Doji Candle: Meaning, Types & How to Read It

A doji is a candle where the open and close are at (or almost at) the same price, so it has little or no body. It shows a session where neither buyers nor sellers won.

What a doji means

During the session the price moved up and down, but it finished where it started. On its own a doji signals indecision. It gets attention when it appears after a strong move, because it shows the side that was in control has stopped pushing.

Types of doji

Standard, long-legged, dragonfly and gravestone doji candles

Type	Shape	How it’s read
Standard doji	Open = close, wicks on both sides	Indecision
Long-legged doji	Very long wicks on both sides	Big swings but no winner; strong indecision
Dragonfly doji	Open = close = high, long lower wick	Sellers pushed down but buyers recovered everything; can be bullish after a decline
Gravestone doji	Open = close = low, long upper wick	Buyers pushed up but sellers took it all back; can be bearish after a rise
Four-price doji	Open, high, low and close all equal	No movement at all; usually very thin trading

Type

Shape

How it’s read

Standard doji

Open = close, wicks on both sides

Indecision

Long-legged doji

Very long wicks on both sides

Big swings but no winner; strong indecision

Dragonfly doji

Open = close = high, long lower wick

Sellers pushed down but buyers recovered everything; can be bullish after a decline

Gravestone doji

Open = close = low, long upper wick

Buyers pushed up but sellers took it all back; can be bearish after a rise

Four-price doji

Open, high, low and close all equal

No movement at all; usually very thin trading

How close is “equal”?

Prices rarely open and close at exactly the same level, so most traders treat a candle as a doji when the body is a tiny fraction of the full range. On charts that show many decimals, such as forex, the body may be a few pipettes tall.

Doji in other patterns

A doji is often the middle candle of a morning star or evening star, where it’s called a doji star.

Finding it on TradingView

TradingView has built-in candlestick pattern indicators that mark patterns on the chart for you. Click Indicators at the top of the chart and search for the pattern name. You can also practise spotting patterns on past price action with Bar Replay, which hides the candles to the right so you can’t see what came next.

No pattern is a guarantee. Patterns describe how buyers and sellers behaved; they don’t predict the next move on their own, and they fail often. Traders usually wait for confirmation, look at where the pattern forms (after a trend, at support or resistance), and decide their exit before they enter. Size the trade with the position size calculator.

Diagrams are illustrations drawn from example prices. Hollow candles closed higher than they opened; filled candles closed lower. ChartWatch doesn’t give trading advice.

FAQ

What does a doji candle mean?

It means the open and close were almost the same, so neither buyers nor sellers won the session. It signals indecision, and matters most after a strong trend.

Is a doji bullish or bearish?

Neither on its own. Its meaning depends on where it appears and what the next candles do. A dragonfly doji after a decline leans bullish; a gravestone doji after a rally leans bearish.

What is a dragonfly doji?

A doji where the open, close and high are at the same level, with a long lower wick.

What is a gravestone doji?

A doji where the open, close and low are at the same level, with a long upper wick.

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