Cron Expression Explainer
Read a five-field cron expression and get its schedule in plain English.
Quick answer: enter your details below and click Explain Schedule — your result appears instantly, right here in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded or stored.
C
Converters & Utilities
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How to use
- Paste a five-field cron expression.
- Keep the field order: minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week.
- Click Explain Schedule.
- Read the plain-English sentence to check the timing before you save it.
About this tool
Cron expressions are compact but cryptic, and one wrong field can move a job by hours or days. This explainer breaks a standard five-field expression into its minute, hour, day-of-month, month, and day-of-week parts and describes the resulting schedule in ordinary words. It is a reading aid for schedules you already have, not a builder for new ones.
Frequently asked questions
What format does it accept?
The classic five-field form used by most schedulers, with numbers, ranges, lists, and asterisks.
Does it handle seconds or names like JAN?
No. Six-field forms and month or weekday names are outside this explainer, so use numbers for those fields.