What is a cron expression?

A cron expression is a string of five fields separated by spaces that defines a schedule. The fields represent minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week.

What does * mean in cron?

The asterisk (*) means 'every' for that field. For example, * in the minute field means 'every minute', while * in the hour field means 'every hour'.

How do I run a job every 5 minutes?

Use */5 in the minute field: '*/5 * * * *'. The /5 means 'every 5th value', so */5 in minutes runs at 0, 5, 10, 15, etc.

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Cron Expression Builder

Generate and parse cron expressions with a visual builder and next run preview.

Cron Expression

minute

hour

day (month)

month

day (week)

Valid expression

Every minute

Build Expression

Minute

Hour

Day of Month

Month

Day of Week

Next Scheduled Runs

#1Sun, Jan 18, 2026, 08:42 PM

#2Sun, Jan 18, 2026, 08:43 PM

#3Sun, Jan 18, 2026, 08:44 PM

#4Sun, Jan 18, 2026, 08:45 PM

#5Sun, Jan 18, 2026, 08:46 PM

Common Presets

Cron Expression Format:

┌───────────── minute (0-59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0-6, Sun=0)
* * * * *

Special Characters:

* - any value
*/n - every n units
a-b - range from a to b
a,b,c - specific values