Web Trader MT5 
By mastering MT5 charts you can view price action, adjust timeframes and set up your trading workspace efficiently.
Have you ever opened a trading platform and asked yourself why the price candles look totally different than you expected?
When Indian traders are starting out, they often seek help with the setup of their workspace. Many newcomers compare this platform with other platforms and ask why displays are so different. The display window shows the price movement across time.
Traders use them to read candles, switch timeframes, add indicators and keep track of instruments. Visual display may differ depending on platform, broker feed, settings, and timeframe.
This guide explains reading data, setup, multiple windows, platform differences, and troubleshooting.
What Are MT5 Charts And How Do They Work?
MT5 charts are graphical interfaces that show the price movement of an asset for a specific period of time in various graphical forms.
What The Chart Window Shows
An active window tracks the real-time and historical price changes for the instrument you have selected. The screen shows price changes for a chosen symbol, like a currency pair, commodity, index or CFD.
The interface shows the price movement for your selected timeframe so you can see previous and current momentum at a glance.
Main Chart Types In MT5
The platform shows market data in candlestick, bar and line formats.
- Candlestick Chart: Displays the open, high, low and close prices for each period with a filled body and wicks.
- Bar Chart: Displays open, high, low, and close prices but in a thinner vertical bar format.
- Line Chart: Connects the closing prices, providing a more straightforward view of the overall trend.
Understanding the different types of trading charts helps traders choose the visual format that best matches their strategy.
When Each Chart Type Is Useful
It is contingent upon how much detail you want to see in the market as to which visual format you choose.
For a more detailed price reading, candlestick formations are often used. Bar layouts are useful for viewing tight open, high, low and close data on a cluttered screen.
Line layouts are good for a cleaner view of general price direction without the noise of intraday highs and lows.
You will need to download MT5 and log in to your account before you can customize your display.
How To Read MetaTrader 5 Chart
The first step to learning to read data on a MetaTrader 5 chart is to understand individual candles and the timeframes they are assigned to.
Candlestick Basics
Each and every candle is the total movement in price for one unit of time. One candle usually gives you four pieces of information:
- Opening price
- High price
- Low price
- Closing price
The open and close levels are illustrated by the solid body. The highest and lowest price reached in that period is shown by a thin wick sticking out of the body.
Educational resources describe these visual patterns as a basic tool for monitoring market momentum.
A survey of 692 fund managers found that 87% place at least some importance on technical analysis when making trading decisions.
Candle Colours
You can configure the candle body colors to easily spot bullish and bearish price momentum. Bullish momentum is often denoted by green or white by many traders, while bearish drops are denoted by red or black.
However, the actual colours are completely dependent on your own visual settings.
Timeframes And Periods
A time frame is the amount of time that one candle on your screen represents. Traders holding positions for several days often ask about the best timeframe for swing trading, typically favouring the H4 or D1 charts.
| Timeframe | Meaning |
| M1 | One minute per candle |
| M5 | Five minutes per candle |
| M15 | Fifteen minutes per candle |
| H1 | One hour per candle |
| H4 | Four hours per candle |
| D1 | One day per candle |
| W1 | One week per candle |
| MN | One month per candle |
How To Switch Timeframes
Above the main workspace you can quickly change your viewing period using the toolbar. You can change timeframes from the toolbar or from the main menu.
- Open the active window.
- Look for the timeframe buttons in the toolbar.
- Select a time frame such as M15, H1, H4 or D1.
- Check how the structure layout changes straight away.
Once you get the hang of these basics, you can easily add MT5 indicators to enhance your market analysis.
How To Set Up MT5 Multiple Charts
MT5 Multiple Charts arrangement lets you watch multiple assets or timeframes at once in a single workspace.
Why Use Multiple Charts?
Traders open several windows to compare different instruments, or to analyse the same symbol on different timeframes.
You can open several windows so that traders can view and compare different symbols, for example, EUR/USD and XAU/USD, simultaneously.
You can also compare the same symbol over different time frames and spot larger trends.
How To Open A New Chart Window
To add a new asset to your workspace, just make a few selections from the main menu.
- Open the Market Watch window on the left side.
- Select the instrument you want or right-click.
- Choose to open a new visual window.
- Do it again for another instrument or period of time.
Tile and Cascade Layout
You can neatly organize your open windows with the built-in tile or cascade arrangement functions.
