What is the difference between 5-field and 6-field cron?

5-field cron (minute hour day month weekday) is used by Linux crontab, Kubernetes, and GitHub Actions. 6-field cron adds a leading seconds field and is used by AWS EventBridge, Quartz, and Spring. If your platform expects seconds, use the 6-field format.

What do the special characters mean in cron?

Asterisk (*) means 'every value' in that field. Ranges (1-5) match any value in the range. Steps (*/15) match every Nth value. Lists (1,15) match the specific values listed. Question mark (?) means 'no specific value' for day fields in some platforms.

How do I run a cron job every 15 minutes?

Set the minute field to */15 and the remaining fields to asterisks: */15 * * * *. This runs the job at minutes 0, 15, 30, and 45 of every hour. The next run times preview will confirm this schedule.

Why is my cron job running at the wrong time?

The most common cause is timezone mismatch. Cron expressions run in the system's local timezone by default. If your server is in UTC but you wrote the schedule in your local time, the job will run at the wrong hour. Check the next run times in the tool to verify.

Can I use this for AWS EventBridge schedules?

Yes, select the 6-field format to include the seconds field that AWS EventBridge requires. The generated expression will be valid for EventBridge rules. Note that EventBridge uses UTC exclusively and does not support some special characters like W and L.

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Cron Expression Generator

A cron expression generator builds schedule expressions using a visual builder that configures minute, hour, day, month, and weekday fields. It shows the next run times and supports both 5-field (Linux/K8s) and 6-field (AWS/Quartz) formats.

100% FreeNo Signup RequiredBrowser-BasedPrivate & Secure

What is Cron Expression Generator?

A cron expression generator is a tool that creates and validates cron schedule expressions through a visual interface, supporting both 5-field and 6-field formats and displaying the next scheduled run times for verification.

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Start Using Cron Expression Generator Today

Cron expressions are the standard way to define recurring schedules, but their compact syntax makes it dangerously easy to get a field wrong and run jobs at the wrong time — or worse, every minute instead of every hour. This visual builder eliminates the guesswork by generating correct syntax and showing you the next run times before you commit. Whether you're scheduling a Kubernetes CronJob or an AWS EventBridge rule, build it here first and verify it works.

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