Example 1
- */5 * * * *
288
How many runs per day at */5 * * * *? 288. Expression decode, not live cron.
Cron Schedule Calculator
Paste a cron expression. */5 * * * * gives 288. 0 9 * * * gives 1. 0 9 * * 1-5 gives 1. A 5-field read, not a live scheduler.
This decodes a 5-field expression, not a cron daemon and not Quartz. Another zone sits on the timezone converter.
Results
Enter data and click Calculate.
How it works
Cron Schedule Calculator in this calculator reads a 5-field expression. */5 * * * * gives 288. 0 9 * * * gives 1. 0 9 * * 1-5 gives 1. The calculator result is runs per day. The calculator does not install a crontab and does not start cron.
Field cron-expr is text. The five fields are minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week. */5 in the minute is every 5 minutes, so 288 in 1440 minutes. 0 9 * * * is once at 09:00. 1-5 does not turn the extras card into a weekly total: per-day stays 1.
288 is not a /var/log/cron line. 1 does not come from a systemd timer. The calculator does not know the server zone. You type the expression. There is no 6-field or 7-field Quartz here.
Unix timestamp next door converts an epoch. The timezone converter moves a clock. Here */5 * * * * stays 288, a field read alone.
Type */5 * * * *, then Calculate. The result is 288. Switch to 0 9 * * *. A blank field gives no count. This is not crontab -e.
*/5 * * * * gives 288. 0 9 * * * gives 1. 0 9 * * 1-5 gives 1. Another expression changes 288.
Formula
runs / day = matches in 1440 minutes from 5 fields. Not Quartz and not live cron.
How to use
- Type the expression */5 * * * * in the field.
- Click Calculate. The result is 288.
- 0 9 * * * gives 1. 0 9 * * 1-5 gives 1.
- A 5-field decode, not a live scheduler.
- Time another zone on the timezone converter.
*/5 * * * * gives 288
A 5-field read. */5 * * * * gives 288. Not a live scheduler.
- Cron
- A 5-field expression. */5 * * * * leaves 288. Not a daemon.
- Schedule
- Text in cron-expr. 0 9 * * * gives 1. Not Quartz.
- Calculator
- Runs per day. 0 9 * * 1-5 gives 1. Not live cron.
Examples
Example 2
- 0 9 * * *
1
How many at 0 9 * * *? 1. Once at 09:00, not a daemon.
Example 3
- 0 9 * * 1-5
1
How many at 0 9 * * 1-5? 1. Per-day, not a weekday total.
Related calculators
Common questions
How many at */5 * * * *?
288. Every 5 minutes in 1440 minutes. A field read, not live cron.
How many at 0 9 * * *?
1. One run per day at 09:00.
How many at 0 9 * * 1-5?
1. The extras card keeps per-day, not a Mon-Fri total.
Does this start cron on a server?
No. No crontab -e and no daemon. Five fields only.
Does Quartz 6 fields work?
No. The calculator reads 5 fields. Quartz seconds do not land here.
Is 288 a /var/log/cron line?
No. It is a match count from the expression you type.
Does a blank field count?
No. Without an expression there is no run count.
Where do I shift the zone?
On the timezone converter. Here 288 from */5 * * * * stays.
Does * * * * * give 1440?
Yes, every minute. The examples keep */5, 0 9, and 1-5.
Knowledge sources
The calculator counts bits, bytes or throughput from your numbers. Below are SI and bit definitions (NIST).
Page updated in 2026.
What the 5 fields mean
| Field | Range | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Minute | 0-59 | Which minute of the hour to run. |
| Hour | 0-23 | Which hour of the day (24h clock). |
| Day of month | 1-31 | A specific day of the month. |
| Month | 1-12 | A specific month of the year. |
| Day of week | 0-7 (0 and 7 = Sunday) | A specific day of the week. |
If both day-of-month and day-of-week are restricted (not *), the job runs when either one matches — a common gotcha in POSIX cron.
5-field vs 6-field (seconds)
This calculator expects classic 5-field cron: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week (e.g. 0 5 * * *). Some systems (Quartz, Spring, some CI schedulers) use 6 fields with seconds first (second minute hour …). Pasting a 6-field expression fails validation — drop the leading seconds field or rewrite it as 5-field cron.
Common patterns
*/5 * * * *— every 5 minutes, around the clock.0 * * * *— every hour, on the hour.0 5 * * *— every day at 5:00 (nightly backups).0 9 * * 1-5— weekdays at 9:00 (reports, business notifications).0 0 1 * *— midnight on the 1st of every month (monthly billing).
Overlapping run risk
If a job takes longer than the schedule interval (e.g. */5, but the job runs for 8 minutes), the next run starts before the previous one finishes. Without a lock (lock file, distributed lock, flock), this leads to parallel copies of the same job, race conditions, and duplicate processing.
Time zone: Linux crontab vs Kubernetes CronJob
- Classic Linux crontab runs on the system time zone (
/etc/timezone) by default, though some implementations (e.g. Vixie cron) let you setCRON_TZper line. - Kubernetes CronJob historically ran in UTC regardless of the node’s zone; since Kubernetes 1.24+, the
.spec.timeZonefield lets you set an IANA zone directly in the manifest. - When moving between environments, always check the effective time zone — the same cron pattern means a different wall-clock time in UTC versus, say, America/New_York.
Examples
*/15 9-17 * * 1-5— every 15 minutes, but only 9-17 on weekdays (business-hours monitoring).0 0 * * 0— every Sunday at midnight (weekly cleanup job).30 2 1,15 * *— the 1st and 15th of the month at 2:30 (semi-monthly billing).