Explain Cron Expressions in Plain English
Translate five-field cron into plain English with sample next runs
minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week
Examples
* * * * *
This tool only explains expressions. It does not schedule or run jobs. Next-run times are approximate illustrations.
About This Tool
Cron Explainer turns classic five-field cron (minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week) into plain English and shows illustrative next trigger times. It explains only β it does not schedule jobs. Everything is processed locally in your browser.
How to Use
- Paste a 5-field cron expression
- Click Explain
- Read the plain-English summary
- Review sample next runs
- Remember: nothing is scheduled
Common Use Cases
- Decode crontab lines
- Document ops schedules
- Teach cron to teammates
- Verify a proposed schedule before deploying
- Debug confusing */n patterns