How to Use the MT4 Candle Timer Indicator

In trading, choosing the most suitable time to open or close the position is very important. And it gets even more important if these positions are placed for a short period. This is where the Forex candle countdown timer indicator comes into play.
 
The candle timer is an indicator that allows traders to keep an eye on the individual candles in the candlestick chart and find out when the current one will close and the new one will open. Once toggled, the indicator places a countdown timer within the chart and keeps track of exactly how many minutes and seconds are left before the new candle forms.
 
Usually, MetaTrader 4 doesn’t come with this indicator already built-in to the platform. However, there are many sources on the internet that offer the candle timer indicator for free. Traders need to search for the one that is most suitable for them on Google and install it in MT4.
 
The candle timer indicator is a very useful tool for short-term traders. With it, they can be ready to open or close a position right in time when the new candle begins. However, this indicator is seldom used in isolation from other indicators. Traders usually combine several indicators for a single trading process and by doing that, they can get a better chance of accurately guessing the upcoming price movement and when they may occur according to the candle timer.

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An MT4 candle timer indicator guide - Find out when the next candle begins

Among many categorizations of online trading, there is one that is associated with time: traders can either open new positions and leave them open for a long period of time (like days or weeks, even months) or open and close them within a single day. These types of short-term trading strategies can last for hours, minutes, or even seconds.
 
Within this strategy, it is very important to keep track of the time and know when to open or close the position. At one point, the price of an asset may be really low and very beneficial for the buyers of that asset; but the market developments can be so sudden that the same price can instantly rise and become very disadvantageous for the same buyers. The same goes for the sellers with the opposite conditions.
 
So, there are a few main points that you should consider when placing trades with the candle timer indicator.
 
  • The timing
  • The opportunity
  • The market trend
 
This goes to show that knowing the best time to place a trade can have a major effect on the success of the position. One way of keeping track of time is to use the candle timer forex indicator for MT4.


The candle timer indicator, which also has other names like “candle time left”, “candle countdown timer”, or “candlestick timer indicator”, enables traders to see the remaining time of the current timeframe, as well as when the new one will begin. The last name variation that we mentioned, the candlestick timer, shows that this indicator is available within the candlestick chart but traders can also use it for other types of charts.


So, what the candle timer indicator basically does is it tracks the elapsed time of the current candle and gives the exact number of time remaining for the new candle to start. As noted above, this feature is especially useful for those who perform short-term trades, for whom every second is important. With the candle timer indicator, they can know exactly when the same timeframe begins and make trading decisions accordingly

How to download the candle timer indicator for MT4?

Usually, there is no pre-installed candle timer and spread indicator MT4 software offers to the users. That is why you need to find the indicator on your own and install it on the platform.

While there are many versions of the candle time indicator from different providers, they still serve the same function of counting down to the next candle’s formation. That is why there is not much of a difference which specific indicator you choose; just search in Google and find the most suitable version to your needs.

Once the download has finished, the next step is to install the indicator on MetaTrader 4. Usually, the indicators downloaded from the internet come as “.zip” or “.rar” archives, which means you need to extract the files within the archive to the MT4 folder of the original installation. More specifically, you need to open the MT4 folder, then go to the MQL4 folder and extract all the files within the folder titled “Indicators”
 Forex candle countdown timer indicator
After that, you have to restart MT4 and look for the Indicators sub-menu under the Navigator window. There you will find the MT4 candlestick timer indicator which you can then insert in the candlestick chart.
 
Another key feature of this indicator to mention here is that it allows users to customize many elements according to their preferences. For example, when double-clicking on the indicator, the window will appear where you can change the location and color of the timer, as well as set different timeframes and even choose to get notifications when there are only a few seconds left for the new candle to appear.


Using the candle timer in the actual trading

As noted above, the candle countdown indicator MT4  features is beneficial to  traders that use short-term trading strategies. However, just this indicator alone is not enough to actually know which position to choose: long (buy) or short (sell). This indicator merely shows the exact time when the next candle will appear.

But this doesn’t mean that the candle timer indicator is useless. Quite the opposite, actually: when combined with other indicators that give out signals about which direction the trend is going to take, the candle timer becomes an integral element of the trade.

MT4 candle timer indicator
The MT4 candle timer alongside Bollinger Bands

The most popular indicator used alongside the candle timer is Bollinger Bands and we will discover how they complement each other. First thing’s first, Bollinger Bands is a volatility channel that enables traders to track the price fluctuations of an asset and see how volatility changes..Bollinger Bands are also often used in stock trading and is one of the best volatility indicators for stock traders.

This indicator uses one simple moving average as a baseline and two standard deviation bands above and below the baseline. Basically, if the two bands are far apart from the baseline, it means that the asset is very volatile, and if they are closer to the baseline, then the asset price is relatively stable.

One mainstream theory behind this indicator is that when the bands go too close to the baseline, the actual price tends to break out of the bands and quite higher/lower prices. This is when traders start receiving the buy/sell signals. But prices can change pretty quickly in this short period.

