Sierra Chart Problems and Fixes
Sierra Chart is powerful and unusually configurable, which is exactly why it trips people up. Its licensing is sold in numbered service packages, its data feed is chosen separately from your broker, and a great many settings apply to one chart or one chartbook rather than the whole platform. Here are the problems that come up most.
Cannot connect to the data feed
Symptom: The platform will not connect, or connects and then drops, and charts show no live prices.
Cause: Usually a data or trading service that is not configured correctly, credentials belonging to a different provider, or an account issue such as an unsigned agreement or an unpaid service.
- Open the Global Settings menu and go to the data and trade service settings, then confirm which service is currently selected.
- Confirm the username and password entered there belong to that specific service, because Sierra Chart supports many services and each has its own credentials.
- Use the File menu's connect option to trigger a fresh connection attempt rather than restarting repeatedly.
- Open the message log window and read what the platform reports during the attempt, as it states the reason rather than leaving you to guess.
- Check whether the failure is at the same time each day, which would indicate the provider's scheduled maintenance rather than a fault.
- If the log points at authentication or permission, contact whoever issued those credentials, which may be Sierra Chart, your broker or a third-party data provider.
Full walkthrough, how to verify it worked, and how to stop it happening again →Data denied until exchange agreements are completed
Symptom: The platform connects but a particular exchange's data never arrives, and the log indicates you are not permitted to receive it.
Cause: Real-time exchange data requires you to complete the exchange's own agreements and subscribe, in your account with the data provider. This is paperwork and billing, not a software setting.
- Sign in to your account with whoever provides your data and look for the market data or exchange subscription section.
- Complete the required agreements for each exchange whose data you want, including the professional or non-professional declaration.
- Subscribe to the specific exchange data you need, and check whether depth of market is a separate item from top-of-book.
- Wait for the entitlement to be applied, which is not always instant, then disconnect and reconnect the platform.
- If your declaration status is later questioned or changed, expect access to be interrupted until it is resolved, and deal with the provider directly.
- Check the message log after reconnecting to confirm the permission problem has gone rather than assuming it has.
Full walkthrough, how to verify it worked, and how to stop it happening again →A feature is not available on your service package
Symptom: A study, a window or a trading capability is missing or refuses to work, and nothing you change makes it appear.
Cause: Sierra Chart is sold in numbered service packages, and higher-numbered packages unlock more capability. If a feature belongs to a package above yours, it is simply not enabled.
- Check which service package your account is currently on, in your account details with Sierra Chart.
- Check which package the feature you want requires, using Sierra Chart's own documentation rather than a forum post, since the packages have been revised over time.
- If the feature belongs to a higher package, changing the package is the only fix, and it is an account change rather than a setting.
- Note that some capabilities also depend on your data or order routing service, not only the package, so confirm both before upgrading.
- If you believe you are already on the right package, confirm the platform is signed in to the account that holds it.
- Contact Sierra Chart support for package questions, since they are the only ones who can see what your account includes.
Full walkthrough, how to verify it worked, and how to stop it happening again →The platform stops working because the service has lapsed
Symptom: Features stop working or the platform refuses to operate normally, with no obvious technical cause.
Cause: Sierra Chart is a monthly service rather than a one-off purchase. If the payment lapses, the service stops.
- Sign in to your account with Sierra Chart and check the service status and the next payment date.
- Check whether the payment method on file is still valid, as an expired card is the most common cause.
- Settle the account, then restart the platform so it picks up the renewed status.
- Check separately whether your exchange data subscriptions are also current, because they are billed independently and can lapse on their own.
- If the account shows as paid and the platform still refuses, contact Sierra Chart support with your account details.
Full walkthrough, how to verify it worked, and how to stop it happening again →A setting you changed did not apply everywhere
Symptom: You change something, it works on one chart, and everything else carries on as before. Or the change vanishes when you open a different chartbook.
Cause: Many Sierra Chart settings are per chart or per chartbook, not global. Only settings under Global Settings apply across the platform.
- Work out which level the setting belongs to. Anything reached through Global Settings applies platform-wide, while chart settings and study settings apply only to that chart.
- If you want a change across several charts in a chartbook, apply it to each chart, or use the platform's facility for copying settings or studies between charts.
- Save the chartbook after making changes, because unsaved chart-level changes are lost when it closes.
- If you maintain several chartbooks, expect to repeat chart-level changes in each one, since they do not share chart settings.
- Build a chartbook you are happy with and reuse it as a starting point rather than reconfiguring from scratch each time.
Full walkthrough, how to verify it worked, and how to stop it happening again →A chartbook will not open, or opens empty
Symptom: A chartbook fails to load, opens with missing charts, or the charts appear without their studies.
