Cron expression examples (and how to read them)
Common cron expression examples explained, plus a tool that translates any schedule into plain English.
A cron expression has five fields: minute, hour, day-of-month, month, and day-of-week. For example, "*/5 * * * *" runs every 5 minutes, "0 * * * *" runs hourly on the hour, and "0 9 * * 1-5" runs at 9:00 AM Monday–Friday.
Input
0 9 * * 1-5
Output
At 09:00, Monday through Friday
Fields left to right: minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week.
Open the Cron Expression → Free · runs in your browser · nothing uploaded
Steps
- Open the Cron tool and paste your cron expression.
- Read the plain-English description of when it runs.
- Check the list of upcoming run times to confirm it matches your intent.
- Adjust a field and watch the description update — */n means "every n", ranges use a-b, lists use a,b,c.
Frequently asked questions
- What does "*/5 * * * *" mean?
- It runs every 5 minutes. The "*/5" in the minute field means "every 5th minute", and the remaining "*" fields mean "every hour, every day, every month, every weekday".
- How do I run a cron job every day at midnight?
- Use "0 0 * * *" — minute 0 of hour 0, every day. For a specific time like 9:30 AM daily, use "30 9 * * *".