// free · runs in your browser · nothing uploaded
Common Cron Schedules Explained: Every 5 Minutes, Hourly, Daily, Weekly and Monthly
Five common cron expressions in plain English, the five fields, and the day-of-month vs day-of-week trap.
At 09:30, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Next runs (your time zone)
Cheat sheet
┌───────── minute (0–59) │ ┌─────── hour (0–23) │ │ ┌───── day of month (1–31) │ │ │ ┌─── month (1–12 or JAN–DEC) │ │ │ │ ┌─ day of week (0–7 or SUN–SAT; 0 and 7 = Sunday) * * * * * * any , list (1,15) - range (1-5) / step (*/10) @hourly @daily @weekly @monthly @yearly
When both day-of-month and day-of-week are set, standard cron runs on days matching either one. Servers usually run cron in UTC; the times above are in your browser's time zone.
📚 Official sources: crontab(5) manual
We build every tool from the official rules and re-check them when they change. Always confirm with the official source before you rely on a result.
🛠️ Spotted a mistake or an out-of-date rule? Tell us
Five schedules
| Expression | Runs |
|---|---|
*/5 * * * * | Every 5 minutes. |
0 * * * * | At minute 0 of every hour. |
0 0 * * * | At 00:00. |
0 9 * * 1 | At 09:00, on Monday. |
0 0 1 * * | At 00:00, on day 1 of the month. |
The five fields are minute, hour, day of month, month and day of week. If you set both day of month and day of week, standard cron runs when either matches, so 0 9 1-7 * 1 runs on days 1–7 and on every Monday. Cron uses the server's time zone, so check it before relying on a midnight job.
Related tools
Questions people ask
What do the 5 cron fields mean?+
Minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12) and day of week (0–7, where 0 and 7 are Sunday).
What does */5 mean?+
Every 5 units of that field: */5 in the minute field runs at minutes 0, 5, 10 … 55.
Why does my job run on extra days?+
If you set both day-of-month and day-of-week, standard cron runs when either one matches, not both.