Cron Expression Generator

Build cron schedules visually and copy ready-to-use expressions.

* * * * *

Runs every minute

How to Use

Select values — Choose the desired minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week from the dropdowns. The cron expression updates in real time.

Copy the expression — Click the "Copy Expression" button to copy the cron string to your clipboard.

Add to crontab — Paste it into your crontab file (crontab -e) or any cron-compatible scheduler.

How It Works

A cron expression uses five space-separated fields: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week. Each field accepts a specific number (0), * (every), */n (every n units), a range (1-5), or a list (1,3,5). The system runs the command only when all fields match the current time.

For example, 0 9 * * 1 means "at minute 0 of hour 9, every day of month, every month, but only on Monday" — running a job every Monday at 9:00 AM.

Common Cron Examples
0 0 * * * — Midnight every day (daily backup)
*/15 * * * * — Every 15 minutes (monitoring)
0 9 * * 1-5 — 9 AM weekdays (standup reminder)
0 0 1 * * — 1st of month at midnight (monthly report)
0 2 * * 0 — 2 AM every Sunday (weekly cleanup)
30 8 * * 1 — 8:30 AM every Monday (weekly sync)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is cron?

Cron is a time-based job scheduler on Unix-like systems (Linux, macOS, BSD). It reads a configuration file called a crontab and runs commands at the times you specify using cron expressions.

What do the 5 fields mean?

From left to right: Minute (0-59), Hour (0-23), Day of Month (1-31), Month (1-12), Day of Week (0-6, where 0 = Sunday). Use * to mean "every possible value" in any field.

What does * * * * * mean?

It runs every minute. Each * is a wildcard meaning "every" — every minute of every hour of every day of every month, regardless of weekday.

How do I schedule a task every Monday at 9 AM?

Use 0 9 * * 1. Minute = 0, Hour = 9, Day-of-month = *, Month = *, Day-of-week = 1 (Monday). This is one of the most common cron schedules for weekly reporting jobs.

What is the difference between * and */5?

* means every possible value. In the minute field, that's 0, 1, 2, ..., 59. */5 means every 5th value — in the minute field it runs at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, and 55 minutes past the hour.

Can I use cron on Windows?

Windows does not have a native cron daemon. Alternatives include Task Scheduler (built-in), WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), Cygwin, or Git Bash. The cron expressions generated here work in all Unix-compatible environments.

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