NinjaTrader Workspaces: How to Save, Switch, Recover and Organize Them

A NinjaTrader workspace is a saved layout of your open windows: charts, SuperDOMs, Market Analyzers and the rest, including where each window sits and how it is set up. You manage workspaces from the Workspaces menu in the Control Center. They do not save themselves, so press Shift+F4 after you change something, and if one is lost or damaged, Tools › Database Management › Restore Workspace can bring back one of its recently saved versions.

Menu names below are for NinjaTrader 8.1.x.x (checked against NinjaTrader’s help guide, October 2026). Before 8.1.5, Tools › Settings was called Tools › Options.

What a workspace is, and where the files live

NinjaTrader’s help guide describes workspaces as the files that keep the overall layout of your working area. A workspace remembers which windows are open, their size and position, their tabs, and the instrument, indicators and settings on each chart.

• You can have several workspaces open at once, but only one is active (on screen) at a time. In the Workspaces menu, open workspaces show a small rectangle icon and the active one has a filled green rectangle. No icon means the workspace is closed.
• Each workspace is its own .xml file, named after the workspace, in Documents\NinjaTrader 8\workspaces. If Windows moved your Documents folder into OneDrive, look in OneDrive\Documents\NinjaTrader 8\workspaces instead.
• At least one workspace always stays open. If you close the last one, NinjaTrader creates a temporary workspace. So if you see a blank workspace you don’t recognize, yours may simply be closed: check the Workspaces menu before you assume it is gone.
• A workspace is not a chart template. A chart template (right-click a chart › Templates) saves one chart’s setup so you can reuse it on other charts. A workspace saves every window you have open.

The Workspaces menu, item by item

Click Workspaces in the Control Center. Your workspaces are listed by name. Hover over a name to see save, save as, close and remove for that workspace. The bottom row holds import, export and new.

How to save a workspace (it does not save itself)

NinjaTrader does not auto-save workspaces while you work. Your changes are written only when you save, or when you answer yes to the prompt at shutdown, which offers to save changes in all open workspaces.

1. Make your changes in the active workspace.
2. Press Shift+F4, or open Workspaces, hover over the workspace name and click save.
3. To keep the old layout and store your changes separately, click save as instead and give the new workspace a name.

Two habits prevent most “lost” layouts:

• Close NinjaTrader from the Control Center while your charts are still open. If you close the charts one by one first and then answer yes at the save prompt, you save the workspace without those charts.
• Turn on Confirm on window or tab close in Tools › Settings › General. NinjaTrader then asks before a window or tab closes, which guards against a stray click.

How to switch between workspaces

• Press Shift+F3 to cycle to the next open workspace.
• Or open Workspaces and click the name of the one you want. Clicking a closed workspace opens it.

Shift+F3 and Shift+F4 are NinjaTrader’s preassigned workspace hot keys, and you can change either one in Tools › Hot Keys. Our NinjaTrader hotkeys guide covers the rest.

Reopen your workspaces at startup

1. Go to Tools › Settings › General.
2. Under Preferences, check Reopen all previously open workspaces at startup if you want every workspace you had open to come back, not only one.

NinjaTrader’s performance tips also suggest setting your connection to connect on startup. The workspace then loads once, instead of loading a second time when new data downloads after you connect.

Recover a lost or corrupted workspace with Restore Workspace

NinjaTrader keeps recovery copies of the versions of each workspace you saved before, 10 by default. To bring one back:

1. In the Control Center, go to Tools › Database Management.
2. In the Restore Workspace section, click Restore.
3. A file window opens at the recovery workspaces, with one folder per workspace name. Double-click the folder of the workspace you want.
4. Select the recovery file with the date and time you want to go back to.

If the current layout still has anything you might want, use save as to keep a copy of it before you restore.

What Restore Workspace can and cannot do:

• It only has versions you saved. Changes you never saved are not in it.
• It keeps a fixed number of versions. If you saved a broken layout many times in a row, the good version may have rolled off. To keep more, raise Versions of recovery workspaces in Tools › Settings › General.
• It cannot bring back a removed workspace. remove deletes the recovery versions too, so your only way back is a backup file or an exported copy.

If NinjaTrader freezes or crashes while it opens a workspace, start it in Safe Mode by holding Ctrl while you launch it. Safe Mode skips loading workspaces and add-ons, so you can then try opening the workspace yourself or restore an older version. Do not save the workspace while you are in Safe Mode. Our NinjaTrader maintenance guide covers Safe Mode, logs and the other repair tools.

Why your workspace changes are gone

When a workspace “didn’t save,” it is usually one of these:

• It was never saved. There is no auto-save. If you answered no at the shutdown prompt, or NinjaTrader crashed or was closed from Task Manager, everything since your last save is gone. Check Restore Workspace for the last saved version.
• You saved a different workspace. The menu’s save acts on the workspace you hover over. With several open, check which one has the filled green rectangle.
• You closed the charts before NinjaTrader. Answering yes at the prompt then saves the workspace without them.
• You were in Safe Mode or a temporary workspace. Safe Mode does not load your workspaces, and a temporary workspace is not the one you meant to keep.
• OneDrive is syncing your Documents folder. This is a recurring cause of missing NinjaTrader files. Keep NinjaTrader 8 in a local Documents folder that OneDrive does not back up, then run NinjaTrader’s Repair. Our OneDrive guide walks through it.

