First steps in MetaTrader 5
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is the most-used trading platform in the world. Here's the essentials so you don't get lost on day one — without risking a cent.
MT5 lets you open a free demo account with virtual money. Practise there for weeks or months before touching real money. Those who skip this step pay the lesson with their account.
What you see on screen
- Market Watch (left): the list of instruments (EUR/USD, gold, indices…) with live prices.
- The chart (centre): the candlesticks. Each candle shows open, close, high and low of a period (1 min, 5 min, 1 hour…). Green/white = it rose; red = it fell.
- Navigator: your indicators and Expert Advisors (robots).
- Toolbox (bottom): your open trades, history and balance.
How to open a trade (properly)
- Double-click the instrument or press New Order (F9).
- Choose the volume in lots. Don't improvise here: size it by your risk with our position size calculator.
- Set a Stop Loss (where you accept being wrong) and a Take Profit (your target). Never trade without a stop-loss.
- Buy if you expect a rise, Sell if you expect a fall.
The Strategy Tester
It's the jewel of MT5 and most beginners ignore it. It lets you test a strategy or a robot on historical data before risking money. Open it with View → Strategy Tester (Ctrl+R).
The Tester has several quality «models». The default mode uses generated (synthetic) ticks and it lies: it inflates results. A robot can look amazing in the Tester and lose money live. That's why we validate with real ticks — here's why. If you're going to test a bot, always use «every tick based on real ticks» and distrust any backtest that doesn't.
What NOT to do in your first month
- Don't trade real money. Demo first.
- Don't use high leverage «to win faster»: it's for ruining yourself faster.
- Don't buy the first robot that promises 200% a month. If it worked, they wouldn't sell it to you for €50.
- Don't risk more than 1% of the account per trade while you learn.