Crontab Next Run Calculator

How it is calculated

The tool reads five fields in the order minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week. Each field accepts *, a number, a range a-b, a list a,b,c and a step such as */15, 1-5/2 or 5/10 (a step on a single number runs from that number to the field maximum, so 5/10 means minutes 5, 15, 25 and so on). Day-of-week runs 0 to 6, and 7 is also Sunday. Starting at the base time (read as UTC, or the current UTC time if you leave it empty), it moves forward one minute at a time from the next whole minute and lists each matching minute. When day-of-month and day-of-week are both restricted, a day matches if either one does, as in classic cron; if either field starts with * both must match. Up to 20 times are listed (3 by default), searching about four years ahead. Out-of-range values, names like MON, shortcuts like @daily and impossible dates such as 31 February show no result.

Common mistakes

• Expecting 0 0 13 * 5 to mean "Friday the 13th only". When both day fields are restricted, cron fires on the 13th or on any Friday. Starting from 14 November 2026 the list shows every Friday and also Sunday 13 December.
• Forgetting that all times are UTC. A job meant for 03:00 in your own time zone will show a different hour here.
• Reading 5/10 as "once an hour at minute 5". It means every 10 minutes from minute 5, giving 5, 15, 25, 35, 45 and 55 each hour.
• Typing names such as MON or JAN, or @daily. Only numbers are accepted, so use 1 and 0 0 * * *.
• Putting six fields (with seconds) into a five-field cron line, or a date that never exists such as 0 0 31 2 *. Both return no result.