How to Read Your MT5 Account Metrics

Balance is the account value with no trades open — it only updates when a position closes and its profit or loss is realised. If you have three closed trades netting +$400 and two open positions currently down $150 between them, balance still shows the account as up $400.

Equity is balance adjusted for the floating profit or loss of every currently open position. In the example above, equity would show $250 higher than the account started, updating continuously as the open positions' prices move. Equity is the real-time picture of what the account is actually worth right now.

A drawdown limit measures how far the account has fallen from its high point, and that measurement uses equity because equity reflects risk that has not yet been realised. If you are holding a large losing position that has not been closed, the account is genuinely exposed to that loss even though balance has not moved yet — a drawdown rule that only looked at balance would let an account run open exposure far past its real limit before doing anything about it.

This is why watching the equity figure while a trade is open matters more than watching balance. A position that is currently down 4% on an account with a 5% daily limit is one adverse candle away from a breach, regardless of what the balance figure says.

Margin is the amount of equity currently locked up as collateral for open positions, set aside by the broker and unavailable for opening new trades. Free margin is equity minus margin — the amount actually available to open further positions or absorb further floating losses.

Margin level is free margin's relationship to margin, shown as a percentage: margin level = (equity ÷ margin) × 100. It is the number brokers use to trigger a margin call or stop-out if it falls too low, because a falling margin level means losses are eating into the collateral backing your open positions. On a well-sized account trading within programme risk limits, margin level should stay comfortably high — it becomes a concern mainly for accounts that are significantly over-leveraged.

The Trade tab lists every currently open position along with its live floating profit or loss, updating in real time — this is the fastest way to see which position is moving the equity figure. The History tab lists closed trades and is where balance changes are explained after the fact.

The Journal and Experts tabs record system messages and, where relevant, actions taken by an expert advisor, which is useful for confirming why a position closed when you were not watching the screen. Checking these tabs together — Trade for current exposure, History for what has already happened, Journal for why — gives a complete picture of the account's state at any moment.