Cron Expression Parser

About the Cron Expression Parser

This parser explains a standard five-field cron expression (minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week) in plain English and lists the next five run times, evaluated in your local time zone or in UTC. A fields table shows the exact values each field matches, so you can spot a schedule that runs more or less often than you meant.

It supports *, lists (1,15), ranges (9-17), steps (*/15, 0-30/10), month names JAN-DEC, weekday names SUN-SAT (Sunday is 0 or 7), ? as a synonym for *, and the macros @yearly, @annually, @monthly, @weekly, @daily, @midnight and @hourly. Quartz-style extensions such as L, W and #, and a seconds field, are not supported.

How to use it

1. Type an expression, or click one of the presets.
2. Read the description and check the "Fields" table.
3. Switch between Local and UTC to match your server's time zone.

Examples

• Every 15 minutes during business hours: runs at :00, :15, :30 and :45 from 09:00 to 17:45, Monday through Friday.
• Parse the @daily macro: expands to 0 0 * * *, once a day at midnight.
• See the day-of-month OR rule: runs on every 13th and on every Friday, not only on Friday the 13th.

Common questions

What does */15 mean in cron?

Every 15th value of the field's range. In the minute field that is minutes 0, 15, 30 and 45.

Why does my job run on more days than expected?

When both day of month and day of week are restricted, standard cron runs the job when either one matches. The tool flags this case in the description.

Which time zone does cron use?

Classic cron uses the server's time zone; many hosted schedulers use UTC. Compare the Local and UTC columns.

Related tools

• Unix Timestamp Converter: convert a run time to a timestamp.
• Regex Tester: check patterns used to parse job logs.
• Webhook Tester & Inspector: confirm a scheduled job actually fires its webhook.