A chart file is a list of candles exported from your charting platform: a time, then open, high, low and close, and volume if it has it. The Indicator and Backtest read it in your browser. If one won't open, the page says why and shows the fix. Here are the same fixes, with the export steps for each platform.
Export from TradingView
Exporting needs a paid TradingView plan. On a free plan, use the practice chart.
- Open your chart on the market and candle size you need, and scroll back to load the dates you want.
- Turn on the Volume indicator on your chart, so your file includes volume.
- Open the menu beside your layout's name, top right, and choose Export chart data.
- Choose ISO time, then Export.
ISO time writes the time zone into the file, so you won't be asked for it.
Export from NinjaTrader
- In the Control Center, open Tools, then Historical Data.
- Under Export, choose your instrument, Minute, and your dates.
- Choose Export, and save the file.
Export from MetaTrader
- MetaTrader 5: open View, then Symbols. On the Bars tab, choose the symbol, the candle size and your dates, then Request, then Export Bars.
- MetaTrader 4: open Tools, then History Center. Choose the symbol and candle size, then Export.
A file that will not read
- Empty, compressed, a zip or a spreadsheet: export again as CSV, unzip it, or save the spreadsheet as CSV.
- Not a chart export we know: export again with the steps above. If your file has its own layout, choose Tell us which column is which and pick the time, open, high, low and close columns. The file is read again that way.
- Lines we couldn't read: the page says which line. Export again, without opening the file in a spreadsheet first, which can change dates and numbers.
Day and month the wrong way round
If every date could be read either way, such as 03/04, choose Day first or Month first and the file is read again.
Candles the wrong size
Your rules use one candle size. Bigger candles are built from smaller ones, so a 1-minute file works for 5-minute rules. Smaller candles can't be built from bigger ones, so a 1-hour file can't make 5-minute candles. Export on the size the page names, or smaller. A file of single trades, or of weekly or monthly candles, needs exporting again as candles on a daily or smaller size.
Time zone
Session times and day boundaries depend on the time zone. If your file doesn't say, you're asked. It is the time zone your platform shows on its chart; in TradingView, it's at the bottom right. Exporting with ISO time avoids the question.
Too short, or too long
A file needs at least three candles. Backtest also needs more than its 30-day warm-up, so export more history. Backtest on a phone can test up to 400,000 candles, and on a computer four times as many; for more, export a shorter range. If your device can't keep the file, it may be out of room or in private browsing: export a shorter range, or use another browser.
Several contracts in one file
A file needs one market. A file with prices for more than one contract is refused, so export one at a time. A continuous chart joins one contract to the next at each roll. Backtest says so, because shifted older prices can put stops and targets on prices that never traded. Choose a single-contract file, or Test it anyway.
Send us a sample
If a file still won't read, open Still stuck? Send us a sample. You see exactly what is sent first: the file's layout, such as how many columns there are and what kind of thing each holds, and, if you tick it, its column names. You can say which platform it's from. We look at it and reply in Wildflower.
What's next
Fix a problem with the Indicator or fix a problem with a backtest.