Why switching from M1 to H1 freezes the platform for seconds
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2026 8:10 am
Flip a chart from M1 to H1 and for two or three seconds nothing responds. During those seconds the market keeps moving, and a trade management decision may be waiting behind a frozen window. It is not a minor annoyance for a scalper.
What happens behind the scenes: the terminal rebuilds the chart for the new timeframe from stored data, every indicator on the template recalculates its whole history, and if the history for that timeframe is not cached, it may be fetched from the server first. With "max bars in chart" left at unlimited or a very large number, the work grows with every year of data on disk.
Two settings tend to help. First, lower the maximum bars in history and in chart to a sensible figure such as 50,000 to 100,000, depending on what the indicators need. Second, stop switching at all: keep one dedicated chart per timeframe, each with its own template. Switching is what triggers the reload; separate charts just sit there updating.
If an indicator genuinely needs a very long history, for example a long moving average on a higher timeframe, check that cutting the limit does not silently change its values.
What bar limit is in use, and has reducing it ever broken an indicator that needed long history?
What happens behind the scenes: the terminal rebuilds the chart for the new timeframe from stored data, every indicator on the template recalculates its whole history, and if the history for that timeframe is not cached, it may be fetched from the server first. With "max bars in chart" left at unlimited or a very large number, the work grows with every year of data on disk.
Two settings tend to help. First, lower the maximum bars in history and in chart to a sensible figure such as 50,000 to 100,000, depending on what the indicators need. Second, stop switching at all: keep one dedicated chart per timeframe, each with its own template. Switching is what triggers the reload; separate charts just sit there updating.
If an indicator genuinely needs a very long history, for example a long moving average on a higher timeframe, check that cutting the limit does not silently change its values.
What bar limit is in use, and has reducing it ever broken an indicator that needed long history?