What does a cron parser do?

A cron parser breaks an expression into its five (or six) fields and shows the specific values each field matches, helping you understand exactly when the job will run.

What is the difference between parsing and translating?

Translation gives a summary in plain English. Parsing shows the detailed field-by-field breakdown with expanded values (e.g., */15 → 0, 15, 30, 45).

Cron Expression Parser

*/15 9-17 * * 1-5

Every weekday from 9:00 AM to 9:59 AM, 10:00 AM to 10:59 AM, 11:00 AM to 11:59 AM, 12:00 PM to 12:59 PM, 1:00 PM to 1:59 PM, 2:00 PM to 2:59 PM, 3:00 PM to 3:59 PM, 4:00 PM to 4:59 PM, and 5:00 PM to 5:59 PM, every 15 minutes

Next 10 Executions

Times shown in UTC

Mon, May 18, 202609:00
Mon, May 18, 202609:15
Mon, May 18, 202609:30
Mon, May 18, 202609:45
Mon, May 18, 202610:00
Mon, May 18, 202610:15
Mon, May 18, 202610:30
Mon, May 18, 202610:45
Mon, May 18, 202611:00
Mon, May 18, 202611:15

Field Breakdown

*/15

Minute

Every 15 minutes

9-17

Hour

9-17

*

Day of Month

Every day

*

Month

Every month

1-5

Day of Week

Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri

About This Schedule

A cron expression parser breaks a cron string into its individual fields and explains what each one does. Given */15 9-17 * * 1-5, the parser shows: minute = every 15 minutes, hour = 9 through 17, day-of-month = any, month = any, day-of-week = Monday through Friday.

Parsing is more detailed than translation. While a translator gives you the summary ("every 15 minutes during business hours on weekdays"), a parser shows you the mechanics — which specific values each field matches. This is essential for debugging when a schedule doesn't behave as expected.

SimpleCronTab parses expressions in real time, showing the expanded values for each field. For example, */15 in the minute field expands to [0, 15, 30, 45], making it clear exactly which minutes the job will fire on.