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CRON Expression Helper

Select a common schedule preset and learn the corresponding CRON expression fields — minute, hour, day, month, weekday.

CRON format: minute(0-59) hour(0-23) day(1-31) month(1-12) weekday(0-7, 0=Sun)

Results

Minute Field (0 = exact minute, 5 = every 5 min interval)0
Hour Field (0 = midnight, 9 = 9am, 1 = hourly trigger)0
Day-of-Month Field (0 = wildcard *, 1 = first of month)0
Weekday Field (0 = Sun/wildcard, 1 = Mon-Fri range)0
Preset Code2

📖What is it?

A CRON expression is a string of 5 fields (plus an optional 6th for seconds in some implementations) that defines a recurring schedule for automated tasks. It is the universal scheduler for Unix-like systems, CI/CD pipelines, cloud functions, and databases.

🎯How to use

Select a common schedule preset from the dropdown. The output fields show the numeric values for the minute and hour fields of the CRON expression, along with helper context for day and weekday fields. Use the full expressions shown in the dropdown labels directly in your crontab file or scheduler config.

💡Example scenario

You want to run a database backup every day at 2:00 AM. The CRON expression is: 0 2 * * * — minute=0, hour=2, day=* (every day), month=* (every month), weekday=* (any day). To run only on weekdays: 0 2 * * 1-5.

🏆Pro tip

CRON field order: Minute (0-59) | Hour (0-23) | Day of Month (1-31) | Month (1-12) | Day of Week (0-7, where 0 and 7 are both Sunday). Special syntax: * = every value, */5 = every 5 units, 1,3,5 = specific values, 1-5 = range. Use crontab.guru to interactively preview any CRON expression. Always test new cron jobs manually before scheduling them.