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Import historical data

On MetaTrader 4 (MT4), historical price data can be imported in 9 timeframes, whereas MetaTrader 5 (MT5) provides access to both historical price and tick data across 21 timeframes. Use other brokers' historical data by importing data.

What is tick data?

Importing tick data, the smallest unit that represents price changes, is a feature exclusive to MT5 and is not available in MT4. With this feature, you can significantly improve the accuracy of backtesting.

Here we will look at how to import historical data on MT4/MT5.

Switch between MT4/MT5 tabs to check the steps for each.

Step 1

First, increase the number of bars on charts. Click "Tools" on the menu and select "Options". (Shortcut keys: "Ctrl"+"O")

Step 2

In the "Charts" tab, type "9"s till it reaches the ends of the "Max bars in history" and "Max bars in chart" fields. To be precise, the maximum number of bars is "2,147,483,647" for both, which will be automatically applied if a larger number is entered.

After that, click "OK" and restart MT4.

Step 3

Next, import the historical data. Click "Tools" on the menu and select "History Center". (Shortcut key: "F2")

Step 4

Double-click on the symbol name of the historical data you wish to import to open the timeframe menu, and then choose your preferred timeframe.

Select a symbol and timeframe on the History Center

Symbols are categorized by each broker

If you open the History Center, you will find some categories such as "Forex" and "Crypto", and symbol names such as "EURUSD" and "USDJPY" under each category. This categorization differs from broker to broker. For currency pairs, "Forex" and smaller categories such as "Major" and "Minor" are often used.

Step 5

In the "History Center" window, click "Import".

Step 6

Click "Browse".

Step 7

Choose the historical data file to import. If you can't find the file, change the file type to "All Files" in the lower right so that all file formats will be shown. Available files are csv and hst.

Step 8

Configure the details of historical data to import. Click "OK" and historical data will be imported.

Number	Item name	Descriptions
1	Separator	Specify the character that separates each item in the data.
2	Skip	Specify the number of rows and columns you want to skip when importing historical data. For example, if you set "rows" to 1000, the first 1,000 rows of the selected historical data will be excluded from the import process.
3	Shift	Shift the historical data by set hours.
4	Use selected only	Check this box when you want to only import the specified historical data. Don't check it if you don't specify the data.
5	Volume	Uncheck this box when you don't want to import the volume data.

Step 1

First, increase the number of bars on charts. Click "Tools" on the menu and select "Options". (Shortcut keys: "Ctrl"+"O")

Click View on the menu and select Symbols

Step 2

Set "Max bars in chart" to "Unlimited" in the "Charts" tab. Click "OK" and relaunch MT5.

Step 3

Next, import the historical data. Click "View" on the menu and select "Symbols". (Shortcut keys: "Ctrl"+"U")

Step 4

Go to the "Bars" tab if you want to import the histrical bar data, and the "Ticks" tab if you want to import the tick data.

Step 5

Select the symbol of the historical data to import.

Step 6

Click "Create Custom Symbol".

Existing historical data can't be overwritten in MT5

In MT5, you cannot delete or overwrite existing historical data. When importing historical data, you must first create a new custom symbol. You can save multiple symbols using the same settings by specifying the importing data in the "Copy from" field when creating a custom symbol.

Step 7

In the custom symbol window, double-click the symbol name. Set a symbol name different from the existing ones, as well as any other details if necessary, and click "OK".

Step 8

Select the symbol name you have set and click "Import Bars/Ticks". Your symbol name will be shown under "Custom".

Import historical data for the custom symbol

Step 9

Click the "Browse" button.

Step 10

Choose the historical data file to import. If you can't find the file, change the file type to "All Files" in the lower right so that all file formats will be shown. Available files are csv and hst.

Step 11

Configure the details of historical data to import. Click "OK" and historical data will be imported.

Number	Item name	Descriptions
1	Separator	Specify the character that separates each item in the data.
2	Skip	Specify the number of rows and columns you want to skip when importing historical data. For example, if you set "rows" to 1000, the first 1,000 rows of the selected historical data will be excluded from the import process.
3	Shift	Shift the historical data by set hours.
4	Tick volumes	Check this box when the historical data has tick volumes.

Created

: 2022.09.09

Last updated

: 2025.02.27

Writer

Takayoshi Nakamaru

Manual production consultant, MBA

Nakamaru is a manual production consultant at FINTECS, a company that specializes in creating manuals for their clients.
With a wide range of experience from fintech to entertainment, he presents what user-friendly manuals should be like.
He works with numerous large corporations as an external manual production project manager.

【Business information】
http://www.fintecs.co.jp/profile/

Supervisor

Akira Takagi

Systems engineer, MetaTrader administrator

After graduating from Computer Science at the Uninove, Brazil, in 2014, he has worked on various systems development projects.
He participated as a developer in the launch of forex services in 2019. Since then, he has also been involved in the development of MetaTrader plugins and APIs. He is certified by MetaQuotes as a MetaTrader5 Administrator and active in consulting and advisory as well.

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