This guide covers built-in drawing objects in MT4 and MT5 desktop. FXTRADING.com Web Trader and FXTRADING.com App have their own chart controls. Use the corresponding menu names in your selected language; Windows shortcuts below may differ on Mac.
What is a chart drawing?
A horizontal line, trend line, channel, shape or text annotation marks information on a chart. You position these objects yourself. An indicator instead calculates values from its inputs. Drawing a price level does not place an order or set a Stop Loss or Take Profit. A line drawn at your intended exit price will not close a position when price reaches it.
Add a drawing to the correct chart
First check the chart's complete instrument name and timeframe. An object belongs to the chart where you create it; do not assume it will appear on another chart, device or platform. Use an ordinary analytical drawing tool, rather than a trading command or a custom EA button.
Choose the required drawing from Insert or the Line Studies toolbar. For example, select a horizontal line to mark a price, or a trend line to connect two points.
For a one-point object, click the required location on the chart. For a trend line, set its starting point, hold the mouse button and drag to the second point, then release.
Other tools may need additional control points. Complete those points before deciding the object is missing. Check the resulting position and shape; selecting a tool alone does not finish the drawing.
Select, move and edit an object
Click or double-click the drawing according to your platform's object-selection setting. Visible handles or a frame indicate selection. Drag the appropriate handle to reposition or reshape it; a central moving handle and an endpoint have different purposes. Check that the intended drawing is selected before dragging.
Right-click the selected drawing and open its Properties. Common settings cover its name, description and appearance, including line colour, thickness and style. A clear name helps distinguish several similar drawings on the same chart. These are object properties, separate from the chart's overall properties.
Parameters lets you inspect or change the object's time and value coordinates. Visualization controls the timeframes where it appears. Options depend on the object: a trend line may offer a ray setting, while Fibonacci tools have level settings. Review the available fields rather than expecting every object to have the same tabs.
MT4: How many control points does a drawing need?
After choosing a tool from Insert, place its required control points on the intended chart. These common MT4 examples explain why selecting the tool alone may not complete a drawing.
Drawing tool | Required control points |
Horizontal Line | 1 point: the price level. |
Vertical Line | 1 point: the time coordinate. |
Trendline | 2 points. |
Fibonacci Retracement | 2 points defining the base trend line. |
Fibonacci Expansion | 3 points defining two waves. |
Andrews’ Pitchfork | 3 points. |
These are drawing anchors, not distances in pips. A drawing does not place an order or guarantee a future price movement.
MT5: adjust Andrews’ Pitchfork
This drawing uses three parallel lines: a median handle and two outer teeth. Choose the drawing tool and set its anchors on the intended chart; use these controls to adjust the completed object.
Control | Effect |
Start of the handle | Changes the direction of the teeth. |
Second handle point | Moves the whole pitchfork without changing its dimensions. |
Start of either tooth | Moves that tooth’s anchor independently; the other stays in place. |
Date and value | Inspect the three anchor coordinates in Parameters: the handle start, lower tooth and upper tooth. |
Levels and rays | Level settings control additional signal lines. Ray Right and Ray Left extend the drawing indefinitely in the chosen direction. |
These are analytical drawing controls, separate from trade orders. The lines do not guarantee support, resistance or a future price.
MT4: Set how drawings are selected
Open Tools → Options → Objects. Review these controls, then choose OK to apply your settings.
Setting | What it does |
Show Properties after Creation | Opens the object's properties immediately after you add it, so you can adjust that drawing's settings. |
Select Object after Creation | Selects a newly added drawing so you can reposition it immediately without selecting it again. |
Select Object by Single Mouse Click | Enabled: one left-click selects the drawing; a double-click opens Properties. Disabled: a double-click selects the drawing. |
Magnet Sensitivity | Sets a snapping radius in pixels. A drawing's control point snaps to the nearest bar's open, high, low or close price within that radius. For example, 10 means a radius of 10 pixels; 0 turns snapping off. |
Pixels measure screen distance, not pips or an order's Stop Loss distance. These drawing preferences do not place orders or change trading permissions.
MT4: Choose Text or Text Label
Text: Attached to the chart and moves with it when you scroll. Use it for a comment that should stay with a chart location.
Text Label: Attached to the chart window and stays in place when you scroll. Choose it for a note that should remain in the same part of the window.
Find a drawing through the object list
In MT4 desktop, open Charts → Objects → Objects List. Select the named object and use its available properties controls.
In MT5 desktop, right-click the chart and open Object List, or use Ctrl+B on Windows. Check the object's name, type and chart window. Show moves the chart to the selected object; Properties opens its settings.
MT5 objects created by an MQL5 program can be hidden from the default list. List all includes these objects. A drawing missing from the list is therefore not necessarily absent from the chart. Indicators and Expert Advisors have separate management lists.
Remove a drawing without changing a trade
Select the exact object, then choose Delete from its context menu or object list. Avoid a bulk-delete command when you only want to remove one annotation.
If you remove a drawing accidentally, use Undo Delete from the object controls, or Ctrl+Z on Windows, to restore the last deleted object. This command is for drawing deletion; it does not reverse a trade or recover an entire account history.
Removing an ordinary analytical drawing does not cancel an order or remove a position's Stop Loss or Take Profit. Trade levels and EA controls are different. To change a trade, use the appropriate trade-management process and check the resulting order or position, rather than relying on the appearance of a chart line.
If the drawing is missing or difficult to select
Check that you are looking at the same chart, complete instrument and chart window where you created it. A drawing in an indicator subwindow may not be in the main price window.
Check Visualization: the object may be configured to appear only on selected timeframes. Changing timeframe can therefore hide it without deleting it.
Use the object list to find its name. In MT5, Show can bring an off-screen object into view; a time or price coordinate outside the visible area can explain an apparently missing drawing.
Check single-click versus double-click selection and whether the object's appearance blends into the chart background. For a program-created object, available selection and visibility controls may differ; do not delete the program or alter its trading permissions just to recover a drawing.
Keep the platform and purpose clear
These instructions describe desktop chart annotation, not a trading strategy or a promise that a marked level will hold. Drawing tools do not guarantee a market outcome. Mobile MetaTrader, FXTRADING.com App and FXTRADING.com Web Trader use their own interfaces; desktop menu paths and shortcuts should not be applied to them automatically.
On Mac, use the menus provided by your installed version if a Windows shortcut does not work. Changes to a drawing are local chart actions; do not assume automatic synchronization with other devices or FXTRADING.com platforms.