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Cron Expression Generator & Cheatsheet

Build standard 5-field cron expressions, read the plain-English description, see the next five run times, and browse the 12 most-used presets below.

Field Reference

A standard cron expression has exactly five whitespace-separated fields, in the order below. The two day fields combine with an OR when either is restricted; use * on the other when you only want one of them.

#FieldAllowed valuesSpecial charsExample
1stMinute0–59* , - /*/15
2ndHour0–23* , - /9-17
3rdDay of month1–31* , - /1,15
4thMonth1–12 or JAN–DEC* , - /JAN-DEC
5thDay of week0–6 or SUN–SAT (0 = Sunday)* , - /1-5
Operators
  • * — every allowed value
  • a,b — list of specific values
  • a-b — inclusive range
  • */n — every nth step
  • JAN–DEC, SUN–SAT — named months/weekdays
Macros
  • @hourly → 0 * * * *
  • @daily → 0 0 * * *
  • @weekly → 0 0 * * 0
  • @monthly → 0 0 1 * *
  • @yearly → 0 0 1 1 *

Popular Presets

Every minuteinterval
* * * * *
Every minute

Run a task once every minute, forever.

Every 5 minutesinterval
*/5 * * * *
Every 5 minutes

Poll a queue or refresh a counter every 5 minutes.

Every 15 minutesinterval
*/15 * * * *
Every 15 minutes

Classic interval for health checks and monitoring.

Every hour on the hourinterval
0 * * * *
At the start of every hour

Kick off a background job at the start of each hour.

Daily at midnightdaily
0 0 * * *
At 00:00

Run nightly backups or cleanups at 00:00 local time.

Daily at 09:00daily
0 9 * * *
At 09:00

Send a morning digest or sync with a remote API.

Weekdays at 09:00business
0 9 * * 1-5
At 09:00, on Monday through Friday

Business-hours start: Monday to Friday at 09:00.

Weekdays at 18:00business
0 18 * * 1-5
At 18:00, on Monday through Friday

End-of-day reports, Monday through Friday.

Sunday 03:00weekly
0 3 * * 0
At 03:00, on Sunday

Quiet weekly maintenance on Sunday at 3 AM.

1st of the monthmonthly
0 0 1 * *
At 00:00, on day-of-month 1

Generate monthly invoices at midnight on day 1.

15th of the monthmonthly
0 12 15 * *
At 12:00, on day-of-month 15

Mid-month payroll at noon on the 15th.

1 January at midnightyearly
0 0 1 1 *
At 00:00, on day-of-month 1, in January

Once per year: 1 January at 00:00.

Cron Generator

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Castov really free?
Yes. All tools are free, with no account and no usage limits. The site may show ads in the future to cover running costs.
Is my data sent to a server?
Time, date and converter tools do not upload your input to Castov servers. Some preferences, such as theme, custom time zones and selected models, are stored locally on your device. Some features use the network by design: Env Vault uploads an encrypted copy, and P2P tools use public signaling servers.
What is a Unix timestamp?
A Unix timestamp is the number of seconds since 1 January 1970 at 00:00:00 UTC. It identifies one moment in time regardless of time zone, which is why programs and APIs use it.
Should I use seconds or milliseconds?
Use whichever your system produces. A 10-digit value is in seconds and a 13-digit value is in milliseconds. The converters can detect the unit for you.
Which time zones are supported?
All IANA time zones supported by your browser, such as America/New_York, Europe/Paris, Africa/Algiers and Asia/Tokyo, with daylight saving time rules applied for the date you choose.

Building a cron schedule?

Try the Cron Generator to pick a preset, then copy the expression and see the next five run times instantly.

Cron Generator ToolRead the Guide