How to Use the MT5 Depth of Market Window

The Depth of Market window in MetaTrader 5, often called DOM, displays the queue of buy and sell orders at different price levels for the selected instrument. It is one of the features that distinguishes MT5 from MT4: MT4 does not include a Depth of Market window. The DOM is particularly useful for short-term traders who want to see liquidity at each price level, scalp around specific levels, or place orders directly from the depth ladder rather than via the standard New Order dialog.

This guide covers what the Depth of Market is, how to open the DOM window in MT5, how to read the ladder, how to place orders from DOM, and important caveats around what DOM data actually shows for different instrument types.

What Is the Depth of Market

In its purest form, a Depth of Market view shows the order book of an exchange: all the active buy orders sitting below the current price (the bid side), all the active sell orders sitting above the current price (the ask side), and the volume queued at each price level. By looking at the ladder of bids and asks, a trader can see where liquidity is concentrated and where there are gaps.

In MetaTrader 5, the DOM window displays this information for the selected instrument, with the live spread between the highest bid and the lowest ask at the centre. Order placement controls sit alongside the ladder so a trader can act on what they see without switching to a different window.

The data shown in DOM depends on the broker's feed. For exchange-traded instruments, such as listed stocks or some futures, DOM tends to reflect a meaningful order book. For OTC instruments such as most retail forex CFDs, DOM shows the broker's quoted ladder, which is different from a centralised exchange order book. Check what your specific instrument shows by opening the DOM directly; some instruments may display only a limited number of levels.

How to Open the Depth of Market Window

MetaTrader 5 provides two main ways to open the DOM window.

Method 1: Right-Click in Market Watch

Press Ctrl+M to open the Market Watch window if it is not already visible. Right-click the symbol you want to view in depth and select Depth of Market from the context menu. A new DOM window opens for that symbol.

Method 2: Keyboard Shortcut

With a symbol selected in Market Watch or with a chart of the symbol active, press Ctrl+B. The DOM window for the symbol opens directly.

You can have multiple DOM windows open at once, one per instrument. Position and size them on screen as you would any other MT5 window.

Reading the DOM Window

The DOM window is divided vertically. The exact layout can vary slightly by MT5 build, but the standard view shows:

The ask side at the top, with prices descending and volume at each price level.

A central row showing the current best bid, best ask, and the live spread.

The bid side at the bottom, with prices descending further and volume at each level.

A volume value next to each price indicates the cumulative volume of orders sitting at that level. Larger volumes can indicate stronger interest at the price; smaller volumes (or empty levels) suggest thinner liquidity.

Some DOM displays include additional statistics or visualisations: cumulative volume bars on each side, percentages of bid versus ask volume, and historical depth changes. Right-click in the DOM window to see the available display options for your build.

Placing Orders from DOM

The DOM window is not just a view; it is also an order-entry interface.

Click on a price level to set up an order at that level. The order entry controls within the DOM (typically a Volume field and Buy and Sell buttons) become active at the selected price.

For a market order, click the Buy or Sell button at the top or bottom of the DOM ladder.

For a pending order at a specific price, click the price level in the bid or ask side, set the Volume, and click the appropriate Buy Limit, Sell Limit, Buy Stop, or Sell Stop button.

A Stop Loss and Take Profit can usually be specified by additional fields or by clicking adjacent price levels, depending on the build.

The benefit of order placement from DOM is speed and price precision. The trader does not have to retype the price into the New Order dialog; clicking the visible level sets it automatically.

Configuring the DOM Window

Right-click in the DOM window to see configuration options. Typical settings include:

Show or hide additional statistics (percentage of bid versus ask volume, total volume).

Show or hide the spread row.

Adjust the volume increments displayed.

Open a chart of the same symbol from within the DOM right-click menu.

Some MT5 builds also allow customisation of the DOM colour scheme to match the user's chart colour scheme. Look under the right-click options or in Tools > Options for DOM-related settings.

What DOM Does Not Show for OTC Instruments

A critical framing point: for OTC instruments like most retail forex CFDs, the DOM does not show a centralised exchange order book because no such order book exists for OTC trading. Instead, the DOM reflects the broker's available quoted depth at that moment.

This means:

Forex CFD DOM is not a comprehensive view of where all forex orders sit in the global market.

The volume figures in DOM are broker-specific and represent the liquidity the broker is offering at each level.

Movements in the DOM ladder for OTC instruments do not necessarily reflect changes in a unified external order book.

For exchange-traded CFDs (such as some equity index CFDs), DOM tends to reflect the underlying exchange's depth more closely. The relationship depends on how the broker prices the CFD against the underlying.

For these reasons, DOM is most useful as a way to see what your broker is offering and to place orders at specific levels with speed. Trading decisions based on DOM should account for what the data actually represents.

DOM on MT5 Mobile

The MT5 mobile app does not include a full DOM window equivalent to the desktop version. Some basic depth indicators may be visible in the quotes view, but the desktop platform is where the full DOM functionality lives. For mobile, use the standard order placement interface and rely on the chart and price ladder for context.

Practical Considerations

Hedging is supported on TIOmarkets accounts, so placing buy and sell orders on the same symbol from DOM creates separate positions rather than netting them. This matches the hedging mode used in TIOmarkets MT5 accounts.

DOM order placement is fast. Misclicks are possible, especially when adjusting the volume field while the market moves. As with one-click trading, no separate confirmation dialog appears for each order placed from DOM in the default configuration. Set your default volume in Tools > Options before relying on rapid DOM placement.

Demo accounts in MT5 let you practise using DOM without financial risk. The DOM data shown on demo may behave slightly differently from live (volumes can be simulated rather than real broker liquidity), but the interface and workflow are the same.

Trading at TIOmarkets

TIOmarkets offers MetaTrader 5 and MetaTrader 4 on desktop, web, and mobile, across four account types. The Standard account is created automatically on registration with a minimum deposit of $20 or currency equivalent. The Raw and VIP Black accounts are opened separately through the client area. The Nano account is MT5 only with a $20 minimum deposit, USD only. Hedging is supported on all accounts. A swap-free Islamic account is available; contact TIOmarkets for eligibility and instrument requirements. Copy trading is available on both MT4 and MT5.

Orders are executed at the best available market price, which may result in positive or negative slippage. Demo accounts often execute instantly and may not fully replicate live slippage conditions. Spreads are variable and are typically higher than minimum figures shown. Leverage on each instrument is subject to change depending on market conditions and applicable regulatory requirements. You can review the full list of account types on the TIOmarkets accounts page.