Developer tools · Epoch Cron
Cron Expression Explainer
Translate any cron expression into plain English. Understand what your cron schedule means — supports wildcards, ranges, steps, lists, and shortcuts like @daily and @weekly.
How it works
Translates a standard 5-field Unix cron expression into plain English. Cron expressions define recurring schedules: the five fields represent minute, hour, day-of-month, month, and day-of-week. Supports wildcards (*), ranges (1–5), steps (*/5), and lists (1,3,5).
Step by step
- 1Identify the five fields in order: minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day-of-month (1–31), month (1–12), day-of-week (0–7, 0 and 7 are Sunday).
- 2Parse each field: * means 'every', a number means a specific value, ranges (a-b) mean 'from a through b', /n means 'every n units', and comma-separated values list specific values.
- 3Combine the parsed fields into a human-readable description.
- 4Special strings like @daily, @weekly, @monthly are also supported.
Examples
Weekday mornings
Minute=0, Hour=9, DOM=*, Month=*, DOW=1-5 (Mon–Fri).
Inputs
- expression:
- 0 9 * * 1-5
Result
- description:
- At 9:00 AM, Monday through Friday, every month
Every 15 minutes
Inputs
- expression:
- */15 * * * *
Result
- description:
- Every 15 minutes, every hour, every day
Frequently asked questions
What is a cron expression?▾
A cron expression is a string of 5 (or 6) fields that defines a recurring schedule for automated tasks. The fields are minute, hour, day-of-month, month, and day-of-week, each separated by a space.
What does */5 mean in a cron expression?▾
The slash notation means 'every N units'. For example, */5 in the minute field means 'every 5 minutes'. In the hour field, */2 means 'every 2 hours'.