Category: NinjaTrader Platform | Last Updated: April 2026

This article gives a high-level tour of the NinjaTrader interface. Most Vector clients already see their VPS with the platform pre-configured during onboarding, but this article serves as a reference when you need to orient yourself — where the key buttons are, what each panel shows, and where to find the features you'll use day-to-day.

For step-by-step guidance on specific tasks (creating charts, attaching strategies, troubleshooting connections), refer to the dedicated articles in this KB.

The Control Center

When you open NinjaTrader, the first window is the Control Center. This is your command hub for everything — connections, accounts, charts, strategies, alerts.

Full Control Center layout. Menu Bar at the top, Toolbar with quick-access buttons right below, the main workspace area in the center, and the status bar at the bottom showing connection state.

The Control Center is the window you'll interact with most often during the day — this is where you manage connections, enable and disable strategies, and switch between accounts.

The Toolbar — Buttons You'll Use

The toolbar gives you one-click access to the features most Vector clients actually need:

• Connections — Opens the connection manager for your broker (Rithmic, Tradovate, etc.). Use this to reconnect each morning and whenever the feed drops.
• Account — Opens the Account window, showing balance, equity, buying power, and open positions.
• New Chart — Creates a blank chart window to load a new instrument.
• Strategies — Opens the Strategies tab where you can enable/disable attached strategies (this is the fastest way to re-enable your strategies each morning).
• Alerts — Set or view price alerts or strategy-event notifications.

Chart Windows

Charts are where you'll see price data and run your Vector strategies. Each chart has a local toolbar along the top where you select the instrument, timeframe, and enable tools like Chart Trader.

For step-by-step instructions on creating a chart and attaching a strategy, see the dedicated Create a Chart and Add a Strategy article.

The Status Bar

The bottom of the Control Center is the Status Bar. At a glance it tells you:

• Connection status — Green = connected, Red = disconnected. If it's red, your data feed isn't live and strategies won't fire.
• Account info — The currently selected account and its real-time balance/equity.

Workspaces

A workspace in NinjaTrader is the full layout of your windows — charts, strategies tab, account window, etc. Nothing is saved automatically, so after any layout change (new chart, attached strategy, moved panel), save your workspace.

How to save: Control Center → Workspaces → Save. This writes your changes to the current workspace, which is what you want in most cases.

If your layout ever gets messy or things disappear, View → Reset Layout restores the defaults.

(See the Create a Chart article for the full workspace-save habit — it's the single most important operational habit for avoiding lost work.)

Quick Reference — Where to Find Things

Bottom Line

The Control Center is the hub for everything you'll do in NinjaTrader. The toolbar has the five buttons you'll use most often (Connections, Account, New Chart, Strategies, Alerts), charts live in their own windows, and workspaces keep your layout persistent across sessions. For anything operational beyond this overview — attaching strategies, reconnecting feeds, managing accounts — see the dedicated articles in this KB.