How to set price alerts in MT5, TradingView and mobile apps (and stop watching screens)

A price alert is a notification that fires when a market reaches a level or condition you set, for example when EUR/USD trades above 1.1000 or when RSI on the hourly chart crosses 70. You set it in your trading platform or charting app, choose how you want to be told (pop-up, sound, push notification, email), and get on with your day. When it fires, you look at the chart and decide what to do.

That last part matters: an alert does not trade for you. It replaces watching, not deciding. Used well, alerts are one of the simplest ways to trade a plan calmly without sitting in front of a screen. Used badly, they become another stream of notifications pulling you into trades you had not planned.

Alerts, orders and why the difference matters

An alert and a pending order can be set at the same price and look similar on a chart, but they do very different jobs.

• A pending order (buy limit, sell stop and so on) executes a trade automatically when price reaches it. It sits on the broker's server. Our guide to buy limit vs buy stop explains which is which.
• A stop-loss or take-profit closes an open position automatically.
• An alert only tells you something happened. Nothing is opened or closed.

Use an order when your rule is mechanical and you are happy for it to execute without you: "buy if price breaks above this level, with this stop." Use an alert when your rule needs a look first: "if price reaches this support area, check whether the hourly candles show rejection before deciding." Many traders combine them: an alert a little before a level to get to the screen, and an order at the level itself.

Never use an alert as a substitute for a stop-loss. If your phone is on silent or the notification is delayed, an alert protects nothing. The where to put a stop-loss guide covers placing the stop itself.

Where alerts run: terminal versus server

The single most useful thing to know about any alert system is where the condition is checked.

• Terminal-side alerts are checked by the software on your computer. If the computer sleeps, the program closes or the internet drops, the alert does not fire. Standard MetaTrader 5 desktop alerts work this way.
• Server-side alerts are checked on the provider's servers and sent to your phone or email whether your devices are on or not. TradingView alerts work this way, as do the alerts in many broker web and mobile apps.

If you want alerts to reach you while you are away from your desk and you use MT5, you either keep the terminal running (on a computer that stays on, or a remote server as covered in our forex VPS guide) or use a server-side alert tool alongside it.

Setting alerts in MetaTrader 5

Creating an alert

The quickest method is from the chart. Right-click at the price level you want, open the Trading submenu and choose the alert option, which creates an alert at that price. You can then drag the alert line on the chart to adjust it.

For more control, open the Toolbox window (Ctrl+T), go to the Alerts tab, right-click and choose Create. The alert editor asks for:

• Symbol. The instrument to monitor.
• Condition. Typically a comparison on the bid, ask or last price (greater than or less than a value), on volume, or a time.
• Value. The price, volume or time that triggers it.
• Action. What happens: play a sound, run a file, send an email, or send a push notification to the MetaTrader mobile app.
• Expiry, number of repetitions and pause between repetitions. These stop a single alert from firing endlessly while price hovers around the level.

The exact labels can change between builds, but the structure has been stable for years.

Sending MT5 alerts to your phone

To receive push notifications, install the MetaTrader 5 app on your phone, find your MetaQuotes ID in the app's settings (it is in the messages section), then enter that ID in the desktop terminal under Tools, Options, Notifications and enable push notifications. Send a test from that screen. After that, set the alert action to notification.

Remember the limitation: the desktop terminal is still the thing watching the price. The phone only receives the message. If the desktop terminal is closed, nothing is sent.

Alerts on indicators in MT5

Standard MT5 alerts are on price, volume and time. If you want an alert when an indicator crosses a level, you need an indicator or Expert Advisor that sends notifications, many of which are available in the platform's code library. Only install code from sources you trust, as our MetaTrader 5 indicators guide explains, and remember that it too runs only while the terminal is open.

Setting alerts in TradingView

TradingView's alert system is more flexible, which is one reason many MetaTrader users chart there and trade elsewhere. Our comparison of TradingView vs MetaTrader 5 covers the wider differences.

Creating an alert

Right-click on the chart and choose to add an alert, use the alarm-clock icon, or press Alt+A. The alert dialog lets you set:

• Condition. The series to watch (price, an indicator, a drawing such as a trend line or rectangle) and the comparison: crossing, crossing up, crossing down, greater than, less than, entering or exiting a channel, and moving up or down by a set amount or percentage over a number of bars.
• Trigger frequency. Only once, once per bar, once per bar close, or every time the condition is met. Once per bar close waits for the bar to finish, which filters out brief spikes through a level.
• Expiration. When the alert stops being active.
• Notifications. Pop-up in the app, sound, email, mobile push and, on paid plans, webhooks that send a message to another service.

The number of active alerts and some features depend on your TradingView plan. Alerts on drawings are especially useful: draw a trend line once, attach an alert, and it follows the line as it slopes.

Data source matters

A TradingView chart shows prices from whichever data source you selected, which may not be your broker's feed. Differences of a pip or two between sources are normal for forex because there is no single central price; our guide on how the forex market works explains why. If precision matters, chart the same feed your broker uses, or leave a small buffer.

Alerts in broker web and mobile apps

Most broker web and mobile platforms offer price alerts of their own, usually server-side, with push notifications to the app. They are typically simpler than TradingView's (price levels and sometimes percentage moves), but they use your broker's own prices and keep working when your computer is off. Check in the app's help section where the alert is checked and how long it remains active.

Bid, ask and why alerts sometimes seem wrong

Most forex charts plot the bid price. You buy at the ask and sell at the bid. That creates a predictable mismatch, explained in more detail in our guide to reading a forex quote.

