Cron Expression Generator

Build cron job schedules with a visual editor — generate cron expressions for Linux, AWS, Kubernetes, and more.

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Expression:

Common Presets

About Cron Expressions

Cron is a time-based job scheduling system in Unix/Linux operating systems. Cron expressions define when a scheduled task should run, using a compact 5-field (or 6-field with seconds) format: minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. Every field can contain a specific value, a wildcard (*), a range (1-5), a step (*/15), or a list (1,15,30).

Cron scheduling is used in Linux crontabs, AWS EventBridge rules, Kubernetes CronJobs, GitHub Actions scheduled workflows, database backup scripts, CI/CD pipeline triggers, cache warming jobs, report generation, and virtually any recurring automated task in server infrastructure.

Special characters: * (any value), , (value list), - (range), / (step values), ? (no specific value, used in some systems), L (last day), W (nearest weekday), and # (nth weekday of month) in systems like Quartz Scheduler and AWS that extend the standard 5-field cron format.

FAQ

What does */5 mean in a cron field?
The slash (/) indicates a step value. */5 in the minute field means "every 5 minutes" — i.e., at minutes 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55. Similarly, */2 in the hour field means "every 2 hours".
What timezone does cron use?
By default, system cron uses the server's local timezone. AWS EventBridge and many cloud cron services use UTC by default, but allow timezone specification. Always specify the timezone in cloud environments to avoid surprises during DST transitions.
What's the difference between 5-field and 6-field cron?
Standard Unix cron uses 5 fields (minute hour day month weekday). Some systems like Quartz (Java), AWS, and crontab extensions add a 6th field at the start for seconds (0-59). This tool generates standard 5-field expressions compatible with Linux cron and most systems.

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