How to connect MetaTrader 5 to your trading journal

Typing every trade into a journal by hand is the main reason people stop journaling. With the MetaTrader 5 add-on, each trade is recorded the moment it opens and completed when it closes — entry, exit, stop loss, lot size, commission and swap included. You only add what MetaTrader cannot know: your setup, your reasoning and how you felt.

What you need

• MetaTrader 5 on Windows or Mac (the desktop terminal — the mobile app cannot run add-ons).
• A Simple Trading Journal account with at least one journal.
• Two minutes.

1. Download the add-on

In the app, open MetaTrader from the menu and download SimpleTradingJournal.ex5. In MetaTrader choose File → Open Data Folder, go into MQL5 → Experts, and drop the file there.

On a Mac, "Open Data Folder" does not work in some builds. In Finder use Go → Go to Folder and paste: ~/Library/Application Support/MetaTrader 5/Bottles/metatrader5/drive_c/Program Files/MetaTrader 5/MQL5/Experts

2. Allow the connection

MetaTrader blocks internet requests from add-ons unless you allow the address. Go to Tools → Options → Expert Advisors, tick "Allow WebRequest for listed URL" and add:

https://www.simpletradejournal.io

3. Restart MetaTrader

Close MetaTrader and open it again. SimpleTradingJournal now appears under Expert Advisors in the Navigator panel on the left.

4. Drag it onto a chart and paste your key

In the app, create a connection key (it starts with stj_). Drag SimpleTradingJournal onto any chart, open the Inputs tab, paste the key into ApiKey and click OK. When the top-left of the chart shows that the connection is working, you are done.

Each key belongs to one journal and locks to the first trading account that connects with it, so trades from two accounts never mix in the same journal. For a second account, create a second key.

Which chart should it go on?

MetaTrader runs one expert advisor per chart. If you already use another EA, open a new, empty chart just for the journal add-on and leave it open — every closed trade then arrives on its own while you keep trading on your other charts. If you would rather not keep an extra chart, you can drop the add-on on a chart only when you want to sync; it catches up on everything closed in between.

What gets recorded

• Symbol, direction, lot size, entry and exit price and time.
• Stop loss and take profit. The stop you entered with is kept even if you move it later, so your risk and R-multiples stay honest.
• Gross result, commission and swap, and the net result.
• A position closed in parts (TP1, TP2…) is recorded as one trade once it is fully closed.

Troubleshooting

• Nothing arrives: check that the address in step 2 is exactly https://www.simpletradejournal.io, that the chart with the add-on is still open, and that the key was pasted without spaces.
• "Key bound to another account": the key already belongs to a different trading account. Create a new key for this account.
• Lost the key: MetaTrader remembers it. If you really lost it, create a new one in the app and revoke the old one.

Prefer not to install anything? You can also import MetaTrader's own report file — see the import guide.