What is an alert in the MT4 trading terminal and how to use it?

What is an alert in the MT4 trading terminal and how to use it? A detailed guide for beginners explains the benefits of using sound alerts in the Metatrader 4 terminal.

Alert is a standard function in the MT4 trading terminal, which is used to receive a sound notification when the price reaches a certain value.

An alert is placed right on the chart exactly where you need it to receive a signal.

This function is called by clicking the right mouse button directly on the chart exactly in the place where it needs to be set.

When you click on the chart, a menu appears, scroll down to the value: TRADE, then another tab opens where we see the function: ALERT.

We click on it with the left mouse button and an arrow appears on the chart, on the right side, it is attached to the scale with price division:

Also, if desired, by clicking on the alert with the right mouse button, we can: disable, delete or change the values of the alert.

In what cases can an alert be used?

On the one hand, this seems to be a completely useless function, but on the other hand, it provides a service in the form of freeing us from constant monitoring of charts. You can leave, do something else for the time being, and the time signal will notify us that the price has reached the set value.

For example, we trade on any strategies, then you don’t have to wait until the price, for example, reaches the MA or one of the Fibonacci grid levels, we just set an alert in the place where this indicator passes. Opposite the fobonnaci level or moving average.

As soon as the price touches the level at which the alert is set, the terminal will notify us in the form of a sound signal.

It is important not to forget to set the correct settings in the terminal in the menu for the signal to work. To do this, do as shown in the figure:

Menu - Service - check the EVENTS checkbox and click OK!

After that, you need to restart the terminal, to do this, just close and open it again for the new settings to take effect.

Further, if we set an alert, when the price touches the set level, a sound signal will sound (it is important not to forget to turn on the sound on the computer if it was turned off).

Also, if you wish, you can change the standard sound signal that is included in MT4 by default to any other sound or music, for this you need to select another sound file in the settings:

We go to the MT4 menu - SERVICE - EVENTS, look for where the signal is located on Alert, left-click on the selection menu on the left and select: Choose other ...

Next, a window will appear for selecting a file on the computer, all that remains is to click on the one you need, click - OPEN and in the window with the settings for mt4 click - OK! We restart the terminal and now the music that we set will sound.