Indicator memory
Indicator memory is how far back an indicator can remember, counted in bars of each timeframe it reads. It decides how much history sits behind a moving average, a running total or a session high before the first bar you see.
Free | Starter | Pro | Ultra | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicator memory | 2,500 bars | 5,000 bars | 5,000 bars | 10,000 bars |
It counts bars, so the time it covers depends on the timeframe. On a market that trades around the clock, 5,000 bars is about 17 days on 5m, 7 months on 1h, and every daily bar since 2015. Free and Starter also hold three years of historical data, so on a daily chart those plans reach three years back whatever the memory says.
The same limit applies everywhere an indicator runs: on the chart, inside a definition run over history and in a study. It is the plan of whoever runs the script that counts, so a shared indicator can remember more on an Ultra account than on a Free one.
Indicators that remember everything
Some indicators remember everything they have seen: On-Balance Volume, a cumulative delta, a count of sessions. Their authors declare the deepest memory there is, which on your plan is your limit. On a daily chart that reaches the start of your history, so the value is exact. On intraday charts it does not, so the running total counts from a fixed point a limit or two back and restarts at regular intervals. A cumulative line can take a step at those points. The shape between steps is correct.
When an indicator asks for more
Asking for more memory than your plan allows never stops an indicator. It runs with your limit and says so in two places.
In the indicator's settings, a line under the title shows what the indicator remembers on the chart's timeframe, for example Remembers 288 bars on 5m (1 day). A notice replaces it as soon as the settings ask for too much: These settings ask for 7,000 bars of memory. Your plan allows 5,000, so the indicator runs with 5,000 and measures from there. Raising a period is the usual cause.
On the chart, the indicator's row in the indicator list shows a warning. Hover it for History capped: This script asked for more 1h history than your plan's 5,000-bucket limit allows, so it measures from a date. Below Ultra it ends with an upgrade link.
A related warning, History limited by your plan, comes from your plan's historical data window rather than memory.
Getting more from it
Lower the period or length in the indicator's settings until the notice goes.
Put the indicator on a higher timeframe. The same bar count covers more time.
Upgrade. Ultra doubles the memory of Starter and Pro. Charts reads your plan when it loads, so reload Charts after upgrading.
If you write indicators, Warmup and memory covers how to declare memory, how w.forever() resolves on each plan, and how to tell whether a script asked for enough.