FXTT Session High Low MT5 – Free Session Levels Indicator for MetaTrader 5
Version 2.20
March, 2026
Download the free FXTT Session High Low indicator for MetaTrader 5 and instantly mark the high and low of the Asia, Europe, and New York forex sessions on any chart. Color-coded session zones, daily H/L lines, background shading, and one-click toggle buttons — all fully customisable for any trading style.
Open source: View the GitHub repository here: github.com/ForexTradingTools/fxtt-mt5-session-high-low
What is Session High/Low in Forex Trading?
Session high and low levels are critical support and resistance zones that form during each major forex trading session. The FXTT session high low MT5 indicator automates professional-level session analysis by tracking institutional price extremes. Institutional traders worldwide reference these levels because they represent the extreme price moves made when the largest volume of capital enters the market. By identifying and tracking session highs and lows, retail traders gain insight into where professional traders are watching for breakouts, reversals, and mean-reversion opportunities.
This free MT5 session high low indicator eliminates manual calculation and lets you focus on trading the setups that matter.
Session High Low MT5: How It Works
The indicator monitors the three most liquid and volatile trading sessions that drive forex price action:
- Asia Session (0:00–9:00 GMT) – Dominated by Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore banks. Known for lower volatility and strong support/resistance bounces.
- Europe Session (7:00–16:00 GMT) – London is the world's largest forex hub. Overlaps with Asia in early hours, creating high volatility breakout opportunities.
- New York Session (13:00–22:00 GMT) – The final session of the day. Overlaps with Europe in the morning; when London closes, NY often drives the biggest directional moves.
The indicator displays each session's high and low as color-coded horizontal lines, making it instant to see where the session extremes formed and where traders typically take profits or stop orders.
Core Features Designed for Active Traders
| Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Color-Coded Session Levels | Each session has its own color. Instantly identify which session's levels are on your chart, reducing confusion in multi-timeframe analysis. |
| Daily High/Low Lines | Track the past 5 days' daily highs and lows simultaneously with session levels to spot key levels where banks and funds manage risk. |
| Background Shading | Visual session zones highlight the exact time each session is active, making it easy to plan your trading day and avoid low-liquidity periods. |
| One-Click Toggle Buttons | Show or hide lines, labels, background zones, and daily H/L with instant buttons on your chart — no input reconfiguration needed. |
| Customizable Line Styles & Colors | Adjust line width, dash patterns, and session colors to match your trading style and chart aesthetics. |
| Adjustable GMT Offset | Works with any broker's server time. Set the offset once; the indicator automatically converts to GMT for accurate session tracking. |
| Historical Session Display | View the past 5 sessions by default (configurable) to analyze where institutions repeatedly entered and exited the market. |
Practical Trading Applications
The session high low forex indicator works for multiple trading approaches:
- Breakout Trading – Wait for price to break above or below the previous session's high or low with volume, then enter in the direction of the break.
- Pullback Strategy – After a breakout, trade pullbacks back to the broken level (now acting as dynamic support or resistance).
- False Breakout Fades – When price breaks a level but reverses violently, enter against the original breakout direction.
- Range Trading – During low-volatility sessions, trade price bounces between the session's high and low as support and resistance.
- Session Overlap Strategy – During the Europe/NY overlap (13:00–16:00 GMT), expect the highest volatility and largest directional moves, perfect for trend traders.
Why Choose FXTT Session High/Low?
- Free & Open Source – No premium pricing or licensing. Full access to the source code on GitHub lets you audit, customize, and integrate with your expert advisors.
- Lightweight & Fast – Minimal CPU load. Process historical bars efficiently without slowing your chart or MT5 platform.
- Professional-Grade – Built with institutional-level precision. Correctly handles GMT conversion, midnight wrapping, and multi-timeframe data.
- Fully Customizable – Every color, line style, session time, and display option can be adjusted without touching code. Includes pre-built input groups for organized settings.
- Zero Alerts – Zero Clutter – The indicator displays levels only; it doesn't spam alerts. Combine it with your own trading rules and entry conditions.
Get Started Today
Download the free session high low indicator MT5 and add session-level awareness to your trading toolkit. Whether you trade breakouts, fades, or range reversals, knowing where institutions are watching transforms your chart analysis. Looking for more powerful indicators? Explore other free forex indicators for MT5 to enhance your technical analysis.
