MetaTrader 4 is one of the worlds leading forex trading platforms, used by traders and investors around the world. Although it’s a great platform, there are a fair amount of limitations that are leading traders to stray away to other platforms such as Tradingview
for their analysis and chart work. Before you resort to doing so, is it possible to create custom time frame charts on MT4? Let’s find out…
It’s possible to create custom time frame charts on MT4.
Here’s how:
- Open the currency pair you’re looking to use.
- Open the Navigator window using Control + N.
- Expand the Scripts drop down menu.
- Drag the PeriodConverter script onto your chart.
- Fill in the multiplier factor input.
- Save, then go to file.
- Click on Open Offline Chart. You’ll see your new chart listed there.
- You now have a custom time frame chart.
Let’s break this down in a bit more detail…
Creating Custom Time Frame Charts On MT4
Creating custom time frame charts on MetaTrader is a very simple process, even though the platform is outdated. To save you the time, I would recommend potentially using TradingView to create custom time frame charts if you’re seriously in the market, as this is a much more useful tool – however, let’s cover MT4…
1. Open the currency pair.
This is fairly self explanatory, however, you can only create time frame for one pair at a time so you’ll need to ensure that you’re on the correct currency pair.
2. Open the Navigator and expand the Scripts menu.
You can hit Control + N to shortcut to the Navigator. You should see Scripts listed on the left there, so expand this menu to see all the built in scripts.
3. Drag the Period Converter script on to your chart.
Literally drag it and drop it onto the chart. This will force the script window to open, in the same way that EA and Indicators do when you add them onto a chart.
4. Fill in the multiple and hit save.
The period multiplier input will allow you to essentially times the current time frame. If you’re on the 1 Hour time frame chart and you want to see a 10 Hour time frame chart, you’ll need to add 10 in this box.
5. Head to file, then open offline chart.
Here you should see the chart that you have just created. For instance, EURUSD,H10. From here, click open and this will load your offline chart.
6. Add indicators and test.
Now you have a custom time frame chart!
If you’re still struggling to get this implemented, here is a helpful video that breaks down the process in more detail:
Why Would You Want Custom Time Frames?
It’s all well and good building custom time frame charts on MetaTrader 4, but why would you actually want to bother? Well, having custom time frame charts available is a great way to get some extra insight into the market and can actually help you make more profitable trades across various different styles, from swing trading to scalping.
When you switch to custom time frame charts, MetaTrader 4 automatically calculates the price change for each level of bars in your chosen timeframe. This means that one minute bars will appear on 1M charts, 15 minute bars on 5M and 1 hour bars on 1D charts etc.
The advantages of custom time frame charts are numerous. Firstly, you can use the data that is immediately available in MetaTrader 4 to your advantage and look at why a certain price has moved within a particular timeframe. For example, if you see that the market has fallen quite significantly over the last 15 minute period, but not in the 1 hour period, you know that there is a big support level at this price and you may look to buy options. However, if the market has dropped significantly over the last hour, then it may be worth selling options. The point is that without knowing when certain price movements occurred within a timeframe, you would not be able to make this analysis and therefore could end up with the wrong trades or at least mistiming your entries.
After you’ve built your own custom time frame charts, you can then use them in combination with MetaTrader 4 technical indicators of your choice to get more accurate price predictions.
There are only a few drawbacks of using custom time frames, instead of the standard time frames that MT4 is built with. Firstly, it’s easy to overcomplicate trading and end up not being able to take any positions in the market. For instance, if you have a trade that looks like a strong buy on the 5H chart but not on the 18H chart, what would you do? Extra insight is good, but not if it costs you trades!
Secondly, custom time frame charts on MetaTrader 4 are only available offline. This means that they won’t automatically be updated with new price movement and candles, like the usual charts would do. This is very tedious, but it’s the price we pay for using a very old program! More recently trading platforms like TradingView allow you to make custom timeframes that work in real time.
In Summary – Creating Custom Time Frame Charts For Your Trading
You should now be able to create custom time frames in MT4 for your forex trading. The process is very simple but there are better tools in the market that are more use friendly.
If you’ve created your own charts, please do let me know in the comments below – I’d be curious to see which time frames are working for you!
