Overview
Build a standard Unix cron expression (5 fields: minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week - not the 6-7 field Quartz dialect some job schedulers use) either by picking a built-in preset - every minute, every 5/15/30 minutes, every hour, every hour on the hour, every day, every day at midnight, every weekday, every week, or every month - or by editing each field directly with support for "*", single numbers, "*/N" steps, comma-separated lists, and "a-b" ranges. Each field is validated against its real allowed range (minute 0-59, hour 0-23, day of month 1-31, month 1-12, day of week 0-7 where both 0 and 7 conventionally mean Sunday) and a plain-English description is generated for common patterns - the built-in presets plus simple single-value, step, range, and list combinations - without claiming to perfectly parse every exotic combination a cron field could theoretically express. The finished expression is copyable text only; this tool never executes anything or asks for credentials, and a clear note reminds you that the schedule runs according to the timezone configured by the system actually executing the cron job, not any timezone chosen here. Runs entirely client-side.
Best for: Building a deployment or task-scheduler cron schedule without memorizing field syntax
How to use this tool
- Pick a preset or edit fields. Start from a common preset, or set minute/hour/day-of-month/month/day-of-week directly.
- Check the validation. Out-of-range or malformed field values are flagged immediately, naming the specific field.
- Copy the expression. Copy the finished 5-field cron expression, with a plain-English description of common patterns shown alongside it.
Frequently asked questions
No - this generates the standard Unix 5-field cron format (minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week), which is what cron itself and most job schedulers use. Quartz-style schedulers that add a seconds field (and sometimes a year field) use a different, incompatible syntax that this tool doesn't generate.
Cron expressions don't carry their own timezone - the schedule runs according to the timezone configured by the system executing the cron job (the server's local timezone, or a timezone your scheduler platform lets you configure separately). Always confirm that setting on the system that will actually run the job.
It reliably covers the built-in presets plus simple single-value, step ("*/N"), range ("a-b"), and list combinations for each field. More exotic or deeply combined field values are shown as their raw field values rather than a guessed description, so you're never given a plain-English summary that might not accurately reflect an unusual expression.