Cause: The chartbook file is missing or has been moved, it references a data service or symbols you are no longer connected to, or it uses studies that your current service package does not enable.
- Confirm the chartbook file is still in the platform's data folder, since chartbooks are files and can be moved or deleted like any other.
- Open the message log after loading, as it will report studies or symbols it could not resolve.
- If charts load but symbols show no data, check that you are connected to the data service the chartbook was built against, because symbol naming differs between services.
- If studies are missing, check whether they require a higher service package than your account currently has.
- Keep backups of chartbooks you rely on, so a corrupted or lost file is an inconvenience rather than a rebuild.
- If a chartbook consistently fails, rebuild it from a working one rather than repeatedly reopening the broken file.
Full walkthrough, how to verify it worked, and how to stop it happening again →Symbol not found, or the wrong instrument loads
Symptom: You type a symbol and get nothing, an error, or a completely different instrument.
Cause: Symbol naming is specific to the data service. The same contract can be written differently by different providers, and there is no universal format.
- Use the platform's symbol search or the symbol list for your current data service rather than typing a code from memory or from a video.
- Check the documentation for the specific service you are connected to, as symbol format is defined by that service and not by Sierra Chart.
- Include the correct contract month and year in the format your service expects, since futures symbols encode both.
- If a symbol worked before and does not now, check whether the contract has expired and you need the next month.
- If the symbol resolves but shows no data, treat it as an entitlement question for that exchange rather than a naming problem.
Full walkthrough, how to verify it worked, and how to stop it happening again →Missing or incomplete historical data
Symptom: A chart is short of history, has gaps, or the older bars look wrong compared with another source.
Cause: The data has not been downloaded, your service does not supply that depth of history, or the local data files for that symbol are incomplete.
- Use the chart's option to download historical data for that symbol so the platform requests the range again.
- Check how many days the chart is configured to load, since a low value produces a chart that looks short of history but is behaving correctly.
- Confirm your data service actually provides historical data for that instrument, because some routing connections supply live data only.
- Check whether the gap corresponds to a session break, a holiday or a period when you were not connected, all of which are legitimate.
- For intraday data, expect the available history to be shorter than for daily data, as the storage requirement is far greater.
- If a specific symbol is consistently wrong, redownloading its data is the appropriate fix, and it does not affect other symbols.
Full walkthrough, how to verify it worked, and how to stop it happening again →Orders will not send, or fills look unrealistic
Symptom: Order buttons do nothing, orders are refused before reaching the broker, or every order fills perfectly at your price.
Cause: Trading is not enabled on that chart, the chart has no trade account selected, or the platform is in trade simulation mode.
- Check whether trade simulation mode is on, because in that mode orders are simulated locally and never reach a broker, which is why fills look perfect.
- Check that trading is enabled on the specific chart you are trading from, as this is a per-chart state rather than a global one.
- Check which trade account the chart is set to, and confirm it is your real account rather than a simulated one.
- Confirm you are connected to a service that provides order routing, since a data-only connection can chart but cannot trade.
- Read the message log after a refused order, as it records what the platform or the broker reported.
- Confirm your account is permitted to trade that instrument, and for a funded account confirm the firm's rules allow it.
Full walkthrough, how to verify it worked, and how to stop it happening again →Something is wrong and you cannot tell what
Symptom: The platform is not behaving as expected and there is no visible error to work from.
Cause: The explanation is usually already recorded in the message log, which most users never open.
- Open the message log window from the Window menu and read the most recent entries.
- Reproduce the problem while the log is open, so you can see exactly what is recorded at the moment it happens.
- Look for entries about connection, authentication, permissions, symbols or studies, as these cover the large majority of problems.
- Copy the relevant lines when contacting support, whether that is Sierra Chart, your data provider or your broker, since the log identifies which of them owns the problem.
- Do not change several settings at once while diagnosing, because the log becomes much harder to interpret.
Full walkthrough, how to verify it worked, and how to stop it happening again →Two copies of Sierra Chart running at once
Symptom: Odd behaviour with saved settings, chartbooks overwriting each other, or data behaving inconsistently.
Cause: More than one instance of the platform is running against the same data folder, or you are running it in more than one place against a service that permits only one connection.
- Check whether a second copy is already running before starting the platform, including one left running on another machine or a remote desktop.
- Close the extra instance, then reopen the one you intend to use.
- If you genuinely need more than one instance, set it up properly with a separate installation and data folder rather than launching the same one twice.
- Check with your data provider whether your subscription permits simultaneous connections, since many allow only one.
- If chartbooks have been overwritten, restore from your backup rather than trying to repair them.
Full walkthrough, how to verify it worked, and how to stop it happening again →Trade with clarity once MetaTrader is running
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