MT4 Spread Indicator

Introduction to the MT4 Spread Indicator

The Spread Indicator for MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is a useful forex tool that quickly allows you to get to know the current currency spread on the market. This is especially useful with non-fixed spread brokers, determining the current spread by looking at the 5-digits quotes can be an exhausting task.

In other words, the Spread Indicator is used to measure the difference between the bid and ask price of a financial instrument, security, currency pair, or asset. The spread indicator is used in a chart to visually show the spread at a quick glance of an eye and it is a popular tool among forex traders.

The indicator is displayed in the top left corner of your chart. You can easily customize the position, color and font size as with ordinary labels. Your changes won’t get overridden.

Closer Look on the MT4 Spread Indicator

When you load up the indicator, your chart should look like that (but the label is yellow by default):

MT4 Spread Indicator Zoomed

Default settings are a bit unreadable on white charts, so we suggest doing some individual adjustments, like bigger font size and different color. These are available settings:

MT4 Spread Indicator Settings

Alright, we have now a crystal-clear spread piece of information. Obviously, the spread indicator is not a trade-entry-provider, but an additional factor that MUST be taken into consideration before making a decision on trade. Let’s say we have a very good trading setup, but when the spread is high it will most probably turn out unprofitable. Never take trades during high-spread conditions.

Take a look at the example below, the trend is very bullish and one could take a long trade, but notice the spread, it’s as high as 16 pips! Better avoid trading during that time.

Example of High Spread Chart

On the other hand, in that next example, we can also notice a clear bullish trend and possible long opportunities. We can safely look for entry, as the spread is only 2.1 pips.

Example of Low Spread Chart

MT4 Spread Indicator Alternative

To the downloadable archive (at the bottom of this post) we have added an alternative, simple version of MT4 Spread Indicator. In this case, the indicator displays spread value in points instead of pips. For example, a spread of 55 points is a spread of 5.5 pips.

Simple MT4 Spread Indicator

What Does a Spread Tell Traders?

There are a few major keypoints ralated to spread:

  • Spreads are based on the Buy and Sell price of a currency pair.
  • Transaction costs are based on spreads and lot size.
  • Spreads are variable and should be referenced from your trading software.

Spread Is Provided In MetaTrader By Default

You should know that the MetaTrader trading platform (both versions MT4 and MT5) comes with spread information by default, but it needs to turn on manually. To enable that feature, navigate to the Market Watch panel, and then right-click the header and left-click the Spread option in the menu.

MT4 Spread Feature in Market Watch panel

After you successfully turn it on, you should have an additional column with the spread provided in the Market Watch panel. It should look like that:

MT4 Spread Turned On in Market Watch panel

How to set up the Spread indicator in MetaTrader (MT4)?

Installation Guide

Download the Spread Indicator.rar archive at the bottom of this post, unpack it, then copy and paste the Spread Indicator.ex4 or Spread Indicator.mq4 files into the MQL4 folder of the Metatrader 4 trading platform.

You can gain access to this folder by clicking the top menu options, which goes as follows:

File > Open Data Folder > MQL4 > Indicators (paste here).

Now go to the left side of your MT4 terminal. In the Navigator find the gauge name, right-click it and select Attach to the chart.

Download Free Forex MT4 Spread Indicator

To download the Spread Indicator for Metatrader 4 (MT4) for free just click the button below:

Spread Indicator Free Download


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