What is Cron Explainer?
Cron Explainer is a free online tool that translates a 5-field cron expression (or shortcuts like @daily) into plain English with a field-by-field breakdown.
Explain cron expressions in plain English online. Paste a schedule and read the field breakdown — free cron explainer on Fah Swe Tools.
Key features
- Plain-English description
- Minute, hour, day, month, weekday breakdown
- Supports @hourly, @daily, @weekly shortcuts
- Free, instant
Popular uses
- Check a crontab entry before deploying
- Understand schedules in CI/CD and servers
- Learn cron syntax
Also known as: Crontab Explainer, Cron Translator, Cron Schedule Reader.
How it works
- Paste a cron (or @hourly / @daily).
- Explain.
- Read field breakdown and known limits.
FAQ
Next run times?
This explains common Vixie/crontab fields; it does not build a full calendar of next fires.
What does */5 * * * * mean?
Run every 5 minutes.
What are the five cron fields?
Minute, hour, day of month, month and day of week.