A trading journal for MetaTrader 4 and 5. Drop the statement, grade the trades.
MetaTrader keeps a full history of your trades and can save it as a report with a balance curve and a page of statistics. It does not tell you which trades were your setup, which ones broke your rules, or what the revenge trades after a stop-out cost you this month. Actal reads the report MetaTrader already saves and does that part.
Does MetaTrader have a trading journal?
No. MT4 and MT5 have an account history and a report you can save as HTML, with profit, drawdown and win rate. There is no place to grade a trade, tag a mistake, write why you took it or check it against your rules. The saved report is exactly what Actal imports: in MT4 it is Save as Report in the Account History tab, in MT5 it is Report in the History tab.
Where MetaTrader traders get stuck, and what a week with Actal looks like.
The MT5 report says I lost 3.6% this month. It does not say where.
Every trade gets a grade and a mistake tag if there was one. The drawdown turns into a few habits with a dollar cost each, and the most expensive one is your focus this week.
I lot up after a loss to win it back. I know I do it, and I still do it.
A max position size rule and a cooldown after a loss are checked on every trade. The oversized trade after a stop-out shows up as a rule break the day it happened, with what it cost.
My FTMO challenge has a daily loss limit, and I only find out I was close when it is too late.
Set the same daily loss limit in Actal. Every day you traded past it is on the dashboard with what it cost, so the pattern shows before the next challenge.
Swap and commission eat into every trade and the statement buries them in columns.
Swap counts toward the trade's P&L and commission is shown as the cost, both taken from MetaTrader. Gross and net are side by side on every trade.
I trade EURUSD, gold and US30. Every journal wants me to set up pip values first.
Nothing to set up. MetaTrader states the profit of every trade in your account currency, and Actal uses that number as it is.
I have a spreadsheet of trades I stopped filling in after two weeks.
One report after the session and the trades are in. You spend the ten minutes on the review, not on typing prices.
Charts, indicators, EAs and the order window stay in MetaTrader. Actal needs the report MetaTrader saves from your history.
How to get the file out of MetaTrader.
Written from MetaTrader's own documentation and checked against real files where we have them. The same guide shows on the import page and next to any error.
Each closed trade comes in with the profit, swap and commission MetaTrader reports. No lot size, pip value or currency conversion is calculated, so forex, gold, indices, oil and crypto CFDs are right from the first import.
MT5 reports list each closed position. Older reports that only have deals are rebuilt from the in and out deals, and a hedging account keeps two sells on the same symbol as two positions.
Cancelled pending orders, deposits and withdrawals are in the statement too. They are left out and counted in a note on the preview. Trades still open when you saved the report come in once they close.
The import was tested on real MT4 and MT5 reports, including an FTMO challenge. The total in Actal matches the report's Closed P/L and Total Net Profit to the cent.
- 1In the Terminal window (Ctrl+T) open the Account History tab.
- 2Right-click inside it, choose the period (All History, Last 3 Months, or Custom period).
- 3Right-click again and choose Save as Report (or Save as Detailed Report). MT4 writes an .htm file; drop that file here as it is.
- Each closed buy or sell is one trade, with the profit, swap and commission MetaTrader reports, so forex, indices, gold and crypto CFDs all import without setting anything up.
- Swap counts toward the trade's P&L; commission and taxes are the costs.
- Cancelled pending orders and deposits are skipped. Trades still open when you saved the report import once they close and you save a new report.
- Times are your broker's server time with no zone in the file. Set your profile timezone to the broker's server zone, or leave it and all trades shift by the same amount.
- Verified against a real statement: the imported total matches the statement's Closed P/L to the cent.
- 1In the Toolbox window (Ctrl+T) open the History tab and pick the period at the bottom (or right-click > Custom period).
- 2Switch the view to Positions (right-click > Positions) so each closed position is one line.
- 3Right-click inside the History tab and choose Report, then save it as HTML (not Open XML, which is Excel). Drop the saved .html file here as it is.
- Each closed position is one trade, with the profit, swap and commission MetaTrader reports, so forex, indices, metals, stocks and crypto CFDs import without setting anything up.
- Older reports without a Positions table are rebuilt from the Deals table (in and out deals per symbol).
- MT5 saves reports as UTF-16; that is read as is, no need to convert the file.
- Deposits and cancelled orders are skipped. Open positions import once they close.
- Times are your broker's server time; set your profile timezone to the broker's server zone.
- Verified against real reports, including an FTMO challenge: the imported total matches the report's Total Net Profit.
The detailed report has the same Closed Transactions table plus more statistics. Either one imports.
The Excel version of the report is not read. Save the report as HTML instead. MT5 writes it as UTF-16, which is fine; drop it in as it is.
FTMO and similar firms show your trades in their own dashboard. The MetaTrader report is the more complete file, with swap and commission per trade, so use that one.
Every trade checked against your rules, then graded.
Daily loss limit, max trades, size and cooldowns are checked the moment the file lands. Then each trade gets a grade on execution with your own setup criteria as the checklist, a mistake tag if there was one, and the chart marked up so the lesson sticks.
Five things that happen with MetaTrader files, and the fix.
You saved something other than the account report, for example a Strategy Tester report or the Excel version. In MT4 use Account History, Save as Report. In MT5 use the History tab, Report, saved as HTML.
The report covers the period picked in the history tab. Right-click, choose All History or a custom period, and save the report again. Duplicates are skipped, so importing a longer range twice is safe.
MetaTrader writes times in the broker's server time, often GMT+2 or GMT+3, with no zone in the file. Set your profile timezone to the server's zone and import again.
Amounts are imported in the account currency and shown with a $ sign for now. The preview says which currency the report is in. Totals and costs are still right, only the sign is wrong.
Each MetaTrader login has its own report. Save one report per login and import each into its own account in Actal.
Sim, eval, funded and live, side by side.
Each MetaTrader account becomes an account in Actal with its own rules where they differ, and one dashboard across all of them. A habit that shows up on every account is easy to see.
MetaTrader questions
Import today's MetaTrader session. Grade it tonight.
One export, one minute, and the rules tell you how the day actually went. Free while in beta, no card, everything unlocked.