Installing the FXTT Session High Low MT5 Indicator — Detailed Guide
Installation on Windows
- Click the download button on this page and save the .zip file to your desktop or downloads folder.
- Extract the zip: right-click → Extract All. You will find a
FxTT_SessionHighLow.ex5file inside. - In MetaTrader 5, open File → Open Data Folder.
- Navigate to MQL5 → Indicators and paste the
.ex5file there. - Back in MT5, press Ctrl+N to open the Navigator panel, right-click Indicators → Refresh.
- Double-click the indicator in the Navigator or drag it onto any chart to attach it.
- In the inputs window, set the Broker GMT Offset to match your broker’s server time.
Installation on a VPS
- Connect to your VPS via Remote Desktop.
- Copy the
.ex5file to the same MQL5 → Indicators path on the VPS instance of MT5. - Refresh the Navigator as above. The indicator runs persistently even when your local computer is offline.
Saving Your Settings as a Template
Once you have configured the indicator (session colors, GMT offset, lookback), save those settings so you never have to reconfigure from scratch:
- Right-click on the chart → Template → Save Template.
- Give it a descriptive name (e.g. Session_HighLow_Default).
- Apply that template to any new chart instantly via right-click → Template → [your template name].
Templates are stored in MQL5/Profiles/Templates/ and survive indicator updates.
Updating to a New Version
- Download the latest zip from this page.
- Close any charts that have the indicator running, or detach it first.
- Replace the old
.ex5file in MQL5 → Indicators with the new one. - Restart MT5 or right-click → Refresh in the Navigator.
- Re-attach the indicator — your saved templates restore all settings automatically.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| Indicator not visible in Navigator after refresh | Confirm the file is in MQL5/Indicators (not a subfolder) and that you copied the .ex5, not just the .mq5 source. |
| Session lines appear at wrong times | Check that the Broker GMT Offset input matches your broker’s server time offset. Adjust for DST if your broker observes it. |
| No lines visible on the chart | Ensure the Lines toggle button is not pressed (it should read “Hide Lines” when lines are visible). Check that at least one session is enabled in the inputs. |
| Toggle buttons not visible | The panel may be outside the visible area. Reset the X/Y offsets in the indicator inputs or change the panel corner setting. |
| MT5 shows an “invalid ex5” error | Re-download the file — the zip may have been corrupted. Contact us if the issue persists. |
FXTT Session High Low MT5 — Complete Settings Reference
Open the settings window by double-clicking the indicator in the Navigator, or right-clicking the chart → Indicators List → Edit. All parameters are in the Inputs tab.
General Settings
| Parameter | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sessions to Show | 5 | Number of past session occurrences to draw for each session type. Increase to see more historical context. |
| Broker GMT Offset | 2 | Your broker’s server time offset from GMT in hours (e.g. 2 for GMT+2). Adjust for DST if needed. |
Session Settings (Asia / Europe / New York)
Each session has the same parameters, applied independently:
| Parameter | Options | Default (Asia / Europe / NY) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Show Session | true / false | true / true / true | Enable or disable this session entirely. |
| Start Hour (GMT) | 0–23 | 0 / 7 / 13 | GMT hour when the session begins. |
| End Hour (GMT) | 0–23 | 9 / 16 / 22 | GMT hour when the session ends (exclusive). |
| High Color | Any color | Purple / Blue / Green | Color of the high line and label for this session. |
| Low Color | Any color | Purple / Blue / Green | Color of the low line and label for this session. |
| Background Color | Any color | Gainsboro (all) | Fill color for the session background rectangle. |
| Historical Line Style | Solid, Dash, Dot, DashDot, DashDotDot | DashDotDot (all) | Line style for completed past sessions. Open session always uses Solid. |
| Line Width (px) | 1–5 | 1 (all) | Pixel width of the high and low lines. |
Daily High/Low Settings
| Parameter | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Show Daily High/Low | true | Enable or disable the D1 high/low layer. Lookback matches Sessions to Show. |
| High Color | Gold | Color of the daily high line and label. |
| Low Color | Gold | Color of the daily low line and label. |
| Historical Line Style | Dash | Line style for past days. Today uses Solid. |
| Line Width (px) | 1 | Pixel width of the daily H/L lines. |
Lines and Chart Labels
| Parameter | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Extend Current Session Lines Right | false | Projects the current open session’s high/low lines to the right edge of the chart in real time. |
| Chart Label Font | Segoe UI | Font used for on-chart price labels next to each line. |
| Chart Label Font Size (pts) | 8 | Point size of the on-chart price labels. |
Button Panel Settings
| Parameter | Options | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Show Panel Buttons | true / false | true | Show or hide the four toggle buttons on the chart. |
| Text Color | Any color | White | Button label text color. |
| Button Background Color | Any color | Dark navy blue | Button background fill color. |
| Button X Offset (px) | Integer | 10 | Horizontal distance from the panel corner anchor. |
| Button Y Offset (px) | Integer | 20 | Vertical distance from the panel corner anchor. |
| Button Corner | Top-Left, Top-Right, Bottom-Left, Bottom-Right | Top-Right | Chart corner where the button panel is anchored. |
Toggle Buttons — Behaviour
- Lines — Show or hide all session high/low and daily H/L lines.
