Question 1

What is a cron expression?

Accepted Answer

A cron expression is a string of 5 (or 6) fields separated by spaces that defines a schedule for recurring tasks. The fields represent minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week.

Question 2

What do the 5 fields in a cron expression mean?

Accepted Answer

The 5 fields are: Minute (0-59), Hour (0-23), Day of Month (1-31), Month (1-12), and Day of Week (0-6, where 0 is Sunday).

Question 3

How do I schedule a cron job to run every 5 minutes?

Accepted Answer

Use the expression */5 * * * * — this means every 5th minute, every hour, every day.

Question 4

Is this cron generator free?

Accepted Answer

Yes! The visual cron builder, expression parser, next execution times, and cheat sheet are all 100% free.

Question 5

What is the difference between 5-field and 6-field cron?

Accepted Answer

Standard 5-field cron has minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. 6-field cron adds a seconds field at the beginning.

Cron Expression Generator

Cron Expression

Quick Presets

Cron Cheat Sheet

Next 10 Executions

Pro Features

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Tools

JSON Formatter

Regex Tester

Base64

AI Code Explainer