MetaTrader 5 can save a picture of a chart — right-click it and choose Save As Picture — but only of the timeframe on screen. To capture the same symbol on several timeframes you switch the timeframe and save again for each one, and the picture includes whatever panels and windows happen to be open.
An Expert Advisor can do the round trip for you: step the chart through the timeframes you pick, wait for each to load, take the shot with its own panels out of the way, and put the chart back as it was.
What MT5 already does on its own
Save As Picture is fine for a single chart. The work starts when you want a set: nine timeframes means nine rounds of switching, waiting for history to draw, saving and naming the file. And because a chart shows one timeframe at a time, there is no built-in way to get them all from one click.
How do you capture every timeframe in one press?
In ApeX Trading Console you tick the timeframes you want once, in the Screenshot settings: any of M1, M5, M15, M30, H1, H4, D1, W1 and MN. Then there are two ways to take pictures:
- 📷M on the panel's indicator bar, or its hotkey — every timeframe you ticked, one file each.
- 📷S or its hotkey — just the timeframe on screen, exactly as you are looking at it.
For a multi-timeframe capture the chart itself changes timeframe, one after another. That is deliberate: your trade plans, levels and lines belong to this chart, so switching it is the only way for them to appear in every picture. A fresh chart opened for each timeframe would be empty.
- The chart switches to the first timeframe on the list.
- It waits until that timeframe's price history has loaded and the candles are on screen — which matters most on D1, W1 and MN — then waits a moment more for everything to settle.
- It takes the picture, then moves on to the next timeframe.
- After the last one it puts back the timeframe, zoom and scroll you had, and tells you it is done.
How each picture is framed
Every timeframe has a different price range, so a multi-timeframe shot adjusts the view for each one before it shoots:
- Price scale — fitted to the candles on screen with a little room above and below. If a plan's take-profit or stop sits outside that range, the scale widens so the whole plan is in the picture instead of cut off at the edge.
- Latest candle — against the right edge, or in the middle of the picture if you want room to draw what might come next.
- What is left out — the shaded profit and loss areas, the session boxes and the current-candle marker. The small profit badge on each plan stays.
A single-timeframe shot does none of this. It keeps your zoom and position untouched and captures the chart as you have it.
The settings that matter
They are in the panel's Settings tab, under Screenshot. Both kinds of capture use them.
| Setting | Choices |
|---|---|
| Resolution | 720p, 1080p, 2K (2048 × 1152) or Native — the chart's actual size on your screen. |
| Align | Right or Left. In a multi-timeframe set it places the latest candle; in a single shot it decides which side is kept when the picture is narrower than the chart. |
| Format | PNG, GIF, BMP |
| Hide UI | On by default. The panel and the console's windows step aside for the shot and come straight back. |
| Hide Zone | Takes your trade plans out of the picture too, for a bare chart. |
| Custom Look | Switches the grid, the OHLC line and period separators on or off just for the picture, then puts your chart's own setting back. |
| Defer frames | How long to wait for the chart to redraw before shooting. Raise it if a panel still shows up in your pictures. |
A watermark, if you use one, stays on the chart and appears in every picture.
Where do the pictures go?
Into MetaTrader's data folder, under MQL5\Files\Screenshots, in a sub-folder for each month. Open it from File › Open Data Folder. Each name carries the symbol and the server date and time, and in a multi-timeframe set the timeframe too — for example TP_XAUUSD_2026-09-28_14-30-05_H1.png — so a set sorts together and each file says what it is.
The same engine takes the chart picture that goes out with a Telegram signal, but only ever a single timeframe — switching the chart through timeframes is not something that should happen on its own while you are trading.
What it will not do
- It is not instant. Each timeframe takes a few seconds to switch, load and settle, and the EA restarts each time the chart changes timeframe. Let the set finish before you click on the chart.
- It captures one chart, not several. It is several timeframes of the chart you pressed it on. Other charts and other symbols are not included.
- It shoots what the broker has sent. If history for a large timeframe is still downloading, it waits — but only so long, and then it takes the picture anyway.
- A bigger size does not add detail. Native matches your screen pixel for pixel. The presets are for a consistent size across pictures, not for sharper candles.
Questions
How do I take a screenshot in MT5?
Right-click the chart and choose Save As Picture. It saves the timeframe on screen. For several timeframes at once, or a picture without panels in the way, you need an Expert Advisor that does the capture.
Can MT5 screenshot all timeframes at once?
Not by itself. In ApeX Trading Console you tick the timeframes you want in the Screenshot settings and press 📷M; the chart steps through each one and saves a file per timeframe, then goes back to where you were.
Why does my chart keep changing timeframe during the capture?
That is how it works. Your plans and drawings belong to this chart, so the chart itself has to show each timeframe for them to be in the picture. It returns to your original timeframe when the set is finished.
Where are MT5 screenshots saved?
Save As Picture asks you where. The console saves to MQL5\Files\Screenshots in the data folder, one sub-folder per month; File › Open Data Folder takes you there.
Why is the panel still in my picture?
Check that Hide UI is on. If it is, the chart probably had not finished redrawing when the shot was taken — raise Defer frames by one or two.
Where this sits in the console
Screenshots are one of the everyday tools around the trade management side of ApeX Trading Console, alongside hotkeys, alerts and the economic calendar. The demo edition runs on demo accounts, which is enough to set up a timeframe list and see how your pictures come out.