Frequently Asked Questions
What is a cron expression?↓
A cron expression is a string of five fields — minute, hour, day-of-month, month, and day-of-week — that defines a recurring schedule. For example, 0 9 * * 1-5 means 09:00 AM, Monday through Friday. Cron is used by Unix-like schedulers to run jobs automatically.
Is this tool free and does it run in my browser?↓
Yes. The cron parser is completely free with no signup required, and it processes everything 100% locally in your browser. Your cron expressions are never uploaded to or stored on any server.
What do *, comma, hyphen, and slash mean in cron syntax?↓
An asterisk (*) means every possible value for that field. A comma (,) separates a list of specific values, e.g. 1,15,30. A hyphen (-) defines an inclusive range, e.g. 1-5. A slash (/) defines a step, e.g. */15 means every 15 units starting from the field's minimum.
Does this support special strings like @daily or @hourly?↓
Yes. The parser recognizes the common special strings @yearly (and @annually), @monthly, @weekly, @daily (and @midnight), and @hourly, and expands them to the equivalent 5-field expression before describing the schedule.
Can I build a cron expression without memorizing the syntax?↓
Yes. Switch to Build mode and choose Every, Specific value(s), Range, or Step for each of the five fields. The tool generates the matching cron expression in real time, shows it in plain English, previews the next run times, and lets you copy it with one click.
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