Updated June 29, 2026
Cron quick reference
A standard cron expression has five space-separated fields: minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. Use this sheet to read or build a schedule quickly.
Fields
| Field | Range | Note |
|---|---|---|
minute | 0-59 | First field. |
hour | 0-23 | Second field. |
day of month | 1-31 | Third field. |
month | 1-12 | Fourth field; names like JAN also work in many crons. |
day of week | 0-6 | Fifth field; 0 is Sunday. Names like SUN often work. |
Special characters
| Character | Means |
|---|---|
* | Any value. |
, | List of values, e.g. 1,15,30. |
- | Range of values, e.g. 1-5. |
/ | Step, e.g. */15 means every 15. |
Examples
| Expression | Runs |
|---|---|
* * * * * | Every minute. |
*/15 * * * * | Every 15 minutes. |
0 * * * * | At the top of every hour. |
0 9 * * 1-5 | At 09:00 on weekdays. |
30 8 * * 1 | At 08:30 every Monday. |
0 0 1 * * | At midnight on the first of each month. |
0 0 * * 0 | At midnight every Sunday. |
Day-of-month and day-of-weekWhen both fields are restricted, most cron implementations run when either matches, not both. Keep one as
* unless you intend the OR behavior.References
Questions
What does */5 mean?
The slash is a step. In the minute field, */5 runs every 5 minutes: at 0, 5, 10, and so on.
Does standard cron support seconds?
No. Classic cron has five fields and the smallest unit is one minute. Some schedulers add a seconds field as an extension.