Cron Schedule & Next Executions Calculator
Calculate exact next 5 upcoming trigger dates and execution timestamps in UTC and local time from any 5-field UNIX cron expression.
UNIX 5-Field Cron Expression
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How UNIX Cron Scheduling & Execution Matching Works
UNIX cron is the ubiquitous time-based job scheduler in Linux, macOS, Kubernetes, and cloud task runners. Standard crontab expressions contain five whitespace-separated fields:
- Minute (0–59)
- Hour (0–23)
- Day of Month (1–31)
- Month (1–12)
- Day of Week (0–6, where 0 = Sunday, 1 = Monday, ..., 6 = Saturday)
POSIX Matching Rules
Per POSIX.1-2008 standards, operators include:
*: Matches any valid value in the field.*/n: Step values (e.g.*/15in minute means minutes 0, 15, 30, 45).a,b,c: Explicit lists of numbers.a-b: Inclusive numeric ranges.- DOM and DOW interaction: If both Day of Month and Day of Week are explicitly specified (neither is
*), a trigger occurs if either the day of month or the day of week matches (logical OR per POSIX spec).
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this calculator use UTC or local timezone?
The calculator displays upcoming execution dates in both UTC and your local browser timezone, ensuring clarity across cloud servers (which typically run on UTC) and local development schedules.
What is the difference between 0 and 7 for day of week?
In standard POSIX crontab implementations, 0 represents Sunday. Many modern parsers also accept 7 as Sunday for convenience.
Can cron run tasks more frequently than once a minute?
No. Standard UNIX cron has a minimum resolution of one minute. For sub-minute scheduling, systemd timers or application-level workers are required.