
This tool translates cron expressions into plain language and shows exactly when they will run next as a list of dates. When both day and weekday are specified, it follows standard cron behavior and runs on days that match either one. Times skipped by daylight saving transitions are excluded from the list.
Descriptions are generated with the open-source cronstrue library (MIT license), and run times are calculated with the browser's built-in Intl API. When checking schedules for services that run in UTC, such as GitHub Actions, set the time zone to "UTC".
Frequently asked questions
Are 6-field cron expressions with seconds supported?
Yes. When you enter six fields, the first one is treated as seconds (as in Spring or Quartz).
Can I use "L", "W", or "#"?
Extended syntax such as last day (L), nearest weekday (W), and nth weekday (#) isn't currently supported because implementations interpret it differently.
Can I use this to check GitHub Actions schedules?
Yes. GitHub Actions evaluates cron in UTC, so set the time zone to "UTC". To see when a UTC schedule runs in your local time, switch the time zone to your own region.
Is my cron expression sent to a server?
No. All parsing and calculation is done with JavaScript in your browser.