How to Use the Crosshair on MT4

The crosshair is one of the most useful chart inspection tools on MT4. Once active, it shows the exact price and time of any point on the chart, and when you click and drag from one point to another it measures the distance in bars and pips. Traders use it to verify the price of a specific candle, count bars between events, measure swing distances, and check planned stop-loss or take-profit distances before placing a trade.

This guide covers how to activate the crosshair, what information it displays, how to measure between two points, and how to switch back to the regular cursor when you are done.

What the Crosshair Shows

When the crosshair is active, the cursor changes from a standard arrow to a pair of intersecting lines that extend horizontally and vertically across the chart. As you move the cursor, the horizontal line tracks the cursor's price level and the vertical line tracks its time position.

The chart's price axis (right side) highlights the price under the cursor, and the time axis (bottom) highlights the time or date under the cursor. This makes it easy to read the exact price and time at any point without estimating from the gridlines.

The crosshair also enables a measurement mode. Click and hold the mouse at one point, then drag to another point on the chart. A small label appears near the cursor showing the number of bars, the pip or point distance, and the price difference between the two points. Releasing the mouse ends the measurement; clicking somewhere new resets the starting point.

How to Activate the Crosshair

MT4 offers three ways to switch the cursor into crosshair mode.

The fastest is the keyboard shortcut: with the chart in focus, press Ctrl+F. The cursor switches to a crosshair immediately.

The second method is the toolbar button. The Standard toolbar at the top of MT4 includes a Crosshair button (an icon showing two intersecting lines). Click it to activate the crosshair. If the Standard toolbar is not visible, enable it via View > Toolbars > Standard.

The third method is the chart's right-click menu. Right-click anywhere on the chart and look for the cursor mode option in the context menu. The exact wording varies by MT4 build, but the crosshair is one of the available cursor modes.

All three methods produce the same result. Once the cursor changes to a crosshair, the tool is active.

Reading Crosshair Information at a Single Point

With the crosshair active, simply move the cursor over any part of the chart. The current price (the level the horizontal line is at) appears highlighted on the right-hand price axis. The current time (the time the vertical line crosses) appears highlighted on the bottom time axis.

For an exact reading, position the cursor precisely on the bar you want to inspect. The price axis shows the exact price under the cursor, and the time axis shows the exact bar time. This is more accurate than estimating from the gridlines, especially on charts with compressed scaling.

The crosshair does not snap to specific bar values such as Open, High, Low, or Close. It reads whatever the cursor pointer is on. To read OHLC values for a bar precisely, hover over the bar with a standard cursor and check the OHLC display at the top of the chart (if enabled in chart properties).

Using the Crosshair to Measure Distance Between Two Points

The crosshair's most useful function is measuring distance. Here is the standard workflow:

Step 1: Activate the crosshair using Ctrl+F or the toolbar button.

Step 2: Position the cursor at the first reference point (for example, the high of a recent swing).

Step 3: Click and hold the left mouse button. A measurement label appears near the cursor.

Step 4: While still holding, drag the cursor to the second reference point (for example, the low of a subsequent swing).

Step 5: Read the measurement label. It shows the number of bars between the two points, the pip or point distance, and the price difference. The exact format varies slightly depending on the instrument and MT4 build, but the bars count and pip/point distance are always included.

Step 6: Release the mouse button to end the measurement. The label disappears.

To measure a different distance, simply click and drag again from any new starting point. The previous measurement is replaced.

For non-forex instruments such as stocks or indices, the distance is expressed in points rather than pips, but the procedure is identical.

How to Deactivate the Crosshair

To switch back to the regular cursor, repeat the activation method: press Ctrl+F again, click the Crosshair button on the Standard toolbar a second time, or use the right-click menu to select Cursor (or the standard cursor option).

The cursor reverts to a standard arrow, and the crosshair lines disappear. You can re-enable the crosshair at any time using the same shortcuts.

Common Use Cases

Measuring swing distances. Quickly check how many pips lie between a recent swing high and a swing low. This is useful for sizing stop-losses, evaluating range size, or confirming the magnitude of a trend leg.

Counting bars between events. The bars count helps gauge how long a particular price pattern took to develop, useful for comparing similar patterns over time.

Verifying planned stop-loss or take-profit distance. Before placing an order, use the crosshair to confirm exactly how many pips your intended SL and TP are from the entry price.

Reading the exact price and time of a specific bar. The axis highlighting gives precise values without estimating.

Checking trend slope and progression. By measuring multiple successive swing distances, you can quickly see whether each leg of a trend is expanding or contracting.

Practical Considerations

The crosshair affects the cursor mode only. It does not change anything about the chart's data, indicators, or order behaviour.

If the measurement label disappears quickly or you have trouble reading it, try slowing the drag or making sure the chart is in focus. The label is displayed as a small tooltip near the cursor and may be cropped at the edge of the chart window.

For very fine measurements at high zoom levels, the crosshair gives sub-pip precision on its price axis readings. At low zoom levels, the precision is lower because each pixel covers a wider price range.

The crosshair works on all chart types (line, bar, candlestick) and all timeframes available in MT4.

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