Anchored VWAP

Anchored VWAP is a free MT5 indicator for traders who want to see, from one chosen event onward, whether the average buyer or seller is in profit and how far price has moved from that average. It draws the anchored VWAP on the main price chart and was tested on MT5 build 6230 (2026-10-09). This is the volume-weighted average price, counted from a bar you pick, with two standard-deviation bands around it. The anchor can be a swing high or low, the start of the session, week or month, a fixed date, or a line you drag. One caveat: the Lab's repaint check on EURUSD M15 logged no signals, so there is no repaint figure yet.

What it draws on your chart

VWAP averages price by volume, so heavy bars count more than quiet ones. Anchoring only sets the bar where that averaging starts. Everything below is drawn on the price chart, not in a subwindow:

• Anchored VWAP (AVWAP 1): the main line, set by AnchorMode.
• Upper / Lower Band 1: the inner band. It sits BandMultiplier1 volume-weighted standard deviations from AVWAP 1 (default 1).
• Upper / Lower Band 2: the outer band at BandMultiplier2 deviations (default 2).
• AVWAP 2 and AVWAP 3: optional extra lines, each with its own automatic anchor. By default these are the week start and the month start. Both are off until you turn them on.
• Anchor Line: a vertical line on each active anchor bar. It moves when the anchor changes and is deleted when you turn that anchor off or remove the indicator.
• AVWAP Status panel: shows the last cross or band-touch signal, the anchor time and mode, the AVWAP value and bias, and the distance in price and in ATR. It also shows the band position with the % of closes above AVWAP, plus the number of crosses and bars since the anchor.

The chart below is an illustration of a typical signal, with the anchor on a swing high. Bar 15 pokes through the line but closes below it, so it fires nothing. Bar 16 closes above it, and that is the cross the alert reports.

What the Lab checked and what it means for you

• Build and file: version 1.00 (108.3 KB) was tested on 2026-10-09 on MT5 build 6230.
• Repaint check: EURUSD M15, 2026.07.09 to 2026.10.08. The Lab records each signal as it fires live, then compares it with the same bars after recalculation; changed or vanished signals count as repaints. Result: no signals were logged.

The Lab ran the indicator on a current build, but the test window gave it no signals to compare before and after. That means there is no count of changed signals, and no number showing where price went after a cross or a band touch. Treat both alerts as prompts to look at the chart, not as tested entries.

Who gets the most from it

It suits traders who already frame the market as "since this swing" or "since Monday": intraday traders watching the session or week average, and swing traders who anchor on the last major high or low. If you want an arrow that tells you when to trade, this is the wrong kind of tool.

Install it in one line

Copy the file into MQL5\Indicators, refresh the Navigator and drag Anchored VWAP onto a chart. In the default Manual mode, drag the vertical Anchor Line to the bar you want to measure from.

Choose the anchor before anything else

The anchor decides what question the line answers, so set AnchorMode first.

A larger SwingLookbackBars searches more closed bars (10-500) for the swing high/low anchor.

To add more lines, set EnableAnchor2 and EnableAnchor3 to true. Each extra line uses its own automatic anchor from Anchor2Mode and Anchor3Mode.

How to read each line

• Bias Above / Bias Below: the close is above or below AVWAP 1. Price is above or below the volume-weighted average since the anchor.
• Inside the inner band: the close sits between Upper Band 1 and Lower Band 1, near its average.
• Outside 1: the close is beyond Band 1, stretched by more than BandMultiplier1 deviations.
• Outside 2: the close is beyond Band 2, the far stretch.
• AVWAP 2 and AVWAP 3 are plain reference lines. The bands and both alerts are built on AVWAP 1 only.

The AVWAP Status panel adds the context a single bar can't give you.

What the alerts do

• AlertOnCross (on by default): fires when a closed bar crosses AVWAP 1.
• AlertOnBandTouch (off by default): fires when a wick reaches the inner band and the bar closes back inside it.
• Delivery: a popup on the terminal (EnablePopup, on), a push notification to the MT5 mobile app (EnablePush, off), and a sound (EnableSound, off). The sound plays SoundFile, which defaults to alert.wav in the MT5 Sounds folder.

Here is how a band-touch alert forms, step by step:

Decision rules to use with the alerts

These rules are a starting framework; the Lab has not measured them (its test window logged no signals).

• Cross alert: look at the panel first. If the panel shows several crosses since the anchor and the % of closes above AVWAP is near 50%, skip the cross. A cross up counts for more when most closes since the anchor (the % above AVWAP) were below the line before it.
• Band-touch alert: treat it as a possible move back toward AVWAP 1 only when bias isn't one-sided. If recent closes keep landing Outside 1 on the same side, a trend is leaning on the band. Skip touches that go against it.
• Outside 2: price is far from its average. Avoid starting a new trade in the direction of the stretch there. Wait for a close back inside.

Three common misreads

1. A wick is not a cross. Only a closed bar on the other side of AVWAP 1 fires the cross alert, as bar 15 vs bar 16 shows on the chart in the first tab.
2. The line changes when the anchor changes. When you drag the Anchor Line, or a new swing, session, week or month resets the anchor, the whole line is recalculated from the new bar. Don't compare a line from today with a screenshot taken under an older anchor.
3. Tick volume is not exchange volume. VolumeSource defaults to Tick volume. Real volume falls back to Tick when your broker sends none, which is common on forex feeds. The weights then count price updates, not lots traded.