Crosshair - Complete Guide

Crosshair is a free utility that replaces the default MetaTrader crosshair with an enhanced version. It adds real-time date/time and price labels at your cursor position, plus a ruler mode for measuring distances between two points on the chart.

Setup & First Steps

  1. Drag Crosshair onto any chart
  2. The default MetaTrader crosshair is automatically disabled
  3. Move your mouse over the chart - you will see dotted crosshair lines with a label showing the date, time, and price at the cursor position

That is the entire setup. Crosshair has no dependencies, does not require SI Connect, and works on all symbols and timeframes.

Key Parameters

Parameter Default What it does
LineColor Snow (white) Color of the crosshair lines
LineStyle DOT Line style - dotted is less intrusive than solid
LabelDisplayDate true Show date alongside time in the label
LabelFontSize 8 Font size of the info label
CrosshairStartAs CROSSHAIR_ENABLED How the crosshair behaves on startup

Start Modes

  • CROSSHAIR_ENABLED - crosshair is active immediately (default)
  • CROSSHAIR_DISABLED - crosshair starts off, click the chart to activate
  • CROSSHAIR_PREVIOUS - restores the last state, even across timeframe changes (recommended for users who toggle frequently)

Using the Ruler

The ruler mode lets you measure the distance between two points on the chart:

  1. Activate ruler mode (right-click or specific key combination)
  2. Click to set your starting point
  3. Move the cursor to your target point
  4. The label shows: price, number of bars, point distance, and percentage change
  5. Click again to exit ruler mode

This is useful for measuring corrections, projected targets, or simply checking how many bars a move took.

Smart Features

  • Auto side-switching - the label flips to the opposite side when your cursor approaches a chart edge, so it never gets cut off
  • State persistence - when using CROSSHAIR_PREVIOUS mode, the on/off state survives timeframe changes
  • Trade operation detection - the crosshair automatically hides when SI trade management tools are active, preventing accidental chart interactions during order placement

Tips

  • Use DOT style (default) - it is the least intrusive and does not interfere with chart analysis
  • Match line color to your chart - on dark backgrounds, use light colors (Snow, White, Yellow). On light backgrounds, use dark colors.
  • Set LabelDisplayDate to false on small screens to save horizontal space
  • Increase LabelFontSize to 10-12 on high-DPI (4K) displays for better readability
  • Use CROSSHAIR_PREVIOUS if you toggle the crosshair on and off frequently - it remembers your preference

Common Issues

Crosshair does not appear - Check that CrosshairStartAs is not set to CROSSHAIR_DISABLED. Click on the chart to activate.

Lines are hard to see - Change LineColor to a high-contrast color or switch LineStyle to STYLE_SOLID.

Label text is too small - Increase LabelFontSize (e.g., 10 or 12).