--- title: Cron Expression Helper: Free Online Tool | Relic description: Free cron expression helper. Paste a crontab schedule to read it in plain English and see the next run times, or build one from fields. Runs in your browser. canonical: https://relic.space/tools/crontab-guru source: https://relic.space/llms.txt --- # Cron Expression Helper Paste a 5-field cron expression and read it in plain English, with the next 5 run times. Handles lists, ranges, and steps. Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded. Cron expression (minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week) This schedule means At 09:00, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Next 5 runs (your local time) 1Fri, Oct 9, 2026, 09:00 AM 2Mon, Oct 12, 2026, 09:00 AM 3Tue, Oct 13, 2026, 09:00 AM 4Wed, Oct 14, 2026, 09:00 AM 5Thu, Oct 15, 2026, 09:00 AM ## Read a cron line without second-guessing it Cron expressions are five fields, `minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week`, and they are easy to misread. Paste yours and this helper turns it into a plain-English sentence, then steps forward minute by minute to show the next five times it will actually fire in your local time zone. It understands the usual syntax: a star for “every”, lists like `1,15,30`, ranges like `1-5`, and steps like `*/15`. If something is off, you get a friendly message instead of a silent wrong answer. ## For the schedules you tweak and reuse The backup job, the nightly report, that one expression you always have to look up again. You write it once, paste it into a config, and then lose the working version. **Relic** is an encrypted, searchable memory for everything you copy, so every cron line, command, and snippet stays on every device, end-to-end encrypted so only you can read it. Decode the schedule here for free, and keep the ones that work for good. ## Frequently asked questions What does this cron expression mean?+ Paste a 5-field cron line (minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week) and the helper translates it into a plain-English sentence, then lists the next five times it will actually fire in your local time zone. How do I read the five cron fields?+ In order they are minute (0 to 59), hour (0 to 23), day of month (1 to 31), month (1 to 12), and day of week (0 to 6, where 0 and 7 both mean Sunday). A star in a field means "every", so 0 9 \* \* 1-5 is 09:00 every weekday. What do the symbols like \*, -, and / mean?+ A star means every value. A range like 1-5 means Monday through Friday. A list like 1,15,30 means those specific values. And a step like \*/15 means every 15th, so \*/15 in the minute field is every 15 minutes. This tool understands all of them. When will my cron job run next?+ The helper steps forward minute by minute from now and shows the next five matching times in your local time zone, so you can confirm a schedule does what you expect before you commit it. Remember that most servers run cron in UTC. What happens if both day-of-month and day-of-week are set?+ Standard cron treats them as an OR: the job runs when either field matches, not only when both do. This helper follows that same rule when it computes the next run times, so the preview matches real cron behavior. You just copied that. What if you never lost it? **Relic** remembers everything you copy, forever, searchable on every device, and end-to-end encrypted so only you can read it. 250 MB free [Download forWindows](https://relic.space/download/windows)[Download formacOS](https://relic.space/download/macos)[Download forLinux](https://relic.space/download/linux)[Download forAndroid](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=relic.space.app&referrer=utm%5Fsource%3Drelic.space%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dwebsite%26utm%5Fcampaign%3Dcontent)[Download foriPhone](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/relic-clipboard-vault/id6800556025) More free tools [JSON Formatterjson formatter](https://relic.space/tools/json-formatter)[Base64 Encode / Decodebase64 decode](https://relic.space/tools/base64)[Diff Checkerdiff checker](https://relic.space/tools/diff-checker)[URL Encode / Decodeurl decoder](https://relic.space/tools/url-encode-decode)[UUID Generatoruuid generator](https://relic.space/tools/uuid-generator)[Epoch Converterepoch converter](https://relic.space/tools/epoch-converter)[All tools](https://relic.space/tools)