What Is the MetaTrader Market Watch Window?
The Market Watch window in MetaTrader is the panel that displays live price quotes for the symbols available on the trader’s account. It is the source from which traders open new charts, place new orders, and monitor the current bid and ask prices for any symbol they wish to follow. The Market Watch appears by default on the left side of the platform in both MT4 and MT5, though its position and contents can be customised.
The window is essentially the trader’s symbol list. Without it, the platform’s other functions (charting, order placement, indicator analysis) still work, but the trader has limited visibility into pricing across the available instruments. Most workflows in MetaTrader begin with selecting a symbol from the Market Watch.
This article explains what the Market Watch shows, how to open and customise it, how to add or remove symbols, and the practical uses traders make of the window beyond simply checking prices.
Opening the Market Watch
If the Market Watch is not visible:
- In MT4 or MT5, click the View menu and select Market Watch
- Alternatively, press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+M
- The window appears as a panel, by default on the left side of the platform
The window can be detached from its default position and floated as a separate window by dragging its title bar. It can also be docked to other edges of the platform. To close it, click the X in its title bar or repeat the shortcut.
What the Market Watch Displays
By default, the Market Watch shows three columns for each symbol:
- Symbol name (such as EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY)
- Bid price, which is the price at which the broker will buy
- Ask price, which is the price at which the broker will sell
The difference between the bid and ask is the spread, which is the trader’s immediate cost of opening a position. Prices update in real time as the broker streams quotes.
Additional columns can be enabled by right-clicking the column headers and selecting from the available fields:
- Spread, displayed in pips or points depending on platform settings
- High and Low for the current trading day
- Time of the last quote update
- Symbol Properties for various contract details
The columns can be reordered by dragging them. The symbol list itself can be sorted alphabetically by clicking the Symbol column header, or by clicking other column headers to sort by spread, last update, or other criteria.
Adding and Removing Symbols
Brokers typically offer hundreds of symbols, but only a subset is shown in the Market Watch by default. To add more:
Right-click in the Market Watch window, then select Show All. This adds every available symbol to the list. The list can become very long, so traders often follow this with manual removal of symbols they do not need.
Alternatively, right-click and select Symbols. A dialog opens with all available symbols grouped by category (Forex Majors, Forex Minors, Forex Exotics, CFDs, Indices, Commodities, etc.). The trader can expand groups and toggle visibility for specific symbols.
To remove a symbol, right-click on its row in the Market Watch and select Hide. Symbols with open positions cannot be hidden until the positions are closed.
To restore the default list, right-click in the window and select Symbols, then Reset List.
Right-Click Menu Options
Right-clicking a symbol row in the Market Watch opens a context menu with several useful options:
New Order opens the order ticket for that symbol, allowing the trader to place a market order or pending order directly.
Chart Window opens a new chart for the symbol. The default timeframe matches whatever is set in the platform options. The chart can be retimed afterward using the toolbar.
Tick Chart opens a small tick-by-tick price chart for the symbol in a sub-window. This is a useful tool for monitoring very short-term price action without committing the screen space of a full chart.
Depth of Market opens the order book (where the broker provides depth data). This is more commonly used in MT5 than MT4, since MT5’s order management is more closely tied to the order book.
Specification opens a window showing the symbol’s contract details: lot size, minimum/maximum lot sizes, tick value, margin requirements, swap rates, trading hours, and stop level minimums. This is the definitive source of information about how the symbol behaves on the trader’s account. Spread information, pip value, and margin requirements are all visible here.
Hide removes the symbol from the Market Watch.
Sets allows saving the current Market Watch contents and order as a named set, then switching between different sets quickly. A trader might have one set for forex majors, another for indices, and another for commodities.
Common Practical Uses
Beyond simply showing prices, traders use the Market Watch for several practical purposes.
Spread monitoring. Enabling the Spread column allows quick visual comparison of spreads across pairs and over time. Wider spreads on a normally tight pair can indicate reduced liquidity, an approaching news event, or session changes.
Quick order entry. Right-clicking a symbol and selecting New Order is faster than going through the File or Tools menus. Many traders place all their orders directly from the Market Watch.
Quick chart opening. Right-clicking a symbol and selecting Chart Window is the fastest way to open a new chart, especially when monitoring multiple pairs without keeping all charts permanently open.
Symbol specification reference. Checking the Specification window before opening a position confirms important details such as the minimum lot size, the broker’s minimum stop level distance, and the swap rates for long and short positions. These can vary by symbol and by account type.
Tracking session changes. Sorting by the Time column or watching for symbols that have not updated recently can help identify symbols that have entered low-liquidity periods or that the broker has temporarily stopped quoting.
Differences Between MT4 and MT5 Market Watch
The Market Watch in MT4 and MT5 is broadly similar in function, but a few differences are worth noting.
MT5 includes additional tabs at the bottom of the Market Watch window. These include Symbols (full symbol list), Details (extended information for the selected symbol), Trading (one-click trading buttons), and Ticks (recent tick-by-tick data). MT4’s Market Watch is simpler, with just the price list and a smaller set of options.
MT5’s Depth of Market display is more developed than MT4’s, reflecting the platform’s stronger orientation toward exchange-traded instruments.
The procedure for adding, hiding, and configuring symbols is essentially the same in both versions. The differences are mostly in the depth of additional information available, not in the core symbol-list function.
Customising the Market Watch
A few practical customisations make the Market Watch more useful:
Sort by activity. Clicking the Time column header sorts symbols by most recent quote. Highly active symbols rise to the top.
Limit the list. Hiding symbols not actively traded keeps the list manageable. A list of 50 symbols is far harder to scan than a list of 10 or 20.
Use Sets for different contexts. Saving distinct sets for different sessions or instrument types allows switching quickly without rebuilding the list.
Float the window. On a multi-monitor setup, detaching the Market Watch and placing it on a secondary monitor leaves the primary chart area unobstructed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I open the Market Watch in MT4? Click the View menu and select Market Watch, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+M. The window appears on the left side of the platform by default.
Why is a pair I want to trade missing from the Market Watch? Brokers typically offer many more symbols than are shown by default. Right-click in the Market Watch and select Show All, or use the Symbols dialog to enable specific instruments.
How do I add a symbol to the Market Watch? Right-click in the window and select Show All to add every available symbol, or use Symbols (Ctrl+U) to selectively enable individual ones from a categorised list.
Can I see the spread in the Market Watch? Yes. Right-click the column headers and enable the Spread column. The spread is then displayed live for each symbol.
What is the difference between the Symbols dialog and Show All? Show All adds every available symbol to the visible list. The Symbols dialog allows selective enabling and disabling of individual symbols and groups, giving more precise control.
How do I open a chart from the Market Watch? Right-click the symbol and select Chart Window, or drag the symbol from the Market Watch to an empty area of the platform. A new chart opens with that symbol.
Can I save my Market Watch list? Yes. Right-click in the window, hover over Sets, and select Save As. Give the set a name. To restore later, select the saved name from the Sets menu. This is useful for switching between watchlists for different sessions or strategies.