MT5 Charting Guide (Charts, Timeframes, Indicators, and Drawing Tools)

Chart types on MT5

MT5 offers the same three chart types as MT4, but with slightly smoother rendering.

Line charts connect the closing prices of each period with a simple line. They are great for seeing the overall trend direction without any distracting details.

Bar charts display the open, high, low, and close (OHLC) for each time period using vertical bars with small horizontal ticks. They show more information than line charts while remaining compact.

Candlestick charts are the preferred choice of most traders. Each candlestick shows the open, high, low, and close in a visually intuitive way. The filled or colored body makes it easy to see whether the price went up (bullish) or down (bearish) during that period.

Most forex traders use candlestick charts because they make it easy to identify price patterns and understand market sentiment at a glance.

The 21 timeframes

The biggest charting improvement MT5 offers over MT4 is the expanded set of 21 timeframes.

• M1 (1 minute), M2 (2 minutes), M3 (3 minutes), M4 (4 minutes), M5 (5 minutes), M6 (6 minutes)
• M10 (10 minutes), M12 (12 minutes), M15 (15 minutes), M20 (20 minutes), M30 (30 minutes)
• H1 (1 hour), H2 (2 hours), H3 (3 hours), H4 (4 hours), H6 (6 hours), H8 (8 hours), H12 (12 hours)
• D1 (1 day), W1 (1 week), MN (1 month)

Why do more timeframes matter? Because different strategies work best on different time views. A trader who uses a 6-hour chart for their main analysis had no native option on MT4 and would need workarounds. On MT5, it is built right in.

The additional timeframes also improve multi-timeframe analysis, where you look at a higher timeframe for the overall direction and a lower timeframe for entry timing. With 21 options, you can find combinations that suit your exact approach.

Built-in indicators (38 total)

MT5 comes with 38 built-in technical indicators, organized into the same four categories as MT4.

Trend indicators include Moving Averages, Bollinger Bands, Ichimoku Cloud, Envelopes, and more. MT5 adds the Adaptive Moving Average to the trend category.

Oscillators include RSI, MACD, Stochastic, CCI, and others. MT5 adds the Triple Exponential Moving Average Oscillator (TRIX) among others.

Volume indicators include Volumes, On Balance Volume, Money Flow Index, and the Accumulation/Distribution indicator.

Bill Williams indicators include Alligator, Fractals, Awesome Oscillator, and more, the same set as MT4.

Adding indicators works the same way as MT4. Go to Insert, then Indicators, and choose from the categories. Or drag indicators from the Navigator panel onto your chart.

Drawing tools and analytical objects

MT5 provides 44 analytical objects, which is more than MT4's selection.

• Lines: horizontal, vertical, and trend lines
• Channels: equidistant, standard deviation, regression, and Andrews' Pitchfork
• Fibonacci tools: retracement, expansion, fans, arcs, and time zones
• Elliott Wave tools for wave counting
• Gann tools including Gann lines, fans, and grids
• Shapes: rectangles, triangles, and ellipses
• Text and labels for annotating charts

The additional drawing tools give technical analysts more options without needing third-party add-ons. The Elliott Wave and Gann tools are particularly useful for traders who use those specific analytical methods.

Multi-chart layouts

MT5 makes it easy to work with multiple charts at once. You can open as many chart windows as you want and arrange them in various layouts. Charts can also be detached from the main MT5 window and moved to a second monitor, which is a major improvement for traders with multi-monitor setups.

To tile your charts neatly, go to Window in the top menu and select options like Tile Horizontally, Tile Vertically, or arrange them manually.

Saving your chart setups

Just like MT4, you can save your chart configurations for reuse.

Templates save the settings of a single chart, including indicators, colors, and drawing objects. Apply a template to any new chart to instantly set it up the way you like.

Profiles save the entire workspace, including all open charts and their positions. This is useful if you have different setups for different trading sessions or strategies.

Tips for effective charting on MT5

• Start with higher timeframes. Begin your analysis on the D1 or H4 chart to see the big picture, then zoom into lower timeframes for entry signals.
• Use chart groups. Organize related charts together for faster switching between currency pairs.
• Do not overuse indicators. Even though MT5 has 38 built-in indicators, using more than two or three on one chart creates noise and conflicting signals.
• Customize your colors. Right-click any chart, select Properties, and set colors that are easy on your eyes. Dark backgrounds with bright candle colors are popular for long trading sessions.
• Use crosshairs. Press the middle mouse button or use the crosshair tool to precisely measure price distances and time periods on the chart.