History Center on Tools Menu on the MT4

Find the history center in MetaTrader 4 under the tools menu. It saves data for each open chart. Open a Gold M15 chart, and MT4 starts storing that timeframe's info. Log back in later, and it updates with fresh prices for storage.

This also tells us that if you have not opened a particular chart on your MT4, the system won't start collecting data for that chart. To give an example, if you only have M15 open for Gold, the system will only keep data for M15, not for Gold 1H or Gold 4H. So, if you want to start saving data for H1 and H4, you need to open those time-frames first, and then the data will start being saved from that moment.

The image below shows time frames. Only M15, H1, and H4 have yellow and green tags, which means data saves to the history center. The rest appear gray since they have not opened on this setup. To fix that, open a gold chart like 30 minutes. The icon turns yellow and green right away. Do this for each one.

You can observe the structure MT4 employs for saving price data as figures in the illustration above: these numerical values are precisely what is utilized to reconstruct the chart.

Why Use the Platform MT4 Price History Center

Because of the format of storing data in figures it means that these numbers can then be analyzed and interpreted using mathematical formulas methods to analyze these prices and get a general idea of the price trend movements.

Numerical techniques are implemented in trading through automated computer programs. These programs are coded using these mathematical procedures and formulas, which results in what is known in programming as an algorithm: these algorithms are operationalized within MT4 via applications frequently referred to as EAs - Automated Gold Trading Programs.

This Expert Advisors(EAs) answer the question why the need for the History center? The info stored is used by the Gold traders to test their automated EAs to get an idea of how these EA Robots would have traded & then determine whether they are profitable or not. If these are profitable, traders implement these automated systems on live market, if not then the trader changes their math formula & reprograms the algorithm, then tests this new automated algorithm with the same price data on the history center until the time when the trader will program an algorithm that is profitable enough to trade the real market and make profitable trade transactions.

One approach to sourcing historical data for the history center involves utilizing the provided download function: [citation omitted]. However, data obtained through this manual download often contains inaccuracies and gaps. Consequently, for a gold trader, it is advisable to rely on the data natively downloaded by the software post-installation and setup. This means prioritizing the information collected from the moment the platform was initially downloaded and trading commenced, even if that period only spans a few weeks or months.

When testing Expert Advisors, ensure you open the chart for each trade you place and activate all relevant time frames for that chart before proceeding.

1 Min - M1
5 Minutes - M5
15 Minutes - M15
30 Min - M30
1 Hour - 1H
4 Hours - H4
Daily - D1
Weekly - W1
Monthly - MN

In testing your EA, select the start date as the date when you'll execute the above operation of downloading all the data for these chart timeframes and for different MT4 symbols also, so as to make sure your Expert Advisors(EAs) are using correct data and give you the right results.

For this reason, skip downloading data to your MT4. Use the data that loads when you open the trading charts, like the example above. Begin from that spot.

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History Center on Tools Menu on the MT4

Why Use the Platform MT4 Price History Center