Cron Parser
Explain a cron expression in plain English and preview its next run times — in your browser.
Next runs (local time)
- Tue Oct 20 2026 05:50:00
- Tue Oct 20 2026 05:55:00
- Tue Oct 20 2026 06:00:00
- Tue Oct 20 2026 06:05:00
- Tue Oct 20 2026 06:10:00
Suggested tools
About Cron Parser
Cron Parser explains a cron expression in plain English and lists the next five times it will run, so you can be sure a scheduled job fires exactly when you expect. It understands the standard five fields — minute, hour, day of month, month and day of week — plus ranges (1-5), lists (1,15), steps (*/10) and shortcuts such as @daily and @hourly.
Use it to check crontab entries, Kubernetes CronJobs, GitHub Actions schedules or any system that uses classic cron syntax. Everything runs locally in your browser — the text you paste is never uploaded.
How to use Cron Parser
- Type or paste a cron expression, such as 30 9 * * 1-5.
- Read the plain-English description and the next five run times.
- Adjust the fields until the schedule is right, then copy it.
Key features
- Plain-English description of the schedule
- Next five run times in your local time zone
- Ranges, lists, steps and @ shortcuts
- Field legend to help you write expressions
Example
30 9 * * 1-5 */15 * * * * 0 0 1 * *
30 9 * * 1-5 → At 09:30, on Monday through Friday. */15 * * * * → Every 15 minutes. 0 0 1 * * → At 00:00, on day 1 of the month.
When to use Cron Parser
- Checking a crontab line before adding it to a server.
- Writing schedules for Kubernetes CronJobs or GitHub Actions.
- Understanding a schedule someone else wrote.
Tips and common problems
- Servers often use UTC — 30 3 * * * in UTC is 9:00 AM in India.
- */15 means "every 15 minutes", not "at minute 15".
- Days of the week run 0–6 starting with Sunday; 7 is also Sunday on many systems.
Frequently asked questions
Your browser's local time zone. Servers often run cron in UTC, so check the server's time zone and adjust the hour if needed.
No. It follows standard 5-field cron. Some systems (such as Quartz) add a seconds or year field — remove those before parsing.
In standard cron, when both are restricted, the job runs when either one matches — a common source of surprise.
Guides
- Cron Expressions Explained (with Examples) — The five fields of a cron expression, the special characters * , - and /, schedules you can copy, and time-zone mistakes that make jobs run at the wrong hour.
- Unix Timestamps Explained — What a Unix timestamp is, how to tell seconds from milliseconds, why timestamps have no time zone, how to convert them to IST, and the year-2038 problem.