Does it support both 5-field and 6-field cron syntax?

Yes, both the standard 5-field format and extended formats that include seconds are supported.

Can it explain complex expressions with ranges and steps, like */15?

Yes, ranges, steps and lists are all explained in plain English, not just simple single-value schedules.

Does it show the next few run times, or just explain the pattern?

The primary focus is explaining what the schedule means in plain English — for actual upcoming run times, see the related Cron Job Visualizer.

Does Cron Expression Explainer upload my files to a server?

No. Cron Expression Explainer runs entirely in your browser using on-device processing, your files never leave your device.

Cron Expression Explainer

Explain what a cron expression means in plain English.

Runs in your browser

Cron expression

Standard 5-field cron (minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week), or a shorthand like @daily, @hourly, @weekly.

At every 15 minute(s) past hour 9 through 17 on weekday Monday through Friday

Minute*/15every 15 minute(s)

Hour9-17hour 9 through 17

Day of month*every day

Month*every month

Day of week1-5weekday Monday through Friday

About this tool

Cron syntax (five or six fields of asterisks, numbers and slashes) is notoriously easy to misread — getting the field order or a wildcard wrong means a scheduled job runs at completely the wrong time, often not discovered until it actually fires incorrectly. This tool explains what a cron expression means in plain English, letting you verify a schedule actually says what you think it says before deploying it.

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