# Cron Expression Generator

> Build cron expressions from a simple form, or pick a common preset. See plain-English explanations.

URL: https://uttir.com/cron-generator
Categories: developer-tools, date-time-tools, generators
Privacy: Generated locally. Nothing is sent anywhere.

## About

Cron expressions are a compact way to describe a recurring schedule, but the 5-field syntax is hard to remember. This generator lets you click through the common patterns (every 5 minutes, every weekday at 9 AM, first of the month) or build a custom schedule by picking the time, days, and date.

Paste the generated expression into your crontab, GitHub Actions schedule, or anywhere cron runs. The companion Cron Parser will verify it shows when it will next fire.

## How to use

1. **Pick a preset** — Common schedules are one click — every minute, weekdays at 9 AM, etc.
2. **Or build your own** — Set the time, toggle the days of the week, and pick a day-of-month if you want.
3. **Copy the expression** — Use the expression in crontab, CI configs, or anywhere cron runs.

## Examples

### Every weekday at 9 AM

A classic work-hour schedule.

Output:

```
0 9 * * 1-5
```

### Every 15 minutes

A common health-check heartbeat.

Output:

```
*/15 * * * *
```

## FAQ

### What format does this use?

Standard 5-field POSIX cron: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week. This is the format used by Linux crontab, GitHub Actions scheduled events, Kubernetes CronJobs, and most CI systems. Quartz-style 6- or 7-field cron is not supported.

### Why is the companion Cron Parser useful?

Because reading cron by eye is hard. The parser shows you a plain-English description ("At minute 0 past hour 9, Monday through Friday") and the next 5 firing times so you can sanity-check the expression before you ship it.

### Why are there only 5 fields?

Standard cron has 5 fields (minute, hour, day, month, weekday). Some systems add a 6th field for seconds; some add a 7th for year. The tool generates standard 5-field expressions, which work in every cron implementation.

## Related tools

- [Cron Expression Parser](https://uttir.com/cron-parser) — Parse a 5-field cron expression and see when it will next fire, with a plain-English explanation.
- [Unix Timestamp Converter](https://uttir.com/unix-timestamp-converter) — Convert Unix timestamps to readable dates and back, with a live current-time readout.
- [Regex Tester](https://uttir.com/regex-tester) — Test and debug regular expressions with live matches, capture groups, and highlighted results.

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For the full HTML page with the live tool, visit https://uttir.com/cron-generator.
This file is the markdown rendering at https://uttir.com/cron-generator.md. See https://uttir.com/llms.txt for a site-wide summary.