Cron Expression Generator
Build cron schedules visually. Pick minute, hour, day and month values with dropdowns; preview the next 10 execution times.
Last updated: April 2026 · Runs in your browser · No sign-up
Syntax: Minute (0-59) Stunde (0-23) Tag (1-31) Monat (1-12) Wochentag (0-7, 0/7 = Sonntag). * = jeder Wert, */n = alle n, a-b = Bereich, a,b = Liste.
Common cron patterns
*/5 * * * *— every 5 minutes0 * * * *— top of every hour0 9 * * 1-5— weekdays at 9 AM0 0 1 * *— first day of every month, midnight0 3 * * 0— Sundays at 3 AM
Testing before deploying
Always preview the next 5–10 execution times before enabling a cron in production. A misplaced asterisk can turn a weekly report into a minutely email bomb.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the five-field cron format?
minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12), day of week (0–6, Sunday=0). Each field accepts *, ranges (1-5), lists (1,3,5) and steps (*/15).
Does my system use 5 fields or 6?
Classic Unix cron uses 5. Quartz (Java) and some modern schedulers use 6 (with seconds prepended) or 7 (with year appended). Check your platform's docs.
What timezone does cron use?
System timezone by default. On servers that might travel between DST zones, consider setting CRON_TZ at the top of crontab or using a scheduler that's timezone-explicit.
Any gotchas with day-of-month and day-of-week?
When both fields are restricted, Unix cron treats them as OR (the job runs if either matches). This surprises many — '1 5 * * 1' runs on the 1st of the month AND every Monday.