To zoom out and see more bars on your chart, you have several options depending on which platform you are using:
Please Note: Options 1 and 2 work only work if the chart time window is set to the Time Period section (not Candle Size). When viewing the time selector above the chart, the Candle Size section appears in blue, and the Time Period section appears in pink. If Candle Size is selected, switch to Time Period first.
Option 1: Horizontal Zoom Out (TWS – Most Common Method)
- Right-click anywhere in the chart area.
- Select Zoom Out from the context menu.
- Repeat as needed until you can see the desired number of bars.
Option 2: Zoom In/Out Using the View Menu (TWS)
- Click the View menu at the top of the chart window.
- Click the Zoom In icon. The cursor will change to a magnifying glass.
- Left-click and drag horizontally across the area you want to zoom into.
- To zoom back out, right-click anywhere on the chart and select Zoom Out.
Option 3: Mouse Scroll Wheel (TWS)
- Make sure you have selected the correct time period from the Candle Size section (not the Time Period section).
- Use the scroll wheel on your mouse to zoom in or out.
- To pan (scroll left/right) across the chart, hold the CTRL key and use the scroll wheel.
Option 4: Change the Time Period (Advanced Charts / IBKR Desktop)
If you want to see more historical bars without zooming:
- Look for the time period selector at the bottom of the chart.
- Choose a longer period such as '1m', '3m', '6m', '1y', or '5y' to display more bars at once.
- You can also adjust the chart interval in the top-right corner of the chart to change bar granularity.
Option 5: Adjust Bar Thickness (TWS)
- Go to the View menu.
- Navigate to the Adjustments section.
- Click the thinner bar icon to reduce bar width and fit more bars on screen.
Option 6: Vertical Zoom Adjustment (if bars appear too tall)
- Go to Edit menu → Global Chart Configuration.
- Check Display Vertical Scrollbar and click Apply and OK.
- Click and drag the border of the vertical scrollbar on the left side of the chart to adjust the vertical scale.
- Alternatively, enable auto-scaling: go to Edit → Chart Parameters → Vertical Buffer section and select Scale to Fit Studies.
Please Note: After zooming, if price updates appear frozen, click the yellow lock icon on the price axis to resume live price updates.
If zooming appears broken or limited (IBKR Desktop):
- Try switching to the IBKR Desktop Beta version: click the user icon (top right) → three dots near Log Out → Change Version → Beta.
- Alternatively, use Trader Workstation (TWS) which may not have the same limitation.
Quick Tip: By default, TWS displays a More Icons option above the chart, below the symbol/time-frame bar, giving you one-click access to Bar Thickness, Scrollbar, Zoom In/Out, and other chart adjustments, which bypasses the View/Edit menu steps above. If More Icons is not visible, click the View menu above the chart and enable Toolbar. This will display the More Icons option, making chart adjustments more efficient with a single click instead of navigating through menus each time.
Additional Information
- Configuring charts available in our TWS User Guides