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FairSoftware

Free tool

Cron Expression Builder

Build, decode and preview cron schedules — plain English and next run times.

Presets

Fields

Plain-English description

Runs at 09:00 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

Next 5 run times (your local timezone)

  • 21/09/2026, 09:00:00
  • 22/09/2026, 09:00:00
  • 23/09/2026, 09:00:00
  • 24/09/2026, 09:00:00
  • 25/09/2026, 09:00:00

Related free tools

This tool is free and unrelated to what we sell. FairSoftware supplies genuine one-off Microsoft licences — Office licences and Windows licences, delivered by email.

About this tool

Cron syntax is five fields of terse numbers that nobody reads correctly first time. Build the schedule with dropdowns, or paste an existing expression and have it explained in plain English. Either way the tool shows the next run times so you can confirm the schedule does what you meant before it goes anywhere near a server.

How to use the Free Cron Expression Builder

  1. Start from a preset (hourly, nightly, weekly) or build from scratch.
  2. Set the minute, hour, day of month, month and day of week fields.
  3. Or paste an existing cron expression to decode it.
  4. Read the plain-English description of the schedule.
  5. Check the next run times, then copy the expression.

Frequently asked questions

What do the five fields mean?
In order: minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day of month (1-31), month (1-12) and day of week (0-6, Sunday is 0). An asterisk means every value.
How do I run something every 15 minutes?
Use */15 * * * * — the step syntax */n means every n units within that field.
What timezone do the next run times use?
Your browser's local timezone. Servers commonly run cron in UTC, so check your host's setting before relying on the times.
What happens if I set both day of month and day of week?
Standard cron treats them as OR, not AND: the job runs when either field matches. This surprises almost everyone.

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