Question 1

What is a cron expression?

Accepted Answer

A cron expression is a string of five fields (minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week) that defines a recurring schedule for a job or task. For example, '0 3 * * *' means 'every day at 03:00'.

Question 2

How do I build a cron expression?

Accepted Answer

Enter values in the five individual fields — or type the full expression directly — and the cron builder instantly shows a plain-English description and the next scheduled run times. Use * for 'any', */n for 'every n', n-m for a range, and n,m for a list.

Question 3

What does */5 mean in a cron expression?

Accepted Answer

In a cron expression, */5 in the minute field means 'every 5 minutes'. The syntax */n means 'every n units', so */15 in the hour field means 'every 15 hours'.

Question 4

Is this cron generator free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The cron expression builder is completely free. It runs entirely in your browser — no signup and no data is sent to any server.

Question 5

What is the cron format?

Accepted Answer

The standard cron format has five space-separated fields: minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day of month (1-31), month (1-12), and day of week (0-6, where 0 is Sunday). Special characters: * (any), */n (step), n-m (range), n,m (list).