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How to Change Timeframes in MetaTrader

A timeframe is how much time one bar of the chart covers, and changing it in MetaTrader is one button on the toolbar or one right-click, which regroups the same prices into bigger or smaller bars without changing any of them. This paper shows you the change in five lines; the idea as one path paved in flagstones or in cobbles; the eight hours from 10:00 to 18:00 on 25 August 2026 as eight bars on H1 and then as thirty-two bars on M15, with the same first price, last price, high and low; and the Timeframes toolbar and right-click menu on your platform.

Difficulty
Beginner
Reading time
5 min
Pages
8
Reviewed by
Saman Rahbar

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Changing timeframes, in five lines

A timeframe is how much time one bar covers: on H1 each bar is one hour, on M15 fifteen minutes, on D1 a whole day. The toolbar has a row of buttons, M1 to MN, and one click redraws the chart; right-clicking the chart, Timeframes, does the same. Only the grouping changes, never the prices. The eight hours from 10:00 to 18:00 on Tuesday 25 August 2026 are eight bars on H1 and thirty-two on M15, and they start at 1.16526 and end at 1.16695 either way.

One path paved twice

Picture one path paved twice. The top row is eight flagstones, one an hour, from 10:00 at the left end to 18:00 at the right; the bottom row is thirty-two cobbles, one a quarter of an hour, covering exactly the same length. Flagstones show the shape of the whole path at a glance; cobbles show every step of it. Changing the timeframe repaves the same path in bigger or smaller stones, and the ground under it, the prices, does not move.

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