Daily ATR Indicator: Daily Volatility on Any Chart

Written by Dominic Walsh · Published 4 Jun 2026 · Last updated 26 Aug 2026

The daily atr indicator answers one question wherever you are looking: how much is this market moving per day? It reads the daily series directly rather than the chart you have open, so the number stays the same on M5 and on H4. Daily ATR plots that reading in its own pane.

This build ships as a compiled .ex4 for MT4 and .ex5 for MT5; the screenshots below come from EURUSD H1.

Platforms	MT4 (.ex4) + MT5 (.ex5)
Chart window	Separate window
Plots	1: Daily ATR
Alerts	popup, push notification, email, sound
Inputs	7

What the Daily ATR Indicator draws on the chart

Daily ATR is the only plot, drawn in a pane below price.

The value is a price distance rather than an oscillator reading, so the pane scale matches the instrument.

The line steps rather than glides, since it only changes when a new daily bar forms.

• Daily ATR: line, deep pink, width 2

How the Daily ATR Indicator calculates its values

Finding the matching daily bar

For each chart bar the code works out which daily bar that timestamp falls inside. That lookup is what lets an intraday chart carry a daily reading.

Without it the plot would repeat the newest daily value across the whole history rather than tracking how daily volatility changed over time.

The ATR itself

One call returns the average true range over AtrPeriod bars on the daily series. True range includes gaps, so a weekend jump counts towards the reading.

The result is the typical daily movement in price terms. On a five digit pair the number reads in the same units your stops do.

What the alert watches

The code compares the current daily reading with the previous one as a percentage change, and reports a move of five percent or more.

That threshold is fixed in the code rather than exposed as an input, so it fires on a genuine shift in daily volatility rather than on ordinary drift.

How to read the signals

The value is a price distance, so you can size a stop straight off it.

Steps in the line mark day boundaries, not intraday events.

A rising reading means daily ranges are expanding, which usually argues for wider stops rather than tighter ones.

The reading is the same number on every chart timeframe, so switching charts changes nothing.

Alert channels in this build: popup, push notification, email and sound, one message per closed bar.

Alerts cover popup, push, email and sound when the daily reading shifts by five percent or more. A bar time check keeps it to one alert per closed bar.

Every Daily ATR Indicator input

Core settings

Setting	What it does	Default
AtrPeriod	ATR lookback (bars on D1). AtrPeriod is how many daily bars feed the average. It defaults to 14, so the reading covers roughly three trading weeks.	14

Alert settings

Setting	What it does	Default
EnableAlerts	EnableAlerts gates the message block and defaults to true.	on
EnablePopup	EnablePopup shows the MT4 dialog and defaults to true, making it the one channel active out of the box.	on
EnablePushNotify	(see inputs panel)	off
EnableEmail	EnableEmail routes messages to your configured address. It defaults to false.	off
EnableSound	(see inputs panel)	off
SoundFile	(see inputs panel)	alert.wav

Settings that fit your chart

The screenshot uses EURUSD H1. A daily reading is most useful on an intraday chart, since that is where you cannot already see the daily range. On the daily chart itself a plain ATR gives the same figure. Any instrument works, because the value comes out in that instrument own price units.

When the Daily ATR Indicator fails

A fourteen day average smooths over a single dramatic day, so it understates how violent yesterday actually was.

The reading only updates at a day boundary, so it says nothing about how the current session is developing.

True range includes weekend gaps, which lifts the figure on instruments that gap regularly.

The five percent alert threshold sits in the code rather than the inputs, so you cannot tune how sensitive it is.

Copy the compiled Daily ATR Indicator file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, and the MT5 build into MQL5/Indicators, then restart the terminal and drag it onto a chart. The step-by-step guide with screenshots is at how to install MT4 and MT5 indicators.

Download the Daily ATR Indicator for MT4 and MT5

The zip holds the compiled Daily ATR Indicator build for MT4 and MT5, plus a short README. Compiled files only, no source. Enter your email below and the download link arrives in your inbox.

FAQ

Why read the daily series instead of the chart I have open?

Because the useful question for stop sizing is how much the market moves per day, and an H1 ATR answers a different question. Reading the daily series directly means the number is the same whichever chart you attach it to, so your sizing does not change with your view.

What does AtrPeriod 14 cover in calendar terms?

Fourteen daily bars, which is roughly three trading weeks once weekends are excluded. That is long enough to smooth a single wild day and short enough to reflect a genuine change in conditions. Raising it steadies the reading further.

Can I size a stop directly from the Daily ATR value?

The value is a price distance in the instrument own units, so it converts straight into a stop distance. Many traders use a fraction or a multiple of it. What the reading cannot tell you is whether the level that distance lands on makes sense.

Why does the Daily ATR line step rather than glide?

Because it only changes when a new daily bar forms. Every chart bar inside the same day carries the same value, so the line holds flat and then steps at the boundary. That is the reading behaving correctly rather than a drawing fault.

Are results guaranteed?

No. Trading involves risk. Results are not guaranteed; past performance is not indicative of future results. Use the Daily ATR Indicator as one input. Always backtest before trading live.