Indicator not showing on the chart in MetaTrader 5

What is causing it

The files are in the wrong folder, or the indicator drew off-screen.

Why this happens

MetaTrader only loads indicators from inside its own data folder, and that folder is not where the program itself is installed. Windows keeps the data folder in your user profile so that the terminal can write to it without administrator rights, which means copying a file into the Program Files folder puts it somewhere the terminal will never look. The Navigator lists what the terminal found at startup, so a file added afterwards does not appear until the Navigator is refreshed or the terminal is restarted.

When the file is in the right place and the indicator still seems missing, the usual explanation is that it did draw but not where you can see it. An indicator that plots values on a different scale to price, or that is designed for a separate window, can render far above or below the visible range, and the chart will look untouched. Checking the chart's indicator list is the reliable way to tell an indicator that failed to load from one that loaded and drew out of view.

The fix, step by step

1. Open File, then Open Data Folder, then MQL5, then Indicators, and confirm the indicator file is there.
2. In MetaTrader 5 use Refresh in the Navigator, then drag the indicator onto the chart again.
3. Check the indicator did not draw far above or below the visible price. Press the "Auto scroll" and reset the chart scale.
4. Restart MetaTrader 5 so it recompiles and reloads indicators.

How to confirm it is fixed

Right-click the chart and open its list of applied indicators. If your indicator is named there, it loaded successfully and any remaining problem is display or settings. If it is not in that list, it never attached. Also check the Experts tab in the Toolbox, which records an entry when an indicator initialises and records the reason when one fails.

Stopping it happening again

Always install through the terminal's own data folder rather than browsing to the installation directory, and refresh the Navigator immediately after copying anything in. Keep one MetaTrader installation for the broker you actually trade, because a second copy has its own separate data folder and files placed in one are invisible to the other.