What does "0 9 * * 1-5" mean in plain English?

It means "At 09:00 (9am) every Monday through Friday." The fields are: minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week.

What are the five fields of a standard cron expression?

The five fields are: minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12), and day of week (0–6, where 0 = Sunday). Some systems add a sixth field for seconds.

What does the asterisk (*) mean in cron?

An asterisk means "every" — it matches all valid values for that field. For example, * in the hour field means "every hour".

How do I schedule a job every 15 minutes?

Use "*/15 * * * *" — the */n syntax means "every n units." This runs at minutes 0, 15, 30, and 45 of every hour.

Developer Tools

Parse and explain cron expressions in human-readable format

Cron Expression Explainer

Parse and explain cron expressions in human-readable format

100% OfflinePrivacy FirstReal-time

Cron Expression Explainer

Cron Format

Cron Expression

Format: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week

Cron Fields Reference

Minute

0-59

Minute of the hour

Hour

0-23

Hour of the day (24-hour format)

Day of Month

1-31

Day of the month

Month

1-12

Month of the year

Day of Week

0-7

Day of the week (0 and 7 = Sunday)

Common Cron Examples

Learn more about Cron Expression Explainer

About Cron Expression Explainer

Enter any cron expression and get a clear, plain-English description of when it runs, plus the next several scheduled execution times. Supports 5-field standard cron and 6-field extended cron with seconds.

Key features

Converts any cron expression to plain English
Shows next 5 (or more) scheduled run times
Validates cron syntax and reports errors
Supports 5-field standard and 6-field (with seconds) cron
Quick presets for common schedules (every hour, daily, weekly)

How to use Cron Expression Explainer

1Enter a cron expression (e.g. "0 9 * * 1-5" for weekdays at 9am)
2The plain-English explanation is shown immediately
3View the next scheduled run times in your local timezone
4Use the presets to start from a common schedule

Frequently asked questions

What does "0 9 * * 1-5" mean in plain English?: It means "At 09:00 (9am) every Monday through Friday." The fields are: minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week.
What are the five fields of a standard cron expression?: The five fields are: minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12), and day of week (0–6, where 0 = Sunday). Some systems add a sixth field for seconds.
What does the asterisk (*) mean in cron?: An asterisk means "every" — it matches all valid values for that field. For example, * in the hour field means "every hour".
How do I schedule a job every 15 minutes?: Use "*/15 * * * *" — the */n syntax means "every n units." This runs at minutes 0, 15, 30, and 45 of every hour.