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Cron Translator - translate cron expressions to English

At 18:00, Monday through Friday.

Next runs · UTC

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Calendar

September 2026 · UTC

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Run 0 18 * * 1-5 on Crontap

About this tool

Paste any cron expression and CronTool translates it into a clear English sentence. “Every weekday at 09:00”, “Every 15 minutes between 09:00 and 17:59”, “On the last day of every month at midnight” - no syntax knowledge required.
The translator works for standard Unix crontab, AWS EventBridge, Vercel cron, Quartz Scheduler and other extended cron dialects. The next 30+ runs land on a calendar so you can verify the translation visually.

How cron translation works

Each field of the cron expression is parsed independently - wildcards (*), lists (1,3,5), ranges (9-17), steps (*/15), aliases (MON-FRI) and modifiers (L, W, #, ?) all get an English equivalent. The translator then stitches the field translations into a single sentence, ordered for natural reading.

Some translations are surprising. 0 0 * * 1-5 reads as “At 00:00, Monday through Friday”. But 0 0 1 * 1-5 reads as “At 00:00, on day 1 of the month, Monday through Friday” - and in standard cron, that's an OR (either condition), not an AND. The calendar clarifies whichever way your scheduler interprets it.

Cron expressions translated

  • * * * * * → Every minute.
  • */5 * * * * → Every 5 minutes.
  • 0 9 * * 1-5 → At 09:00, Monday through Friday.
  • 0 0 1 * * → At 00:00, on day 1 of the month.
  • 0 0 L * * → At 00:00, on the last day of the month.
  • 30 8,17 * * * → At 08:30 and 17:30, every day.
  • 0 0 1,15 * 1 → At 00:00, on day 1 and 15 of the month, and on Monday.

Translator vs debugger vs validator

The translator answers “what does this mean?”. The debugger answers “why is this not running when I expect?”. The tester answers “is this expression syntactically valid?”. All three use the same parser; they're different angles on the same problem.

Examples

  • 0 18 * * *
    Every day at 18:00
  • 0 */5 * * *
    Every 5 hours
  • 0 18 * * 1-5
    Weekdays at 18:00
  • 0 0 1 * *
    Once a month, on the 1st at midnight

Cheatsheet

Full cheatsheet
FieldReq.RangeWildcards
minuteyes0-59, - * /
houryes0-23, - * /
day of monthyes1-31, - * /
monthyes1-12 or JAN-DEC, - * /
day of weekyes0-6 or names; some dialects use 0-7 or 1-7 — see Dialects, - * /

Frequently asked questions

Syntax

Can the tool translate English back to a cron expression?

Not directly. The translator goes one way: cron → English. To compose a cron from a human description, use the cron builder - it gives you input boxes per field with examples, then writes the cron string for you.

Cron builder
How accurate is the cron translation?

The sentence combines @datasert/cronjs-parser, cronstrue, and Datasert's matcher; it is not an emulator for every scheduler. Verify dialect-specific operators and day rules against the production target.

How does the translator phrase ? in cron?

It treats ? as no specific value in one day field while the other day field carries the schedule. This operator requires a supporting extended dialect.

Question-mark operator

Timing

How do I translate a cron expression to English?

Paste the cron into the editor. CronTool validates it with Datasert's parser, translates it with cronstrue, and shows five next runs plus a calendar in the selected timezone. Expression: 0 9 * * 1-5

Open in editor
When should a translation say “every 5 minutes”?

It should say “every 5 minutes” for the step */5, which expands to minute 0, 5, 10, and so on through 55. Expression: */5 * * * *

Open in editor
Every 5 minutes guide
When should a translation say “at minute 5”?

A literal minute selects one position in each hour, so it means at minute 5 of every hour. Every 5 minutes needs the step */5. Expression: 5 * * * *

Open in editor
Minutes past the hour guide

Days and months

Why can one English sentence understate Vixie OR behavior?

Under Vixie semantics they must be read as OR. 0 9 1 * 1 means 09:00 on every Monday and on every first day of the month. Expression: 0 9 1 * 1

Open in editor
Day-field rules
What is the English translation of MON#2?

MON#2 means the second Monday of the month. 0 0 9 ? * MON#2 translates to 09:00:00 on that monthly occurrence. Expression: 0 0 9 ? * MON#2

Open in editor
Nth weekday rule
Which translation overstates a day-of-month step?

“Every seven elapsed days” overstates it. */7 in day-of-month selects dates 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29 and resets monthly. Expression: 0 0 */7 * *

Open in editor
Step operator details
Why can a grammatical translation still have no run?

The fields can still form a sentence, but next runs are the check. 0 0 30 2 * describes February 30 and therefore never matches. Expression: 0 0 30 2 *

Open in editor

Timezones and DST

Does the translated sentence guarantee a timezone?

No. The sentence describes clock fields; the selected IANA timezone controls displayed runs. Confirm that zone against the scheduler, especially for UTC-only platforms and DST.

Timezone reference

Platforms

Does the cron translator support languages other than English?

No. This page configures cronstrue for English output only.

Debugging

Can I share the translation?

Yes. Copy link preserves the cron and Extended mode when applicable. Add tz=<IANA zone> if the recipient must see the same timezone-specific runs; timezone is not included automatically.

Can the translator explain a runtime failure?

No. It translates schedules but cannot inspect your server's PATH, environment, permissions, logs, or command status, and it never executes commands.

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