Parse and understand cron expressions with human-readable descriptions.
The Cron Parser validates a cron expression, explains it in plain English and lists its next scheduled run times in the time zone you choose. It supports standard 5-field cron, an optional leading seconds field, names such as MON and JAN and shortcuts like @daily.
Made for developers. Typical uses:
The expression 0 9 * * 1-5 is described as "At 09:00, Monday through Friday". Starting from Monday 5 October 2026 at noon UTC, its next runs are Tuesday 6, Wednesday 7, Thursday 8 and Friday 9 October, then Monday 12 October, all at 09:00 UTC.
It follows the common Vixie cron rules; extensions used by some schedulers (such as Quartz's L, W and # symbols) are not supported.
Accuracy: Output is tested against known inputs. For production code, review the result and run your own tests.
Expert Tip
Always check the next run times in the time zone where the job really runs. A schedule that looks right in your local time can fire hours earlier or later on a server that uses UTC.
A cron expression tells a scheduler when to run a job. The standard form has five fields separated by spaces: minute, hour, day of month, month and day of week. The Cron Parser translates an expression into plain English and lists its next run times, so you can check a schedule before you rely on it.
A star means every value. A comma lists values (1,15), a hyphen gives a range (1-5), and a slash gives a step (*/15 means every 15). The tool also accepts an optional leading seconds field, month and day names, and shortcuts such as @daily and @weekly.
These are the tool's own translations.
The list of upcoming times is the best test of a schedule. Choose how many runs to show (5, 8, 12 or 20) and the time zone. For 0 9 * * 1-5 starting on Monday 5 October 2026 at noon UTC, the next five runs are Tuesday 6, Wednesday 7, Thursday 8 and Friday 9 October, then Monday 12 October, each at 09:00 UTC. Switch the zone to see the same runs in local time, which matters because servers usually run cron in UTC and daylight saving can shift the local time of a job.
When both the day-of-month and day-of-week fields are restricted, standard cron runs the job when either one matches, not both. The expression 0 9 13 * 5 does not mean "Friday the 13th". The parser shows it as "At 09:00, on day 13 of the month, and on Friday", and the next runs start on Friday 9 October, then Tuesday 13 October, then more Fridays. If you need a true Friday the 13th, run the job on Fridays and check the date in the script.
The tool follows standard Vixie cron rules. Extensions used by some schedulers, such as the L, W and # symbols of Quartz, are not supported. For other dates and times, the Unix Timestamp Converter and the Timezone Converter help. Everything runs in your browser.
A few expressions cover most needs: 0 * * * * runs at the start of every hour, 0 0 * * * runs daily at midnight, 0 0 * * 0 runs weekly on Sunday, and 0 0 1 * * runs on the first day of each month. Avoid scheduling many jobs at exactly midnight or on the hour, because they compete for the same resources; pick an odd minute instead. For jobs that must not overlap, make sure the script finishes before the next run starts or uses a lock. Test the expression you plan to deploy here, and compare it with the Regex Tester when you build scripts that read log lines.
Explore more in Developer Tools, read the guides and articles, or see how we test our tools.
Convert Unix timestamps to human-readable dates and times.
Best for reading a raw epoch timestamp from an API response or server log into an actual date
Validate date strings for correct format, leap years, and logical validity.
Best for validating a user-submitted birthdate in a signup form before saving it
Calculate the exact number of days, months, and years between any two dates.
Best for counting the days until a holiday, exam or deadline
Convert time between different time zones worldwide.
Best for scheduling meetings across different time zones