This is where using the MT4 indicator comes in handy Whenever the Bollinger Bands start to shrink too much, a trader may start thinking about placing an order depending on which way the price breaks out: buy an asset if the price breaks out above or sell it if the price breaks down below. As to when to actually place the order, they can use the candle timer indicator to wait for the next candle to emerge and start the position right away.

a guide to candle timer indicator for MT4

Technical indicators similar to the candle timer

The candle timer is far from the only such technical indicator traders can use. One such indicator is the “bar timer”, which is another MT4 indicator that is used as a countdown timer for the current candlestick on a chart. 

The primary purpose of a bar timer is to give traders a visual representation of the time remaining before the current candlestick closes. When applied to a chart, the Bar Timer typically appears as a numerical countdown or a graphical representation, such as a progress bar.

The timer resets with the start of each new candlestick, continuously updating to reflect the time remaining until the candlestick’s closure. Traders can customize the appearance of the timer based on their preferences, adjusting parameters like font size, color, or style.

The tool is useful for traders in managing their strategies effectively. For example, in short-term trading, where decisions need to be made incredibly quickly, knowing the time left on a candlestick can be valuable. 

Traders use time-based indicators to assess the urgency of market movements and to time their entries and exits more effectively.

Another such indicator is the “Time Remaining” indicator, which is one of the best forex indicators on MT4 that is time-based. The indicator typically appears as a countdown timer until the candlestick;s closure. 

The data provided by the indicator is especially useful for day-traders as it gives them a timer for each candlestick for each trade.

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A guide to the candle timer indicator for MT4 - Key takeaways

When  short-term traders want to track the time for the next candle to begin in the candlestick chart, they use the candle timer indicator. This indicator allows them to find out when the current candle ends and the new one begins within the accuracy of seconds.

 

Even though MetaTrader 4 doesn’t have this indicator pre-installed, the internet is full of candle timer indicator MT4 download sources. Traders can download the file for free, install it on the platform, and start using it on the candlestick chart.

 

One important takeaway from this article is that traders usually use the candle timer indicator in conjunction with other technical indicators like Bollinger Bands. The latter is used to briefly determine when the price will likely break out from the current trend, whereas the candle timer indicator is used to get the exact time for the next candle to appear, which is likely going to be the next breaking point of the trend.

FAQ On How To Use The MT4 Candle Timer Indicator

1. Which type of traders would be using a candle timer for MT4 most effectively?

There are two general ways of managing open positions in trading: people can either leave the trades open for a longer period of time, whether it is for days, weeks, or months, or they can open and close the positions within the same day (in hours, minutes, or even seconds).
 
The effectiveness of the MT4 candle timer indicator is better utilized for the second type of trading. That’s because, in the long-term, immediate price fluctuations don’t really have much impact on the success of the trade - the position spans across days, and traders can be checking their positions once a day. Therefore, this indicator is rarely used for long-term trades.
 
In the short-term positions, though, the candle timer MT4 indicator becomes quite useful. Traders can track the exact time for when the next candle emerges in the candlestick chart, which can make them more alert for the upcoming price movements. As a result, they can, in theory, make more effective trading decisions.

2. How to download the candle time indicator MT4 for free and install it on the platform?

As noted in the article, the candle time MT4 indicator doesn’t usually come pre-installed within the MetaTrader software. But there is nothing too alarming about that - traders can search for the best candle timer indicators for MT4 on the internet and find the most suitable indicator version to their needs.
 
After downloading the appropriate files, they need to either extract the archive folder or take the actual files if they didn’t come in an archive) and put them in the originally installed folder of MT4. More specifically, they have to open the MT4 folder, go to the MQL4 folder, and copy the files in the Indicators folder.
 
After that, they need to restart MT4. Once everything is done, they will see the candle timer indicator appear in the Indicators list under the Navigation menu at the left side of the screen.

3.Which indicators are used in combination with the candlestick timer indicator for MT4?

More often than not, the candle timer indicator isn’t used separately in trading. That is because the indicator only shows when the next time frame - a candle - will occur in the candlestick chart, which, in reality, cannot do much if the trader doesn’t have certain expectations as to where the current trend goes.

For that, they also use other indicators alongside the candlestick timer MT4. One of the most popular indicators in this sense is Bollinger Bands. This is a volatility channel indicator that shows how significant the price fluctuations of the given asset are.

Bollinger Bands use the simple moving average as a baseline and two standard deviation bands that indicate how volatile the price is: the wider apart they are, the more volatile the price is; the closer together they are, the less volatile is the price. It is generally considered that when the two bands come significantly closer together, the price will break out the borders of two bands and provide clear signals for buying or selling an asset.

That is when the candle timer comes into play. It gives the exact time for when the next candle will appear, therefore, traders may have a closer idea for when the next price breakout may happen. This way, their trading decisions may be quite a bit more effective.
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