MT5 Trade Tab Explained: How to Open Buy and Sell Orders Like a Pro
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How to Open Buy and Sell Orders
The Trade tab is the engine room of the MetaTrader 5 (MT5) application. This is the exact screen where you manage your live money, monitor market risk, and execute Buy or Sell orders in real-time.
Understanding how to navigate this specific tab is the difference between a successful execution and a costly mistake.
💵 Understanding Your Live Account Metrics
When you open the Trade tab, you will see several critical financial metrics updating every single second at the top of the screen:
* Balance: The total amount of settled cash in your account, excluding any currently open trades.
* Equity: Your real-time account value. This calculates your Balance plus your floating profits, or minus your floating losses.
* Margin: The amount of money your broker locks up as collateral to keep your current trades running.
* Free Margin: The remaining money left in your account that you can use to open brand-new trades.
* Margin Level (%): A health metric for your account. If this drops too low, your broker will trigger a "Margin Call" and force-close your trades.
📈 Pulling the Trigger: Buy vs. Sell Orders
To open a real position, tap the "+" (New Order) icon at the top right of the Trade screen. This brings you to the order execution panel where you choose your market direction:
1. Buy Orders (Going Long)
* When to use it: You click the blue Buy button if your analysis shows that the asset's price is undervalued and likely to rise.
* How it works: You enter the market at a lower price and look to exit at a higher price. Your profit grows as the price goes up from your entry point.
2. Sell Orders (Going Short)
* When to use it: You click the red Sell button if your analysis shows that the market is overvalued and likely to crash or drop.
* How it works: This is called short-selling. You are betting against the market. Your profit grows as the asset price falls lower than your entry point.
⚙️ Managing Lot Sizes and Risk Controls
Before you hit Buy or Sell, you must configure your trade parameters on this screen to protect your account from heavy losses:
* Lot Size (Volume): Located right at the top. This dictates how much money you risk per pip movement. A 0.01 is a micro lot (lowest risk), while 1.00 is a standard lot (higher risk). Always double-check this number before clicking buy or sell!
* Stop Loss (SL): Your automated safety net. You type a specific price level here. If the trade goes against you, the app instantly closes the trade at this price to cap your losses.
* Take Profit (TP): Your automated target. You type your goal price here. As soon as the market hits this level, the app closes the trade and locks in your profits automatically—even if your phone is turned off.
🔄 Modifying and Closing Active Trades
Once your trade is live, it populates as a moving row on the Trade tab, flashing blue for profit or red for loss.
To manage a live position, press and hold the running trade. A menu will slide up with these vital options:
* Close Position: Instantly exits the market at the current live price to lock in your final profit or loss.
* Modify Position: Allows you to change or add a Stop Loss and Take Profit to an existing, live trade.
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