Bollinger Squeeze Advanced Indicator for MT4

Bollinger Squeeze Advanced is a free MetaTrader 4 indicator that flags low-volatility squeeze conditions by comparing Bollinger Bands to a Keltner Channel, while also plotting a histogram from whichever momentum oscillator you choose. Download it free from mt4indicators.com and attach it to any chart in a separate indicator window.

What Is Bollinger Squeeze Advanced?

This is an updated build (v9) of Nick Bilak’s original Bollinger Squeeze concept, modified by Akuma99, and it works on the same core idea popularized by the well-known TTM Squeeze: when Bollinger Bands contract inside a Keltner Channel, volatility has compressed and a bigger move often follows. The indicator calculates a fixed 20-period Bollinger Bands (2.0 deviation) and compares it against a fixed 20-period Keltner Channel built from ATR with a 1.5 multiplier. When the Bollinger Bands’ width drops below the Keltner Channel’s width, that bar is flagged as being inside a squeeze.

Layered on top of that squeeze test is a selectable momentum trigger oscillator — Stochastic, CCI, RSI, MACD signal, Momentum, Williams %R, ADX or DeMarker, chosen through the triggerType input — which is plotted as a color-coded histogram in the indicator subwindow. The histogram tells you the direction and strength of momentum; the squeeze test tells you when volatility has compressed enough that a move is more likely to be coming.

Key Features

• triggerType input selects the momentum oscillator driving the histogram: 1 Stochastic, 2 CCI, 3 RSI, 4 MACD, 5 Momentum, 6 Williams %R, 7 ADX, or 8 DeMarker (the default).
• A separate period input for whichever trigger you choose (stochPeriod_trigger1, cciPeriod_trigger2, rsiPeriod_trigger3, the three MACD periods, momentumPeriod_trigger5, williamsPR_trigger6, adx_trigger7, or demarker_trigger8), so you’re not stuck with one fixed setting.
• Histogram color automatically switches to an alternate color pair whenever a bar is inside a squeeze, so squeeze bars are visually distinct from normal-volatility bars at a glance.
• An arrow prints above any bar flagged as being inside a squeeze, giving you a clear marker independent of the histogram color.
• Indicator subwindow name and level lines update automatically to match whichever trigger oscillator you’ve selected.

How to Use It

Copy bollinger-squeeze-advanced.mq4 into your MQL4/Indicators folder, restart MT4 or refresh the Navigator, and drag it into a new subwindow. Pick your triggerType first — DeMarker (8) is the default, but if you’re already a Stochastic, CCI, RSI, MACD, Momentum, Williams %R or ADX trader, switch to that number instead and set the matching period input so it lines up with what you’re used to.

Reading it combines two separate pieces of information. The histogram itself tells you momentum direction and strength exactly as the underlying oscillator would — bars above the zero line mean positive/bullish momentum on the trigger you selected, bars below mean negative/bearish. The squeeze arrow and alternate histogram color are the second, independent signal: when they appear, the Bollinger Bands have contracted inside the Keltner Channel for that bar, which is the coiled-spring condition many volatility traders watch for. A common approach is to wait for the squeeze condition to appear, compressed volatility with the arrow showing, and then use the histogram’s direction as the bias for the breakout you’re expecting once volatility expands again.

One thing to know from the code before relying on the very latest bar: the squeeze test and the trigger histogram are both recalculated on the current, still-forming bar with every incoming tick, and there’s no wait-for-the-bar-to-close gate built in. That means the arrow and color on the most recent, unclosed candle can appear, change, or disappear again before that candle actually finishes — so treat a squeeze signal on the current bar as provisional and confirm it once the bar has closed, rather than acting on it mid-candle.

Best Timeframes / Best Use Cases

Since the Bollinger/Keltner squeeze test itself is fixed (20-period, 2.0 deviation, 1.5 Keltner factor) and only the trigger oscillator and its period are adjustable, this indicator is best used on timeframes where a 20-period lookback is meaningful for the kind of moves you’re trying to catch — commonly H1 through Daily for swing-style volatility breakout trading, since that’s the range where a squeeze-and-expand cycle plays out over a reasonable holding period. It’s built specifically around identifying pre-breakout compression, so it fits volatility and breakout-focused approaches more than pure trend-following or mean-reversion styles.

Final Thoughts

Bollinger Squeeze Advanced packages a genuinely useful volatility-compression test with a flexible, multi-oscillator momentum trigger, so you’re not locked into one particular indicator’s bias while watching for a squeeze. The trade-off is that both the squeeze flag and the histogram update live on the current bar, so the most recent reading isn’t final until that candle closes — build that into how you confirm signals rather than reacting to the very first print.