Types of Trading Charts: Line, Bar, Candlestick, Heikin Ashi and Renko

What you'll learn

• The five chart types traders use most, and what each one shows and hides.
• The same four hours of EURUSD drawn as a line, bars and candles, with the numbers.
• How Heikin Ashi and Renko redraw price, with a worked Renko example.
• Which chart type to start with, and how to switch type in MetaTrader 5.

This lesson closes the Reading Price Charts module. It builds on candlestick anatomy and chart timeframes.

What are the main types of trading charts?

The main types of trading charts are line, bar and candlestick charts, which plot real prices over time, and Heikin Ashi and Renko charts, which recalculate or filter price to make trends easier to see. All five come from the same price history; they differ in how much of each period's trading they show.

MetaTrader 5 offers exactly three chart types: bars, Japanese candlesticks and a broken line. The other two are drawn with indicators or custom symbols.

What is a line chart?

A line chart joins the closing price of each period with a single line, so it shows the direction of price and nothing about the highs and lows in between. MetaTrader 5 describes it as a broken line that connects close prices of bars.

Because it ignores wicks, a line chart is the cleanest view of the big picture. Many traders flip to it on H4 or D1 to see whether closes are making higher highs and higher lows (see trends and ranges) and to spot levels where closes keep turning, the starting point for support and resistance.

What is a bar chart in trading?

A bar chart in trading, also called an OHLC chart, draws each period as a vertical line from the low to the high, with a small tick on the left for the open and on the right for the close. It holds the same four prices as a candle, without the coloured body.

The bar is up when the right tick sits above the left one, and down when it sits below. That takes a moment longer to read than a candle's colour, which is why most beginners prefer candles. Some traders like bars because the thinner marks leave more room on a crowded chart.

What is a candlestick chart?

A candlestick chart draws each period as a candle: a body between the open and the close, coloured by direction, and wicks out to the high and the low. It shows the same four prices as a bar, but the body makes direction and size readable at a glance.

Candles are the default in MetaTrader 5 and in most trading apps, and every pattern in this course is read from them. The candlestick anatomy lesson covers bodies, wicks and colours in detail, and bullish vs bearish explains the two directions.

How do line, bar and candle charts compare?

Line, bar and candlestick charts drawn from the same prices agree on the closes, but only bars and candles show how far price travelled inside each period. The difference matters as soon as you measure a range or place a stop.

Here are four synthetic EURUSD H1 periods:

How each chart draws those four hours:

The line chart hides 17 − 9 = 8 pips of real trading. A stop placed just below the line's low, at 1.08500, sits above the 1.08470 low that price actually reached at 10:00, so that hour would have hit it. Pip values are explained in lots, pips and pip value.

MT5 shows the $17 range on 0.

What is a Heikin Ashi chart?

A Heikin Ashi chart is a candlestick chart recalculated from averages: each candle closes at the average of the period's four prices and opens halfway between the previous Heikin Ashi open and close. The result is smoother candles that stay one colour for longer in a trend.

That smoothing helps you see a trend and sit through small pullbacks. The cost is that the open and close are averages, so price may never have traded at them; use the normal candles for exact entry, stop and target levels. The formulas, a worked USDZAR example and the MT5 setup are on the Heikin Ashi glossary page.

What is a Renko chart?

A Renko chart draws a new brick only when price closes a fixed distance beyond the last brick, so it ignores time and small moves and shows only movement of at least one brick size. Bricks are all the same height and sit at 45 degrees to each other, rising or falling.

Renko is one of the Japanese chart types that Steve Nison introduced to Western traders in Beyond Candlesticks (1994), alongside kagi and three-line break. The usual rule is that a reversal needs a close one full brick beyond the far side of the last brick, which works out to two brick sizes from its end.

Worked example: a 10-pip Renko chart on EURUSD

Start at 1.08500 with a brick size of 10 pips (0.00100), built from closing prices.

1. Price closes at 1.08835. Up bricks are drawn at 1.08500 to 1.08600, 1.08600 to 1.08700 and 1.08700 to 1.08800: three bricks. A fourth needs a close at 1.08900.
2. Price falls back to 1.08690. That is 14.5 pips lower (1.08835 − 1.08690), but a down brick needs a close at the bottom of the last brick minus one brick: 1.08700 − 0.00100 = 1.08600. Nothing new is drawn.
3. Price closes at 1.08590. That is below 1.08600, so one down brick is drawn from 1.08700 to 1.08600.

