What do the five cron fields mean?

In order: minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12), day of week (0–7, where both 0 and 7 are Sunday). * means "every", */n means "every n", and a-b means a range.

How do I run a job every 5 minutes?

*/5 * * * * — the */5 in the minute field fires at every minute divisible by 5.

Why didn't my job run at the time I expected?

The most common cause is time zones: cron uses the server's local time. Also note that when both day-of-month and day-of-week are restricted, classic cron runs the job when either matches.

Cron Expression Parser

Paste a cron expression like */15 2 * * 1-5 and get an instant plain-English explanation — "Every 15 minutes, between 02:00 and 02:59, Monday through Friday" — plus a field-by-field breakdown of minutes, hours, day of month, month, and day of week. Includes a reference of common expressions you can load with one click.

Developer Tools

Cron expression (5 fields)

Every 15 minutes, between 09:00 AM and 05:59 PM, Monday through Friday

Field	Value
Minute (0–59)	*/15
Hour (0–23)	9-17
Day of month (1–31)	*
Month (1–12)	*
Day of week (0–7, Sun=0/7)	1-5

Private by default

This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your data is never uploaded to a server.

How to use

3 clear steps.

Paste or type a five-field cron expression.
Read the plain-English description.
Check the field-by-field breakdown or load a common preset.

Good to know

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), day of week (0–7, where both 0 and 7 are Sunday). * means "every", */n means "every n", and a-b means a range.
How do I run a job every 5 minutes?: */5 * * * * — the */5 in the minute field fires at every minute divisible by 5.
Why didn't my job run at the time I expected?: The most common cause is time zones: cron uses the server's local time. Also note that when both day-of-month and day-of-week are restricted, classic cron runs the job when either matches.