Cron Expression Examples You Can Copy
Short answer
Classic cron uses five fields: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week. Example: 0 9 * * 1-5 means 09:00 every weekday. Build, explain and preview next runs with our cron expression builder. Always confirm whether your host uses local time or UTC.
Cron expressions schedule recurring jobs on servers and in orchestration tools. One wrong field can spam a mailbox or miss a backup window. This page lists copy-ready examples and how to verify them.
Field order (classic five-field cron)
| Field | Values |
|---|---|
| Minute | 0–59 |
| Hour | 0–23 |
| Day of month | 1–31 |
| Month | 1–12 |
| Day of week | 0–7 (0 and 7 often Sunday) |
Some platforms add a seconds field or year field — read your scheduler docs.
Handy examples
*/5 * * * *— every 5 minutes0 * * * *— top of every hour30 8 * * *— 08:30 every day0 9 * * 1-5— 09:00 Monday–Friday0 0 1 * *— midnight on the first of each month0 0 * * 0— midnight every Sunday
Paste any of these into the cron expression builder to see plain English and the next few run times.
Time zones and DST
A job set for 02:30 local time may skip or repeat when clocks change. Prefer UTC for infrastructure cron when possible, and convert with the time zone converter. Human meeting times are different — see meeting planning and converting time zones.
Day-of-month vs day-of-week
Specifying both can mean “either” or “both” depending on the cron implementation. Prefer one or the other unless you know your daemon’s rule.
More worked numbers
Change one input at a time so you build intuition. Write the rule, substitute values, then confirm with the free cron expression builder. If the tool disagrees with your hand result, check units, delimiters and time zones first.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Copying secrets into screenshots or public tickets.
- Mixing cron fields (minute vs hour) or forgetting UTC vs local time.
- Treating a decoded JWT as proof of authenticity without verifying the signature.
- Assuming Morse timing that does not match International Morse spacing.
- Guessing Sudoku cells instead of using elimination.
How to practise
Invent three mini-problems from your own work or study and solve them on paper before you open the tool. Teaching the steps to someone else locks in the method.
Related tools on ViralScopeHub
After you finish this guide, explore the linked tools above and the related articles. Calculators and translators here run privately in your browser with no sign-up.
Quick reference card
Keep the short answer box at the top as your cheat sheet. Last updated 17 October 2026. General information only — not professional security, medical or legal advice.
Checklist before you finish
Re-read the short answer box. Re-run one example in the linked tool. Skim the FAQ for the question you actually searched. If this topic is money or health related, treat the numbers as educational estimates and confirm with primary sources or a qualified professional before you act.
Why ViralScopeHub links a tool here
Articles on this site exist to answer the search question and then hand you a private browser tool so you can try your own numbers. No account is required. When you are done, the related guides below cover neighbouring skills that people usually learn next.
Frequently asked questions
What does asterisk mean?
All valid values for that field. Double-check details and confirm with the linked tool on this page when numbers matter.
Is Sunday 0 or 7?
Many crons accept both for Sunday. Check your tool. Double-check details and confirm with the linked tool on this page when numbers matter.
Why did my job not run at 2 AM?
Daylight saving transitions can skip or duplicate local hours. Prefer UTC for critical jobs. Double-check details and confirm with the linked tool on this page when numbers matter.
Can cron run every 90 minutes?
Not with a single classic expression cleanly; use two offsets or a systemd timer / workflow tool. Double-check details and confirm with the linked tool on this page when numbers matter.
