What are the 5 fields in a standard cron expression?

A standard cron expression has 5 space-separated fields: Minute (0–59), Hour (0–23), Day of Month (1–31), Month (1–12), and Day of Week (0–7, where both 0 and 7 represent Sunday). For example, "30 8 * * 1" means "At 08:30 on every Monday".

What do the special characters *, /, -, and , mean in cron?

* (asterisk) means "every possible value". / (slash) defines a step — */5 in the minute field means every 5 minutes. - (hyphen) defines a range — 1-5 in day-of-week means Monday through Friday. , (comma) separates a list of values — 1,3,5 in the hour field means at 1 AM, 3 AM, and 5 AM.

What are some common cron schedule patterns?

"* * * * *" runs every minute. "0 * * * *" runs at the start of every hour. "0 0 * * *" runs at midnight daily. "0 9 * * 1-5" runs at 9 AM on weekdays. "0 0 1 * *" runs at midnight on the first of every month. "*/15 * * * *" runs every 15 minutes.

What is the difference between a 5-field and 6-field cron expression?

The standard Unix/Linux cron uses 5 fields (minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week). Some systems like Quartz Scheduler, AWS EventBridge, and Spring add a 6th field for seconds at the beginning, making it: second minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week. This tool generates standard 5-field expressions compatible with crontab, GitHub Actions, and most Linux schedulers.

Why does my cron job not run when expected?

Common reasons include: the server timezone differs from what you intended (cron uses the system local time by default), conflicting day-of-month and day-of-week settings (when both are specified, most cron implementations run the job if either condition is true), or the cron daemon is not running. Use the "Next run times" output in this tool to verify your expression fires when you expect.

Cron Expression Generator — Free Online Tool

Cron Expression Generator

Build cron expressions visually — free, instant, no signup

Processed locally in your browser

Common Presets

Visual Builder

Minute*

0–59

Hour*

0–23

Day of Month*

1–31

Month*

1–12 (Jan–Dec)

Day of Week*

0–6 (Sun–Sat)

Cron Expression

minutehourday of monthmonthday of week

Schedule Description

Every minute

Next 5 Run Times

1Sat, Mar 14, 2026, 08:52 PM
2Sat, Mar 14, 2026, 08:53 PM
3Sat, Mar 14, 2026, 08:54 PM
4Sat, Mar 14, 2026, 08:55 PM
5Sat, Mar 14, 2026, 08:56 PM

Cron Syntax Quick Reference

Special Characters

*	Any value
,	Value list (1,3,5)
-	Range (1-5)
/	Step (*/15)

Field Ranges

Minute	0–59
Hour	0–23
Day of Month	1–31
Month	1–12
Day of Week	0–6 (Sun=0)

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How to Use

Choose a preset to start quickly, or build your schedule field by field using the visual builder.
For each field (Minute, Hour, Day of Month, Month, Day of Week) select a mode: Any (*), Specific value, Range, Step, or List.
The raw cron expression in the code box updates automatically as you adjust the builder — you can also type or paste an expression directly.
Read the human-readable description below the expression to confirm your schedule is correct.
Review the next 5 run times to verify the schedule, then click Copy to copy the expression to your clipboard.

Features

✓Visual 5-field cron builder with dropdowns and custom value support
✓Human-readable English description of the schedule
✓Next 5 scheduled run times based on the expression
✓Common presets: every minute, hourly, daily, weekly, and more
✓Bidirectional sync between visual builder and raw expression input
✓Real-time validation with clear error messages
✓Copy expression to clipboard with one click
✓Supports wildcards, ranges, steps, and lists in every field

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 5 fields in a standard cron expression?: A standard cron expression has 5 space-separated fields: Minute (0–59), Hour (0–23), Day of Month (1–31), Month (1–12), and Day of Week (0–7, where both 0 and 7 represent Sunday). For example, "30 8 * * 1" means "At 08:30 on every Monday".
What do the special characters *, /, -, and , mean in cron?: * (asterisk) means "every possible value". / (slash) defines a step — */5 in the minute field means every 5 minutes. - (hyphen) defines a range — 1-5 in day-of-week means Monday through Friday. , (comma) separates a list of values — 1,3,5 in the hour field means at 1 AM, 3 AM, and 5 AM.
What are some common cron schedule patterns?: "* * * * *" runs every minute. "0 * * * *" runs at the start of every hour. "0 0 * * *" runs at midnight daily. "0 9 * * 1-5" runs at 9 AM on weekdays. "0 0 1 * *" runs at midnight on the first of every month. "*/15 * * * *" runs every 15 minutes.
What is the difference between a 5-field and 6-field cron expression?: The standard Unix/Linux cron uses 5 fields (minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week). Some systems like Quartz Scheduler, AWS EventBridge, and Spring add a 6th field for seconds at the beginning, making it: second minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week. This tool generates standard 5-field expressions compatible with crontab, GitHub Actions, and most Linux schedulers.
Why does my cron job not run when expected?: Common reasons include: the server timezone differs from what you intended (cron uses the system local time by default), conflicting day-of-month and day-of-week settings (when both are specified, most cron implementations run the job if either condition is true), or the cron daemon is not running. Use the "Next run times" output in this tool to verify your expression fires when you expect.