How much history do 100,000 bars hold: 14 weeks of M1, 69 weeks of M5, 4 years of M15
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2026 11:30 am
How much history do 100,000 bars hold: 14 weeks of M1, 69 weeks of M5, 4 years of M15
A chart's maximum number of bars decides how far back you can see and test. If your platform is set to 100,000 bars, which you can check under the chart options, the history depends on the timeframe. This assumes the market is open 24 hours for 5 days a week.
M1: 1,440 bars a day, 7,200 a week. 100,000 / 7,200 = 13.9 weeks.
M5: 288 bars a day, 1,440 a week. 100,000 / 1,440 = 69.4 weeks, about 16 months.
M15: 96 a day, 480 a week. 100,000 / 480 = 208 weeks, 4 years.
H1: 24 a day, 120 a week. 100,000 / 120 = 833 weeks, 16 years.
Several things follow from the arithmetic. A strategy tested on M1 with 100,000 bars has looked at only three months, which might contain one or two regime changes at best. A 200 bar moving average on M1 uses only 200 minutes, so if you're comparing a test result across timeframes, the amount of calendar time behind each is very different.
Broker history can also be shorter than the chart limit, and holidays and gaps lower the bar count per week a little. Check the first date on the chart for each timeframe, scroll to the left edge, and write it down.
For a test you want to trust, I'd want at least a year of data and a number of trades above a few hundred. For M1 scalping that usually means getting tick or minute data from outside the platform.
A chart's maximum number of bars decides how far back you can see and test. If your platform is set to 100,000 bars, which you can check under the chart options, the history depends on the timeframe. This assumes the market is open 24 hours for 5 days a week.
M1: 1,440 bars a day, 7,200 a week. 100,000 / 7,200 = 13.9 weeks.
M5: 288 bars a day, 1,440 a week. 100,000 / 1,440 = 69.4 weeks, about 16 months.
M15: 96 a day, 480 a week. 100,000 / 480 = 208 weeks, 4 years.
H1: 24 a day, 120 a week. 100,000 / 120 = 833 weeks, 16 years.
Several things follow from the arithmetic. A strategy tested on M1 with 100,000 bars has looked at only three months, which might contain one or two regime changes at best. A 200 bar moving average on M1 uses only 200 minutes, so if you're comparing a test result across timeframes, the amount of calendar time behind each is very different.
Broker history can also be shorter than the chart limit, and holidays and gaps lower the bar count per week a little. Check the first date on the chart for each timeframe, scroll to the left edge, and write it down.
For a test you want to trust, I'd want at least a year of data and a number of trades above a few hundred. For M1 scalping that usually means getting tick or minute data from outside the platform.