Worked example: an alert that fires but the order does not fill

Illustrative numbers. You plan to buy EUR/USD if it dips to 1.0800, so you set an alert on the bid at 1.0800 and, separately, a buy limit at 1.0800. The spread is 1.2 pips.

• Price falls until the bid touches 1.0800. Your alert fires.
• At that moment the ask is 1.0812. Your buy limit needs the ask to reach 1.0800, which needs the bid to fall to about 1.0788.
• Price turns at 1.0800 bid. The alert fired, the order never filled.

The reverse applies to sell orders and short-side alerts. To line them up, set buy-side alerts on the ask (MT5 lets you choose), or set the bid alert a spread's width further away. Around news and the daily rollover, when spreads widen, the gap can be several pips. Our guide to why spreads widen covers when that happens.

Using alerts instead of watching screens

The real value of alerts is behavioural. Staring at a five-minute chart for hours tends to produce trades that were never in the plan. A short list of alerts tied to a written plan reverses that.

A simple routine

1. Once a day or once a week, at a fixed time, review the pairs you follow and mark the levels that matter to your method: support and resistance zones, a range high or low, a moving average you trade from.
2. Write down what you would do at each level, in one sentence. "If GBP/USD reaches the 1.2600 area and the hourly chart closes back above it, look for a long with a stop below the low."
3. Set an alert slightly before each level, so you have time to look before price arrives.
4. When an alert fires, open the chart, read your sentence, and check the conditions. If they are not met, do nothing and delete or move the alert.
5. Check the economic calendar when you set alerts. A level due to be reached just before a major release is a different situation from the same level on a quiet afternoon. Our guide on how to use an economic calendar covers this.

Worked example: a week of alerts

Illustrative plan for a trader who follows three pairs and works a day job:

• EUR/USD: alert at 1.0915 (5 pips before a resistance zone at 1.0920), note "look for rejection on the 1-hour chart, short only if the hour closes back below 1.0900".
• USD/JPY: alert on a drawn trend line, once per bar close on the 4-hour chart, note "check whether the break holds for a second 4-hour bar".
• Gold: alert at a prior week's low, note "no trade in the hour before US data; check the market hours tool and calendar first".

Over the week, the trader checks the charts four times when alerts fire, takes one trade and lets three alerts pass because the conditions were not met. Total screen time is perhaps an hour. Compare that with the temptation of watching all three charts all day.

Avoiding alert fatigue

• Keep the list short. If you have twenty alerts firing a day, you will start ignoring them or reacting to all of them.
• Delete alerts that no longer apply. A level from last month that price has moved far away from is clutter.
• Use bar-close triggers for breakout alerts so a single spike does not wake you.
• Separate alerts from trade notifications. Use a different sound or channel for fills and stop-outs, which always deserve attention.
• Set quiet hours on your phone, and do not set alerts that will fire in the middle of the night unless your plan genuinely acts on them.

Alerts around news, rollover and weekends

Alerts behave differently when the market is thin or jumpy, and the same three situations cause most surprises.

• Data releases. In the seconds after a major release, price can spike through a level and come back. A price-crossing alert fires on the spike, and by the time you look, price may be back where it started. For levels near scheduled news, use bar-close triggers or simply plan to look after the release rather than during it.
• The daily rollover. Around the end of the New York session, spreads on many pairs widen for a short time. An alert on the ask or on a spread-sensitive level can fire on that widening alone, without any real move in the market.
• Weekend gaps. When the market reopens after the weekend, the first price can be well away from Friday's close. An alert set between the two fires at the open, even though price never traded through the level in between. That is a cue to check the chart, not a signal that the level was tested. Our guide to gap risk and weekend risk explains why gaps happen.

In each case the alert did its job: it reported that a condition was met. The point is to know in advance which alerts deserve an immediate look and which can wait until conditions settle.

Common mistakes

• Treating an alert as a stop-loss. It protects nothing if you miss it.
• Assuming MT5 alerts work with the terminal closed. They do not.
• Ignoring the spread. Bid-based alerts and ask-based fills are a few pips apart, more around news.
• Setting alerts exactly at the level, leaving no time to look before price arrives.
• Acting on every alert. An alert is an invitation to check your plan, not an instruction to trade. Our guide to trading psychology covers why impulsive trades cost more than missed ones.
• Letting alerts expire unnoticed. Many systems expire alerts after a set period; check the expiry when you create them.

Frequently asked questions

Do MetaTrader 5 alerts work when my computer is off?

No. Standard MT5 alerts are checked by the desktop terminal, so it must be running and connected. The MetaTrader mobile app can receive push notifications from the desktop terminal, but it is the desktop terminal that does the watching. For alerts that work with the computer off, run the terminal on a VPS or use a server-side alert service.

Can I set TradingView alerts without a paid plan?

TradingView's basic plan includes a limited number of active alerts, and paid plans raise the limit and add features such as webhooks. Check the current plan details on TradingView, as limits change.

Can an alert open a trade automatically?

A plain alert cannot. Some setups send TradingView webhook alerts to third-party services that place orders, and an Expert Advisor can trade on conditions directly, but both are automation with their own risks. If you want a trade to execute at a level, a pending order is simpler and sits on the broker's server.

Why did my alert fire but my limit order did not fill?

Usually because the alert was on the bid and the buy order needs the ask to reach the level, or the other way round for sells. Set buy-side alerts on the ask, or allow for the spread.

How many price alerts should I have?

As few as your plan needs. A handful of alerts at levels where you have already decided what you would look for is far more useful than dozens at every line on the chart.