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Cron expression explainer

Read a cron expression in plain language, or assemble one from fields.

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What this tool does

Explain mode uses cronstrue. Build mode joins minute, hour, day-of-month, month, and day-of-week — with optional seconds — then explains the result. ConvertPass does not compute the next fire time against a specific timezone unless your scheduler documents one separately.

How to use it

  1. Choose Explain or Build.
  2. Paste an expression such as 0 9 * * 1-5, or fill the five fields / pick a preset.
  3. Read the description.
  4. Confirm the timezone in your scheduler, not here.

Supported input

  • A 5- or 6-field cron expression, or the five standard fields

Output

  • An English description, and in Build mode the expression itself

Privacy

This tool processes files and text locally in your browser. Your content is not uploaded or stored by this site.

ConvertPass does not include your input in analytics, URLs, or error reports. Encoding: ASCII. Limit: 200 characters (200 B).

Limitations

  • Quartz year fields and some AWS cron variants are not supported.
  • The description is not a guarantee of scheduler behaviour; implementations disagree on day-of-week numbering.

Example

Input
0 9 * * 1-5
Output
At 09:00 AM, Monday through Friday

Troubleshooting

Day-of-week looks wrong
Some systems treat 0 as Sunday and others as Monday. Read your scheduler's docs. The explainer follows a common UNIX convention.

FAQ

Does this run the job?

No. It only explains the expression.

Is 7 a valid day-of-week?

Some crons accept 7 as Sunday. If the explainer rejects it, rewrite as 0 or SUN depending on your scheduler.

Can I explain Kubernetes CronJobs?

The schedule field is standard cron. StartingDeadlineSeconds and timeZone are separate and not parsed here.

Why no next-run calendar?

Next-run depends on timezone and on how the implementation handles DST. A wrong calendar would be worse than none.

Can I build an expression?

Yes. Switch to Build, fill the five fields or pick a preset, then copy the expression. Optional seconds produce a 6-field string. Quartz year fields are still not supported.

Related tools

Related guides

Related formats

Last reviewed 16 August 2026. Report a problem. Reports do not include your input.