Donchian Channel Plus

Donchian Channel Plus is a free MT5 indicator. It draws a Donchian Channel (Upper, Lower and Middle bands) on the main price chart. It adds Buy and Sell Breakout arrows, Squeeze Dots, an optional exit channel and a status panel. In the Lab's repaint test, 0 of 592 signals changed, and no arrow printed late (maximum delay 0 bars).

It is for breakout and trend traders who want closed-bar arrows and alerts that stay where they first appeared.

What it puts on your chart

A Donchian Channel marks the highest high and the lowest low of a set number of bars. That gives you the recent range and shows when price leaves it. In this version each band uses only the closed bars before the current bar. So a bar can close outside the band, and that close is the breakout.

You get five lines (Upper Band, Lower Band, Middle Line, and an Exit Upper and Exit Lower pair you can switch on), three arrow types (Buy Breakout, Sell Breakout, Squeeze Dot) and the Channel Status panel. Everything draws on the price chart, not in a separate window below it.

How the Lab tested it

The Lab ran version 1.00 on MT5 build 6230 on 2026-10-09. The test used EURUSD M15 from 2026-07-09 to 2026-10-08 with Raw Trading Ltd real ticks. It logged 592 signals as they printed and checked whether any of them later moved or disappeared. None did, and none arrived late.

For every signal, the Lab also checked which came first: a move of 1 ATR (average true range, the pair's typical bar size) in the signal's direction, or 1 ATR against it.

What the numbers mean for you

• Buy Breakout: 51.0% of 210 arrows reached +1 ATR before −1 ATR. That is about a coin flip.
• Sell Breakout: 46.0% of 250 arrows did. That is slightly worse than a coin flip.
• Squeeze Dot: 41.7% of 132. This was the weakest result, and the dot does not point in any direction (see how to read it).
• All signals together: 46.8% of 592.

In plain words: on this pair and timeframe, an arrow on its own gave no edge. What the arrows give you is clean timing (the exact closed bar where price left the range), not a forecast. Your exit plan and a filter decide whether the trade pays.

The moves were quick. The median signal reached one side within 2 bars, which is about 30 minutes on M15. Only 0.5% of signals went 20 bars without reaching either side. So you usually know within the first hour whether a breakout is working.

How often it fires: 45 signals a week in total on EURUSD M15. The chart below splits that number by signal type.

Who it is built for

It suits intraday traders who trade breakouts from a range. It also suits trend followers who like Turtle-style exits and want a ready exit line. And it helps anyone who needs alerts they can trust not to repaint. If you backtest by scrolling back through the chart, closed-bar arrows mean the history you see matches what you would have seen live.

Install in one line

Copy the downloaded file (101.4 KB) into your MQL5\Indicators folder (File → Open Data Folder), refresh the Navigator and drag Donchian Channel Plus onto a chart.

Reading the five lines

• Upper Band: the highest high of the last DonchianPeriod closed bars. A close above it is a bullish breakout. Each further close above it adds to the band walk count.
• Lower Band: the lowest low of the same bars. A close below it is a bearish breakout and adds to the lower band walk.
• Middle Line: the average of the two bands. If the last close is above it, price sits in the upper half of the channel. If it is below, price sits in the lower half.
• Exit Lower (shown when ShowExitChannel is on): a shorter channel built from ExitPeriod bars. A close at or below it is the reference exit for a long trade.
• Exit Upper: a close at or above it is the reference exit for a short trade.

Reading the arrows and the Squeeze Dot

A Buy Breakout arrow prints when a bar closes above the Upper Band and the bar before it closed at or below its own Upper Band. A Sell Breakout is the mirror image at the Lower Band. Only the first close outside the band gets an arrow. Later closes outside add to the band walk count and get no new arrow.

The chart below shows the three cases you will meet most often.

A Squeeze Dot sits on the channel middle. It prints when the channel's width, measured in percent of price, is at or below the SqueezeThresholdPercentile percentile of the last SqueezeLookback bars. In other words, the channel is narrower than it usually is. The dot does not say which way price will break. It only says the range is unusually tight.

Three misreads to avoid

1. A wick through the band is not a breakout. Only a close outside counts. If price spikes above the band and closes back inside, you get no arrow, and that is intended.
2. No second arrow does not mean the move is over. While price keeps closing outside, the band walk count in the panel goes up instead. A high count means a strong run. It also means you are late if you have not entered yet.
3. A Squeeze Dot is not a buy signal. The dot sits on the middle line and can look like an entry mark. It is a get-ready mark. Wait for the breakout arrow that follows.

The Channel Status panel

The panel shows the last signal, the Upper, Middle and Lower band values, the channel width in percent and its percentile, and the band walk count. It also shows either the higher-timeframe bias or the exit reference. Check it before acting on an arrow so you know where the bias and the exit line are.

Inputs to change first

• DonchianPeriod (default 20): the main channel length. A larger value gives a wider channel, so you get fewer and later breakouts. A smaller value gives more arrows and more noise.
• UseHTFConfirmation (default false) with HTFPeriod (default H4): when on, the filter blocks a Buy Breakout if the higher-timeframe middle line bias is bearish, and a Sell Breakout if it is bullish.
• ShowExitChannel (default false) with ExitPeriod (default 10): turns on the Exit Upper and Exit Lower lines, so every trade has a ready exit reference.
• SqueezeThresholdPercentile (default 20) and SqueezeLookback (default 100): a lower percentile means fewer, stricter Squeeze Dots. A longer lookback compares the current width with a longer history.

Alerts and where they appear

When AlertOnBreakout is on (default), you get an alert for each new Buy Breakout, Sell Breakout or Squeeze, and only once the bar has closed. EnablePopupAlert shows a popup in the MT5 terminal. EnablePushNotification (off by default) sends the alert to the MT5 mobile app. EnableSoundAlert plays SoundFileBuy for buy breakouts and squeezes, and SoundFileSell for sell breakouts. Both default to alert2.wav, so give them different files if you want to tell buys from sells by ear.

A decision rule for each signal

• Buy Breakout: take it only if the bar has closed, the higher-timeframe bias is not bearish, and you know your exit before you enter (Exit Lower, or your own stop). Skip it if a Sell Breakout printed in the same narrow channel a few bars earlier. Price is chopping, not breaking out.
• Sell Breakout: apply the same rule in reverse, with Exit Upper as the exit reference. Sells scored the weaker of the two directions in the Lab, so be stricter with them.
• Squeeze Dot: never trade the dot. Use it to set an alert and get ready, then judge the breakout arrow that follows with the rules above.