What is the Cron Expression Generator?
Cron expressions schedule jobs on Linux servers and in tools like GitHub Actions, Kubernetes CronJobs and Spring. Writing one by hand means remembering the order of five fields and the meaning of *, /, - and commas, and one mistake can make a backup run every minute instead of every month.
This generator lets you build the schedule visually instead. Start from a preset such as “every weekday at 9:00”, then fine-tune each field: every value, every N, specific values or a range. The expression, a plain-English description and the next run times update as you go, and you can copy ready-made snippets for crontab, a GitHub Actions workflow, a Kubernetes CronJob, Spring @Scheduled or Quartz.
How to use it
- Pick a preset close to what you need, such as Daily or Weekdays at 9:00.
- Adjust each field: minute, hour, day of month, month and day of week.
- Check the plain-English description and the next run times in your time zone.
- Copy the expression, or a snippet for crontab, GitHub Actions, Kubernetes, Spring or Quartz.
Example
Weekdays, at 09:30
30 9 * * 1-5
Features
- Visual builder. Every, every N, specific values or a range for each of the five fields.
- Presets. Common schedules in one click: every 5 minutes, hourly, daily, weekdays, weekly, monthly.
- Plain English. See exactly what the schedule means as you build it.
- Next run times. The next eight runs in your time zone, UTC or a dozen others.
- Ready-made snippets. crontab line, GitHub Actions on: schedule, Kubernetes CronJob, Spring @Scheduled and Quartz.
- Shareable. Open the result in the Cron Explainer with one click.
Frequently asked questions
How do I run a cron job every 5 minutes?
Use */5 * * * *. The */5 in the minute field means every 5 minutes; the asterisks mean every hour, day, month and weekday.
How do I run a job on weekdays only?
Put 1-5 in the day-of-week field, for example 0 9 * * 1-5 for 9:00 every Monday to Friday.
Why does my GitHub Actions schedule run at the wrong time?
GitHub Actions schedules always use UTC, and runs can be delayed during busy periods. Convert your local time to UTC, for example 9:00 IST is 3:30 UTC (30 3 * * *).
What is the difference between Spring, Quartz and Linux cron?
Linux cron has five fields. Spring and Quartz add a seconds field at the start, and Quartz numbers days of the week 1–7 from Sunday and needs a ? in either day-of-month or day-of-week. The snippets here convert for you.
How do I edit my crontab?
Run crontab -e, add a line with the expression followed by the command (for example 0 2 * * * /home/me/backup.sh), save and exit. crontab -l lists your jobs.
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