Cron Parser

The Cron Parser explains 5‑field cron expressions in plain English. Paste a schedule and see each field broken down into ranges, lists, or step intervals.

It understands wildcards, ranges like 1-5, lists like 1,15, and steps like */5. Aliases such as @daily are expanded for clarity.

Key features

• Explains each field with human‑readable phrases
• Supports @daily, @hourly alias expansion
• Local, fast, and safe in‑browser parsing

Common use cases

• Reviewing team crontab entries
• Checking that an interval means what you expect
• Teaching cron syntax to new teammates

Privacy & security: parsing happens in your browser only.

1. Paste a cron expression such as */5 * * * *.
2. Use aliases like @daily; the tool expands them to fields.
3. Review the explanation for each field.
4. Copy the explanation or the split fields as needed.
5. Use “Sample” to try common schedules.

Tips

• When in doubt, start with * * * * * and add constraints.
• Prefer steps for even intervals (e.g., */10 for every 10 minutes).
• Remember DOW 0 and 7 often both mean Sunday.

Troubleshooting

• “Enter 5 fields” error → Ensure you provided exactly five fields.
• Unsupported alias → Use common ones like @daily, @hourly.
• Weird spacing → Separate fields by single spaces.