What is a cron expression?

A cron expression is a string of 5 (or 6 with seconds) fields separated by spaces that defines a schedule. The fields represent minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. Special characters like * (every), / (step), - (range), and , (list) allow flexible scheduling.

What is the difference between 5-field and 6-field cron?

Standard cron uses 5 fields: minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week. The 6-field variant adds a seconds field at the beginning, commonly used by Quartz scheduler (Java/Spring) and some task runners for sub-minute scheduling.

What does * mean in a cron expression?

The asterisk (*) is a wildcard that matches every possible value for that field. For example, * in the hour field means "every hour", and * in the day of week field means "every day of the week".

How do I schedule a cron job to run every 5 minutes?

Use the expression */5 * * * * which means "every 5th minute, every hour, every day". The */5 in the minute field creates a step of 5 starting from 0.

Cron Expression Generator & Parser

Valid

Every minute

Presets

Builder

Standard (5-field)

Minute

* (all values)

Hour

* (all values)

Day of Month

* (all values)

Month

* (all values)

Day of Week

* (all values)

Next Run Times

Timezone

2026-04-01 16:47:00 (Wed)

2026-04-01 16:48:00 (Wed)

2026-04-01 16:49:00 (Wed)

2026-04-01 16:50:00 (Wed)

2026-04-01 16:51:00 (Wed)

2026-04-01 16:52:00 (Wed)

2026-04-01 16:53:00 (Wed)

2026-04-01 16:54:00 (Wed)

2026-04-01 16:55:00 (Wed)

2026-04-01 16:56:00 (Wed)

Code Snippets

# Every minute
* * * * * /path/to/command

Cron Expression Generator

Build, validate, and understand cron expressions with an interactive visual builder. Supports both standard 5-field and extended 6-field (with seconds) formats. All processing runs entirely in your browser.

Expression Builder

Build cron expressions visually by selecting options for each field. Choose between every value, specific values, ranges, or step intervals. The expression and builder stay synchronized -- editing one updates the other instantly.

5-Field & 6-Field Support

Toggle between standard 5-field cron (minute through day of week) and 6-field cron with seconds support. Perfect for Quartz, Spring @Scheduled, and other frameworks that support sub-minute scheduling.

Next Run Times

See the next 10 execution times for your cron expression, adjusted to your selected timezone. Instantly verify your schedule behaves as expected.

Code Snippets

Get ready-to-use code snippets for crontab, GitHub Actions, Kubernetes CronJob, and Spring @Scheduled. Copy and paste directly into your configuration files.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a cron expression?: A cron expression is a string of 5 (or 6 with seconds) fields separated by spaces that defines a schedule. The fields represent minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. Special characters like * (every), / (step), - (range), and , (list) allow flexible scheduling.
What is the difference between 5-field and 6-field cron?: Standard cron uses 5 fields: minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week. The 6-field variant adds a seconds field at the beginning, commonly used by Quartz scheduler (Java/Spring) and some task runners for sub-minute scheduling.
What does * mean in a cron expression?: The asterisk (*) is a wildcard that matches every possible value for that field. For example, * in the hour field means "every hour", and * in the day of week field means "every day of the week".
How do I schedule a cron job to run every 5 minutes?: Use the expression */5 * * * * which means "every 5th minute, every hour, every day". The */5 in the minute field creates a step of 5 starting from 0.