On a candle chart, step 2 would show a clear red move. On Renko it is invisible, which is the point: Renko filters out moves smaller than the brick. A brick size that is too small gives back the noise; one that is too large reacts late.

Which chart type should a beginner use?

Start with candlestick charts, because they show all four prices clearly and every lesson and pattern in this course uses them, then add a line chart for the big picture. Heikin Ashi and Renko are best learned later, once you can read normal candles.

Two habits help. Mark levels and stops on a real-price chart, because a line chart hides the wicks and Heikin Ashi moves the open and close. And remember that MetaTrader 5 builds its charts from the Bid price, so buy orders fill at the Ask, which is higher by the spread.

How do you change the chart type in MetaTrader 5?

In MetaTrader 5, press Alt+1 for bars, Alt+2 for candlesticks or Alt+3 for a line chart, or pick the type from the Charts menu or the chart's right-click menu. The MetaTrader 5 hotkeys list all three shortcuts, and the change applies only to the chart you have open.

1. Open a EURUSD chart from Market Watch. The MetaTrader 5 platform tour shows where it is.
2. Press Alt+3 to see the line chart, then Alt+1 for bars and Alt+2 for candles.
3. Press F8 for chart properties to change colours, or to show the OHLC line at the top of the chart.
4. For Heikin Ashi, add the Heiken Ashi indicator from the Navigator, as set out on the Heikin Ashi page.

In the MT5 mobile app, open a chart, tap it and use the chart settings to choose bars, candles or a line.

Try it on demo

On a MetaTrader 5 demo account, open a EURUSD H1 chart and switch between Alt+3, Alt+1 and Alt+2. Pick the last four finished hours, write down the highest and lowest point each view shows, and work out how many pips the line chart hides. Then switch to D1 on the line chart and write one sentence on the trend.

What are the 3 main types of charts in trading?

The three main types are line charts, bar charts and candlestick charts. They are the three chart types built into MetaTrader 5 (Alt+3, Alt+1 and Alt+2) and they plot real prices over time.

Which chart type is best for forex trading?

Most forex traders use candlestick charts, because each candle shows the open, high, low and close and the body colour shows direction. Many add a line chart on a higher timeframe to read the trend.

Is a bar chart the same as a candlestick chart?

They show the same four prices. A bar marks the open and close with small ticks on either side of a vertical line, while a candle draws a coloured body between them, so direction is easier to see on candles.

Does MetaTrader 5 have Renko charts?

Not as a built-in chart type. MetaTrader 5 offers bars, candlesticks and a line chart; Renko is added with a custom indicator or a custom symbol, for example from the MQL5 Code Base or Market.

Are Heikin Ashi candles real prices?

The high and low come from real prices, but the open and close are averages, so price may never have traded at them. Use normal candles when you need exact levels.

• MetaQuotes, MetaTrader 5 Help: View and Configure Charts, accessed 27 October 2026: charts can be shown as bars, Japanese candlesticks or a broken line, and the type is changed from the Charts menu, the chart context menu or chart properties. https://www.metatrader5.com/en/terminal/help/charts_analysis/charts
• MetaQuotes, MetaTrader 5 Help: Chart Settings, accessed 27 October 2026: the line chart is a broken line connecting close prices of bars; bars are formed from Bid prices, or Last prices when depth of market is available. https://www.metatrader5.com/en/terminal/help/charts_advanced/charts_settings
• MetaQuotes, MetaTrader 5 Help: Hot Keys, accessed 27 October 2026: Alt+1 bar chart, Alt+2 candlesticks, Alt+3 line chart, F8 chart properties. https://www.metatrader5.com/en/terminal/help/start_advanced/hotkeys
• MetaQuotes, Heiken Ashi, MQL5 Code Base, accessed 27 October 2026: the Heiken Ashi indicator and its open, high, low and close formulas. https://www.mql5.com/en/code/33
• Steve Nison, Beyond Candlesticks: New Japanese Charting Techniques Revealed, John Wiley & Sons, 1994: introduces renko, kagi and three-line break charts to Western traders.