Price alerts in MT4 ensure that all traders receive real-time notifications regarding market prices. This helps traders automate their trading strategies by putting trade triggers to enter and exit the market at specific price levels.
Let's take a look at how traders can set price alerts with MetaTrader 4 step-wise.
What are price alerts in MT4?
Price alerts in MT4 allow traders to set notifications for specific price levels in the market. When the market reaches or crosses these predefined price levels, an alert is triggered, and the trader is notified either through a sound, pop-up message, or email. Price alerts help traders stay informed about significant market movements or reach desired trading conditions without the need for continuous monitoring.
How to manage alerts in MT4?
The alerts management feature in MT4 allows traders to handle and modify their alerts. There are several commands available in the context menu for this purpose:
- Create: This command enables traders to create a new alert. It can be accessed by either selecting the option from the context menu or pressing the Insert key on the keyboard.
- Delete: Traders can use the delete command to remove an alert. It can be accessed from the context menu or by pressing the Delete key.
- Enable On/Off: This command enables or disables an alert. When an alert signal is disabled, it will not be triggered, but it is not permanently deleted. Traders can enable it again later. To toggle the enable/disable status, traders can press the Space key or adjust the settings in the alert setup window.
- Modify: The modify command allows traders to edit an existing alert. This can be done by double-clicking on the alert name in the table or pressing the Enter key.
How to set price alerts with MT4?
On desktop
1. Navigate: Begin by navigating to the Alerts tab located in the platform's Toolbox panel, referred to as Terminal in MT4. The tab will be empty if a trader has not set up any alerts yet.
2. Access/create the alerts tab: Right-click within the tab to bring up the tooltip menu. From there, select the option to Create a new alert or simply press the Insert button. A pop-up window, known as the Alert Editor, will appear.
3. Alert editor window: Within the Alert Editor, traders can temporarily disable the alert without deleting it by unchecking the Enable checkbox.
4. Take action: Determine the action to be triggered when the alert is activated. Four choices are available:
- Sound (default) - plays a sound file
- Notification - sends a push notification to the mobile device configured in Tools->Options->Notifications
- Mail - sends an email to the specified address set in Tools->Options->Email,
- File - executes a program designated by the trader
5. Choose alert action: If the trader wishes for the alert to expire on a specific date or time, they can enable the Expiration checkbox and select the appropriate date and time.
6. Select symbol, condition, and value: Proceed by selecting the Symbol for the alert and the Condition and Value. There are nine conditions to choose from:
- Bid > to alert about the Bid price
- Ask < to alert about the Ask price
- Volume > and Volume < responds to the traded Volume for the specified Symbol
- Time = is based on local time
- Last > and Last < based on the most recent quote received by the platform regardless of Bid/Ask type
7. Choose alert source: Choose the source for the alert.
- For a Sound alert, select a sound file (WAV, MP3, or WMA) as the source.
- In the case of a Mail alert, a dedicated email dialog will appear, allowing the trader to enter the subject and text of the email.
- For a File alert, specify the executable file to be launched.
8. Set alert timeout: Set the Timeout for the alert, which refers to the period of time to wait before the alert action is repeated. For example, if the trader sets it to 60 seconds, the alert sound will repeat every 60 seconds and if it is set to 3 minutes, it will repeat after every 3 minutes.
9. Set maximum iterations: Determine the Maximum iteration number, which defines how often the alert action will be performed. For instance, setting it to 10 means the alert sound will be heard only 10 times.
10. Test alert: Prior to saving the alert, the trader has the option to test it. Clicking the Test button will trigger the selected alert action.
11. Save alert: To save the alert, click the OK button.
12. Identify Alerts: Finally, the created alert will be displayed in the Alerts tab. There are four ways to identify alerts:
- Triggered alerts are displayed in bold.
- Untriggered alerts will be shown in normal font.
- A triggered alert with a swinging bell icon still has remaining iterations and will continue to work.
- A triggered alert with a crossed bell icon means it has reached its iteration limit and will no longer function.
On Mobile App
As forex traders, it is not always possible to remain constantly present at the desktop. However, MT4’s mobile app allows traders to trade on the go and also receive price alerts and notifications whenever the specific market prices are met. Follow these steps to add price alerts to the MT4 mobile app –
1. The first step is to enable price alerts. Go to the Tools menu present on top and select Options.
2. Go to the navigation tab and add the MetaQuotes ID. (Note that traders can find their MetaQuotes ID by going to Messages inside the Settings menu)
3. Enter the Metaquotes ID in the provided field and ensure that Push Notifications are enabled.
4. After testing the phone alert, it's time to create new price alerts. Go to the Alerts tab present in the terminal --> Select Create --> Choose action as notification
Enhance trading efficiency with MT4 price alerts
Setting up price alerts on MT4 helps traders enhance their trading experience and stay informed about fluctuating market prices at all times. Traders can then monitor the market regularly, even without being constantly present on the trading platform, saving them time, energy, and effort.
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