MT5 Slow? Causes & Fixes | Optimize Settings to Lighten It

1. Introduction

Do you feel MT5 is slow?

MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is a popular trading platform with advanced trading features, but many traders are troubled by issues such as “MT5 is slow,” “startup is slow,” and “chart movements are choppy.”

In particular, if you notice symptoms like the following, you should optimize MT5’s performance.

• Startup takes a long time (takes more than 30 seconds than usual)
• Chart updates are slow (scrolling and zooming are not smooth)
• EA (Expert Advisor) lags (orders are not executed smoothly)
• Trading screen freezes (freezes during order placement or indicator display)

These problems are caused by various factors such as insufficient PC specs, MT5 settings, and network environment impacts.

Purpose of this article

In this article, we thoroughly analyze the causes of MT5 becoming slow and provide clear explanations of solutions you can try right away. Specifically, we cover the following points.

• Main causes of MT5 becoming slow and their solutions
• Settings and tools that help lighten MT5
• Real trader improvement cases
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

By reading this, you will find the best measures to use MT5 comfortably. Please read all the way to the end!

2. Main causes of MT5 slowdown and solutions

Insufficient PC specifications

Causes

MT5 processes a lot of data in real time, so a certain level of PC specs is required. In the following cases, performance may become sluggish.

• RAM is 4GB or less, and multiple applications are running simultaneously
• Using an HDD (hard disk drive) which is slower than an SSD
• CPU performance is low and cannot handle MT5’s load

Solutions

✅ Check if your PC meets the recommended specifications

• Minimum: 4GB RAM, SSD, Intel Core i3 or higher
• Recommended: 8GB RAM, SSD, Intel Core i5 or higher

✅ Upgrade from HDD to SSD

• Since SSDs are 5–10 times faster at data processing than HDDs, MT5 startup and data handling become smoother

✅ Increase memory (RAM)

• If you have 4GB or less, upgrading to at least 8GB will greatly improve performance

✅ Close unnecessary applications

• Use Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) to close high‑load applications other than MT5

3. Tools and Settings that Help Lighten MT5

Optimize MT5 Settings to Lighten It

Reduce the Number of Chart Bars

Cause:
In MT5, because it stores a large amount of historical candlestick data (bars), having a large number can slow down performance.

Solution:
✅ Reduce the maximum bar count (default is 1,000,000)

1. Open the “Tools” menu → “Options”
2. Select the “Chart” tab
3. Set “Maximum bar count” to 50,000 or less

4. Real Improvement Case | MT5 Got Lighter: A Success Story

Case 1: “Insufficient PC Specs Were the Cause”

Issues

• Running MT5 on an old PC with 4GB RAM and HDD
• It takes over 3 minutes to start up
• The chart frequently freezes
• EA performance is delayed, causing order execution failures

Implemented Measures

✅ Replaced the HDD with an SSD (NVMe 500GB)
✅ Upgraded memory from 4GB to 8GB
✅ Stopped unnecessary background apps to reduce CPU load

Results

✨ MT5 startup time reduced from 3 minutes to 30 seconds
✨ Chart freezes were eliminated, allowing smooth scrolling
✨ EA order execution improved to within 0.5 seconds, reducing slippage

5. Summary | Achieve a Comfortable Trading Environment by Lightening MT5

MT5 Lightweighting Measures You Can Try Right Away

✅ Improve PC Specs (Replace SSD & Add Memory)
✅ Remove Unnecessary Indicators & EAs
✅ Optimize Historical Data & Cache
✅ Improve Network Environment (Deploy VPS & Use Wired Connection)

6. FAQ（Frequently Asked Questions）

Which is lighter, MT4 or MT5?

A: MT4 is lighter. MT5 is feature-rich and processes a lot of data in the background, so it tends to run slower.
However, with proper settings and PC spec adjustments, MT5 can also run comfortably.

What should I do if MT5 suddenly becomes slow?

A: Please check the following checklist and identify the cause.

📌 Checklist
☑ Are PC resources sufficient? (Check CPU and memory usage in Task Manager)
☑ Are there too many unnecessary indicators or EAs? (Delete them to reduce load)
☑ Is historical data or cache accumulating? (Delete the cache folder)
☑ Is the network connection unstable? (Check ping values and use a VPS)

Reference Sites