Cron Expression Builder — With Plain English
Build cron expressions for scheduled jobs and decode existing ones into plain English. 8 quick presets for common schedules.
Minute
0
0-59
Hour
9
0-23
Day of month
*
1-31
Month
*
1-12
Day of week
1-5
0-6 (Sun-Sat)
Plain English
At 0 minute past 9 hour, on every day-of-month, in every month, on between 1-5 day-of-week.
Quick presets
* any value , list (1,3,5) - range (1-5) / step (*/5)
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Cron expressions have five fields, not six
Many schedulers accept six-field cron: minute, hour, day, month, day-of-week, and seconds. Standard cron has five. Paste 0 9 * * 1 30 (six fields) into most parsers and the job never runs—the extra field breaks validation. This tool enforces standard cron: five fields only. Anything else turns red and cannot be copied.
Plain English translation catches mistakes before deployment
0 9 * * 1-5 is terse. This tool converts it to "At 0 minute past 9 hour, on every day-of-month, in every month, on between 1-5 day-of-week." The breakdown is literal, not prose, but it lets you verify what actually runs. Read the plain English and you spot whether you meant 0 9 1 * 1 (first day or Monday) or something else.
Four operators cover every schedule
* means any value. , lists them: 1,3,5 runs on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th. - is a range: 1-5 is Monday through Friday. / is a step: */5 runs every five units. The field ranges—minute 0-59, hour 0-23, day 1-31, month 1-12, day-of-week 0-6—appear as you type so you don't guess.
Eight presets load the schedules everyone needs
Click Every minute, Daily midnight, Weekdays 6pm, Monthly 1st, or one of four others to load a working expression in one tap. The field breakdown appears immediately. Click again to copy to your clipboard. If you need a schedule not in the list, edit the expression and the translation updates live.
A schedule needs something unique to identify each run it produces, and a timestamp alone collides. The UUID generator covers that.
How to use the Cron Expression Builder
Takes about a minute. No signup, no download, your data stays in your browser.
- 1Open the tool. Scroll up to the Cron Expression Builder above — it loads instantly in your browser, no install needed.
- 2Enter your values. The fields come pre-filled with realistic defaults so you can see how it works — replace them with your own numbers.
- 3Read the result. The output updates instantly. Copy or share it — nothing is uploaded to a server, everything stays on your device.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about the Cron Expression Builder.
Does this support seconds in cron expressions?
No. This tool uses standard five-field cron: minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week. Extended six-field cron with seconds is not supported. You will see the error "Cron expression must have exactly 5 fields" if you try to enter six fields or fewer than five.
What does 0-6 mean for the day-of-week field?
Numbers 0 through 6 represent Sunday through Saturday. So 1 is Monday, 5 is Friday, and 1-5 is Monday through Friday. Use 0 for Sunday and 6 for Saturday.
Can I use both ranges and lists in the same expression?
Yes. You can use * (any), , (list), - (range), and / (step) in any field. For example, 0 9 1,15 * 1-5 runs at 9 AM on the 1st and 15th of every month, and also on Monday through Friday.
How do I know if my expression is valid?
Valid expressions show the breakdown by field and a plain English translation. Invalid expressions turn the input red and disable the copy button. If you have too many or too few fields, you will see: "Cron expression must have exactly 5 fields."
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