MT5 Trading Journal: Import Your MetaTrader 5 History and Analyse Your EAs

How to export your MT5 trade history

These are the steps from the Tessera help centre, as of November 2026.

1. Open your broker's MetaTrader 5 terminal.
2. Open the History tab (in the Toolbox at the bottom).
3. Right-click and choose the period you need, for example the last 3 months or a custom range.
4. Right-click again, choose Report and save it as Excel (.xlsx).

Do not upload the HTML version of the report to the MT5 import; it only accepts .xlsx. Running the terminal in English keeps the sheet headers in the shape Tessera expects.

Import the file into Tessera

1. Choose MetaTrader 5, then XLSX import.
2. Enter the executing broker name: your real broker or prop firm, as you want it in the account picker.
3. Choose the asset classes you trade on this login (forex, indices, metals, crypto and so on), so symbols resolve correctly.
4. Set the timezone for the times in the file. This is usually your broker's MT5 server time, not your local time. Check it under Tools, then Options, then Server.
5. Upload the .xlsx and import.

Getting the timezone right matters more on MT5 than almost anywhere else, because many brokers run their server two or three hours ahead of UTC. If trades look shifted on the chart, re-import with the zone that matches the report's clock.

What Tessera reads from the file

• The Account row, which becomes the account code in Tessera. Company and server names are stored as metadata.
• Closed positions: symbol, direction, volume, open and close times and prices, and profit. Tessera focuses on closed position rows, not the full cash ledger.
• Symbols with broker suffixes (such as EURUSD.raw or US30.cash) are matched to Tessera's instrument registry in most cases. If one does not match, you can map it or ask support to add it.

Deposits, withdrawals and balance operations in the report are not used to rebuild your balance curve.

What you can analyse

• Core statistics: win rate, expectancy, profit factor, average win and loss, and drawdown.
• EA behaviour by session. P&L by session, hour and weekday. Many EAs make their money in one window, often the London open, and give some of it back in another, such as the late New York session or the rollover hour when spreads widen.
• Volatility and market regime. Whether the EA needs trending, high-volatility conditions or does better in ranges, based on historical candles at each entry.
• MAE and MFE. How far each position went against and in favour of the EA, where candle data covers the period, to check whether its fixed stop and take-profit are sensible.
• Backtest versus live. Import the live account and compare it with the Strategy Tester results to see where execution, spread or slippage changes the picture. See why a strategy works in backtest but not live.
• Rule simulator. Replay the EA's trades on real candles with a session filter or a different exit and compare the result before you change the MQL5 code.

For Strategy Tester reports, our guide to MT5 Strategy Tester report export explains the deals, orders and positions tables.

Limitations

• Excel only. The MT5 import accepts .xlsx. HTML reports go through the MT4 import (for MT4 Detailed Reports) or Custom CSV.
• No live sync. There is no investor-password or API connection for MT5. You re-export and re-import.
• One login per report. If you run several EAs on one login, the help centre does not document splitting them by magic number. Running each EA on its own login is the reliable way to analyse them separately.
• Strategy Tester reports. The MT5 import is documented for the account History report. If a Strategy Tester report does not import, export the deals and use Custom CSV.
• Policies export as Pine Script, not MQL5. A rule you test in Tessera has to be added to the EA by hand.
• Trading P&L only. Portfolio growth shows cumulative trading P&L, not a balance curve with deposits and withdrawals.
• Plan. The Free plan imports the last 30 days of trades for one broker account into the trade log. Full history, statistics, reports and the simulator need a paid plan, from $39 a month. The free Entry Analysis report needs no paid plan.

Switching from TradeZella, TraderSync or Edgewonk

Some journals take the MT5 HTML report or connect through an investor password. Tessera uses the Excel History report instead, so the switch is a different save option in the same right-click menu, not a new workflow.

What changes is the analysis. Tessera is built for EA and systematic traders: results by market condition, the sample size behind each slice, and a simulator for testing a filter on the trades the EA already took. Read the full comparisons: TradeZella alternative, TraderSync alternative and Edgewonk alternative.