- Labels — Show or hide the on-chart price labels.
- Background — Show or hide session background shading. Hidden by default on load.
- Daily H/L — Show or hide the daily high/low layer.
Button states persist in the chart object and are remembered between indicator reloads.
FXTT Session High Low MT5 — Frequently Asked Questions
Why do session lines appear at the wrong time of day?
The most common cause is an incorrect Broker GMT Offset. All session windows are defined in GMT and converted to broker time using this offset. Check your broker’s server time in the MT5 status bar and set the offset accordingly. Adjust during DST if your broker observes it.
What is the difference between the current session line and historical session lines?
The current open session uses a solid line that optionally extends right — it updates tick-by-tick as new highs or lows are set. Completed historical sessions use the configurable historical line style (default: DashDotDot) to make it immediately clear whether a line is live or a past reference.
Can I show more than five past sessions?
Yes. Increase the Sessions to Show input. The maximum is limited by your chart history. On lower timeframes, older data may not be loaded by default — scroll back or increase MT5’s history depth setting if older sessions are missing.
Why is background shading hidden by default?
The Background toggle starts pressed so shading is off when the indicator first loads, keeping charts clean. Click the Background button at any time to enable it — the state persists between indicator reloads.
How does the Daily High/Low layer relate to the session layers?
The Daily H/L layer is independent. It reads from D1 (one authoritative bar per calendar day) and draws horizontal lines at each day’s high and low. A session breakout that fails to clear the daily high carries very different weight than one that does. Toggle it separately with the Daily H/L button.
Does the indicator work correctly on pairs with weekend gaps?
Yes. The indicator scans bar timestamps and groups consecutive in-session bars into occurrences. Weekend gaps are handled naturally since there are no bars during the gap.
Can I use the indicator on Gold (XAUUSD) or indices?
Yes. Session detection is entirely time-based and works on any MT5 symbol — XAUUSD, US30, NAS100, BTCUSD, and all forex pairs. The session windows remain meaningful for gold and indices as they are heavily influenced by London and New York session activity.
Will the toggle buttons interfere with my Expert Advisor?
No. The buttons are standard OBJ_BUTTON chart objects and do not interfere with EAs. An EA would need to explicitly filter for button names (SHLB_LINES, SHLB_LABELS, SHLB_BG, SHLB_DAILY) to interact with them.
Can I run this alongside other session indicators?
Yes. The indicator uses unique object-name prefixes (SHL_ and SHLB_) to avoid naming conflicts with other tools on the same chart.
Is there an MT4 version?
An MT4 version is not currently available. This indicator is designed specifically for MetaTrader 5.
Version 2.20 2026.03.23
- Added Daily High/Low layer using D1 data with independent color, style, and width settings
- Added four on-chart toggle buttons: Lines, Labels, Background, Daily H/L
- Background toggle starts pressed (shading hidden by default on load)
- Daily labels positioned at horizontal midpoint of each day’s range
- Button panel: configurable corner, X/Y offset, text color, and background color
- Buttons collapse to zero size when Show Panel Buttons is false (toggle states preserved)
Version 2.10
- Added configurable chart label font and font size
- Added Extend Current Session Lines Right option
- Improved midnight-wrap session detection
Version 1.00
Initial release.
- Asia, Europe, and New York session high/low lines
- Per-session color, line style, and line width
- Background shading rectangles per session
- On-chart price labels with session name and price
- Configurable lookback (sessions to show)
- Broker GMT offset adjustment
Images Gallery
session-high-low-chart
FXTT Session High Low MT5 — Asia, Europe and New York session levels on a 30-minute chart
session-high-low-settings
Indicator Settings
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