What are the 5 fields of a cron expression?

Minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week — for example "0 9 * * 1-5" runs weekdays at 09:00.

What does */5 mean in cron?

Every 5 units of that field — in the minute field it means every 5 minutes.

Cron Expression Builder & Tester — Next Run Times

Cron Expression Builder

Build standard 5-field cron expressions with presets, get a plain-English description, and preview the next 5 run times. Supports *, lists (1,15), ranges (1-5) and steps (*/10).

Presets

Fields

Minute (0-59):

Hour (0-23):

Day of month (1-31):

Month (1-12):

Day of week (0-6, 0=Sun):

Expression

0 9 * * 1-5

Next 5 Runs (your local time)

Cron Syntax in 60 Seconds

A cron expression has five fields: minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week — in that order. Each field accepts a number, * (any), lists (1,15), ranges (1-5) and steps (*/10 = every 10). "0 9 * * 1-5" means 09:00 on weekdays.

Watch the day-of-month vs day-of-week trap: when both are restricted, classic cron runs when EITHER matches, not both. Keep one of them as * unless you specifically want the OR behavior.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: What does */15 mean?

A: Every 15 units of that field — in the minute field: minute 0, 15, 30 and 45 of each hour.

Q: Is 0 or 7 Sunday?

A: Both work in most cron implementations; this tool uses 0 = Sunday.

Q: Are these times UTC?

A: The preview uses your local browser timezone. Servers usually run cron in their own timezone (often UTC) — adjust accordingly.