Users can arrange everything using layout options like tile, cascade, horizontal or vertical arrangements. This makes your workspace clean and practical.
Multiple Chart Setup Checklist
Follow these standard steps to achieve a clean, effective multi-window layout.
- Open each instrument in its own window.
- Select the desired time period for each layout.
- Select tile view so you can see everything side by side.
- Save this layout as a profile if needed.
- Do not have too many open windows at once to avoid visual clutter.
Remember that mobile screens don’t have the same multi-window viewing capabilities as you get on desktop, see the MT5 mobile app overview for more information.
Why Is MT5 And TradingView Charts Different?
Traders often ask why MT5 and TradingView charts are different and the answer is due to different data feeds and default settings.
Different Data Feeds
Each platform has its own sources of market data and this alters the exact prices shown. Usually the main interface will show prices straight from the connected broker server.
At the same time alternatives can display data from a selected exchange, broker or data provider in general. If the feeds are different, the prices may not be exactly the same.
Traders using regulated brokers like STARTRADER benefit from consistent, transparent pricing feeds directly from the broker server.
Different Candle Settings
The default visuals are significantly different between the two interfaces, including grid lines and zoom.
Out of the box, the default candle colors, visual themes, background grids, zoom levels and time separators may differ.
Different Server Times
Because of time zone differences between servers, a four-hour or daily session will start and end at entirely different times. Different server times can cause drastically different candle shapes on the platforms.
For example, a four-hour session can open and close at different times depending on the feed. According to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on market operations, global trading is continuous and the daily cut-off is according to the server time.
Bid And Ask Price Differences
One interface could show the bid price as a default, while another could use a different reference price.
One platform may plot the bid price, and another the mid-price, depending on the settings and type of instrument .
Note: Both platforms offer reliable visual data and neither is a one-size-fits-all solution for all users. This section is not biased towards one platform over the other. The idea is to help traders understand why the same instrument can look different in a visual way.
MT5 Chart Troubleshooting
Most display problems come from simple connection errors or basic setting configurations.
Troubleshooting Checklist
- Chart Not Moving: Verify that the market is open, if the platform is connected and if auto-scroll is turned on.
- Charts Are Not Loading: Check your internet connection, server login and if the selected symbol is active.
- Blank Charts After Opening: Refresh display, change timeframe or reselect symbol from Market Watch.
- Candles Look Wrong: Verify the timeframe, format type, zoom level and broker server time.
- Prices Not Updating: Reconnect to the server, restart the software, and log back in
- Chart Too Compressed: You can change the view using zoom in, zoom out and shift settings.
FAQs
This is most often because the market is closed or your platform has lost connection to the servers. An MT5 chart not moving may be caused by auto-scroll being turned off or the selected instrument not updating. Verify your connection status, refresh the display, and ensure that the specific market is open.
Mostly, they differ because of different data feeds, different server times and different visual default settings. Visuals may vary according to broker feed, data source, server time, bid/ask settings, body colours, zoom and display type. Both platforms may be useful, but the displays may not look the same.
The dedicated candlestick, bar or line buttons on the top toolbar allow easy switching between formats. The format can be changed by the user from the toolbar or the main menu. Candlestick patterns are often simpler for beginners who want to read the open, high, low and close data clearly.
Yes, you can open multiple windows to view different symbols or timeframes simultaneously. You can have several windows open for different instruments or different time frames. Then you can configure them through the tile or cascade layout options.
To change the zoom level, click on the magnifying glass icons in the toolbar or use the usual keyboard shortcuts. Depending on the device and setup, users can zoom in and out with toolbar buttons, keyboard shortcuts, or mouse controls. The amount of historical detail shown on screen is affected by the zoom.
Conclusion
The first thing you need to learn when doing an effective market analysis is how to navigate around your workspace.
Visual windows give traders the ability to see price movement, read momentum, compare timeframes, open multiple instruments and troubleshoot simple display problems.
Candlestick, bar and line formats all have different purposes and timeframes change the way the periods are displayed. You can open multiple windows to easily compare instruments or timeframes.
Note, this software may not look like others because platform settings and data feeds can be quite different. Troubleshooting starts with basic connection, login, symbol and display settings.
Before you start using charts for live trading decisions, explore more MT5 platform guides to learn to work with indicators, mobile access and platform setup tools.
This content is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice, financial guidance, or a recommendation to trade any financial instrument.
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