How to Add a Second Chart to MT4

Most traders quickly outgrow a single chart window. Monitoring two or three pairs simultaneously, viewing the same pair across different timeframes, or watching correlated instruments side by side all require multiple charts open at once. MT4 supports many chart windows open at the same time, with tools for arranging them, switching between them quickly, and saving an entire layout as a profile for one-click recall.

This guide walks through the three ways to open a new chart, how to switch between charts, how to arrange multiple charts on screen, and how to save a layout as a profile.

Why Open Multiple Charts

There are several reasons to have more than one chart open in MT4.

Monitoring multiple pairs simultaneously. If you trade or watch several pairs, keeping a chart open for each lets you spot opportunities without flipping between symbols.

Multi-timeframe analysis on a single pair. A common approach is to view the same pair on, for example, the H4 chart for trend direction and the M15 chart for entry timing. Having both open at once means you can look at both at a glance.

Correlation monitoring. Watching correlated pairs (e.g., EURUSD and GBPUSD) side by side helps you understand whether a move is broad USD strength or specific to one pair.

Comparing instruments. Indices versus their component pairs, gold versus the dollar index, or oil pairs versus the underlying commodity all benefit from side-by-side viewing.

How to Open a New Chart Window

MT4 offers three ways to open a new chart.

Method 1: File Menu

Click File > New Chart from the menu bar. A list of available instruments appears, grouped by category (Forex, Indices, Commodities, etc.). Select the symbol you want and a new chart window opens immediately for that symbol.

Method 2: Market Watch Right-click

Open the Market Watch window if it is not already visible (Ctrl+M or View > Market Watch). Right-click the symbol you want and select Chart Window from the context menu. A new chart for that symbol opens.

This method is the fastest if you already have the relevant symbol visible in Market Watch.

Method 3: Drag and Drop

With Market Watch open, click and drag a symbol from the Market Watch list onto an existing chart area, or onto the empty MT4 workspace. Releasing the mouse opens a new chart for that symbol.

This is the quickest method if you want to open several charts in succession and prefer a mouse-driven workflow.

Switching Between Open Charts

MT4 displays a tab for each open chart at the bottom of the workspace. Clicking a tab brings that chart to the front. The Window menu also lists all open charts; click any entry to switch to that chart. Ctrl+F6 cycles forward through open charts; Ctrl+Shift+F6 cycles backward.

If you have many charts open and the tabs at the bottom overflow, the Window menu remains the most reliable way to navigate.

Arranging Multiple Charts on Screen

The Window menu in MT4 provides four arrangement options:

Tile Horizontally arranges all open charts in horizontal rows of equal size.

Tile Vertically arranges all open charts in vertical columns of equal size.

Cascade overlaps the charts in a staggered diagonal, with each window's title bar visible.

Arrange Icons tidies up minimised chart icons at the bottom of the workspace.

For most multi-chart layouts, Tile Vertically or Tile Horizontally is the most practical. Cascade is useful when you want to refer to charts in turn rather than view them simultaneously.

You can also manually drag and resize each chart window to build a custom layout: maximise the chart you are focused on most, with smaller reference charts arranged around it.

Saving and Loading Chart Layouts with Profiles

A profile in MT4 stores the full set of open charts, including each chart's symbol, timeframe, applied indicators, drawing tools, and the overall window arrangement. Profiles let you switch between completely different layouts (for example, a day-trading profile with M5 and M15 charts versus a swing-trading profile with H4 and D1 charts) with a single click.

To save the current layout as a profile, go to File > Profiles > Save As, give the profile a descriptive name, and click OK. The profile is stored and appears in the profile list at the bottom of the platform (next to the chart tabs) and in the File > Profiles menu.

To switch profiles, go to File > Profiles and select the profile you want from the list, or click the profile name in the status bar at the bottom of the platform. The active layout is replaced with the layout stored in the selected profile.

Profile changes are automatic: any new charts you open, indicators you add, or arrangement changes you make are saved to the active profile when you switch to another profile or close MT4. If you want a profile to stay fixed, save a copy with a different name before making temporary changes.

Closing a Chart

To close a chart, either click the X on the chart's title bar, press Ctrl+F4 with the chart in focus, or right-click the chart's tab at the bottom of the workspace and select Close. Closing a chart removes it from the current profile.

Practical Considerations

MT4 can hold many charts open simultaneously. The practical limit depends on your system memory and processor; performance can slow noticeably with very large numbers of charts and applied indicators. If you notice the platform lagging, close charts you are not actively using or move them into a separate profile.

Open charts continue to receive price updates and trigger any applied alerts or indicator calculations whether they are visible on screen or hidden behind other windows. Closing a chart stops these calculations.

Drawing tools and indicators applied to one chart do not appear on others. To replicate the setup across charts, save the configured chart as a template (right-click > Template > Save Template), then load it onto each new chart.

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