Move your workspaces to a new computer

On NinjaTrader 8.1.6 or later, use export and import from the Workspaces menu:

1. On the old PC, open Workspaces and click export.
2. Check the workspaces you want, click Export, give the file a name and click Save.
3. Copy that file to the new PC with a USB drive, email or a cloud folder.
4. On the new PC, open Workspaces, click import and select the file.

On older versions, or to move everything at once, use a backup file instead:

1. On the old PC, disconnect from your connections, then go to Tools › Export › Backup File…
2. Check Workspaces. Also check Templates and NinjaScript files if you want your chart templates and indicators to come along.
3. Click Export, choose where to save the file, then click Backup. By default it goes to Documents\NinjaTrader 8 Backup.
4. On the new PC, go to Tools › Import › Backup File…, open the file, choose what to restore and click Import.

A workspace stores your layout and settings, not the indicator code itself. Install the same indicators and add-ons on the new PC, or include NinjaScript files in the backup, before you open the workspace. NinjaTrader also notes that backups made on older releases may not import cleanly, so put both PCs on the same, current version first if you can.

The same export is a good safety net. Export your main workspaces now and then and keep the file somewhere safe, because it is the only way back if a workspace is ever removed.

Organize workspaces so NinjaTrader stays responsive

• One workspace per job. For example, one for live trading, one for research and one for Market Replay. Clear names make Shift+F3 and the menu easier to scan.
• Close the ones you are not using. NinjaTrader’s performance tips point out that an open workspace still uses system resources even when it is not in view. Use close, not remove. Our guide to a slow or lagging NinjaTrader has the other tips.
• Start from a layout, not from scratch. The Workspaces menu has no template command. Open one of the Default Workspaces or a layout of your own, then use save as to make variations. For single charts, use chart templates.
• See which workspace runs a strategy. Since 8.1.5, the Strategies tab in the Control Center has an optional Workspaces column.
• Decide what is shared. Global Drawing Objects Across Workspaces and Global link button across workspaces, both in Tools › Settings › General, control whether global drawings and the global link button reach every open workspace or only the current one.

For setting up the charts inside each workspace, see our NinjaTrader chart setup hub.

Chart Studio: Workspace Switcher and Chart Finder (coming soon)

The Workspaces menu works well for a handful of layouts. If you keep many, our Chart Studio add-on, opening soon, adds two tools to its paid version ($295 for one PC, with a 7-day trial and no card needed):

• Workspace Switcher shows all your workspaces in one window, where you can open, switch or close them and mark favorites.
• Chart Finder searches the charts you have loaded by instrument or by workspace and jumps straight to the one you pick.

Chart Studio changes how you get around NinjaTrader, not how fast it runs, and it does not replace saving: NinjaTrader still keeps only what you save. Details are on the Chart Studio page.

Frequently asked questions

My workspace disappears when I connect to Rithmic. What happened?

If a workspace is already open when you connect, NinjaTrader loads it a second time as new data downloads, so charts can redraw or look empty for a moment; setting the connection to connect on startup avoids the second load. If the windows stay gone, check the Workspaces menu for which workspace is active (Shift+F3 cycles through open ones) and look for minimized windows on the taskbar. If the saved layout itself is wrong, restore an earlier version with Tools › Database Management › Restore Workspace.

I save the workspace but my changes are gone when I reopen. Why?

Usually the save went to a different open workspace, the charts were closed before NinjaTrader so the layout was saved without them, or NinjaTrader closed without showing the save prompt. Save with Shift+F4 while the right workspace is active, close NinjaTrader from the Control Center, and if your Documents folder syncs to OneDrive, move NinjaTrader 8 out of it.

How do I get my workspaces onto my new computer?

On 8.1.6 or later, use Workspaces › export on the old PC and Workspaces › import on the new one. On older versions, use Tools › Export › Backup File… with Workspaces checked, then Tools › Import › Backup File… on the new PC, and install your indicators there too.

Can I restore yesterday’s workspace?

Yes, if you saved it yesterday and that save is still within the last 10 saved versions (the default). Go to Tools › Database Management, click Restore under Restore Workspace, open the folder with the workspace’s name and pick the file with yesterday’s date and time.

How many workspaces can I have open?

You can keep several workspaces open at once, with one active on screen, and NinjaTrader’s help guide does not list a maximum. Every open workspace uses system resources even when you cannot see it, so close the ones you are not using.

Is there a NinjaTrader workspace template?

Not as a separate feature. Start from Workspaces › Default Workspaces or from one of your own layouts and use save as, and for single charts use chart templates (right-click the chart › Templates).

Once your workspaces are in order, give the charts inside them a better look with our guides to NinjaTrader dark mode and cleaning up a NinjaTrader chart.