User Guides

Everything you need to run MT5 Simulator

Setup, simulate, review. Every step, with the screenshots from the software, on one page.

Setup

Install the simulator, load market data, and get everything ready before your first session.

InstallationGet MT5 Simulator installed and activated in MetaTrader 5.

Installing the files

Windows 7 users should confirm Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 is installed before starting. Click Start, open Control Panel, search Programs, click Programs and Features, and look for Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 or higher in the list. If it is already there, skip this step.

After purchasing our simulator you need to download files, please click here to visit software page and click on the New Files button to download files.

Open MetaTrader, go to File, then Open Data Folder.

Open the MQL5 folder, then Experts, then Advisors.

Copy the downloaded Simulator .ex5 file into MQL5\Experts\Advisors.

Go back to the MQL5 folder, open Files, and move the remaining downloaded files there.

Now Right Click on File: Forex Simulator.exe then click on Properties. Click on checkbox to unblock.

Restart MetaTrader.

Open the Navigator window (Ctrl+N). MT5 Simulator (Simulatorv1.7_20-3-2026_multichart_Q6) should now appear in your list of Expert Advisors. Installation is complete.

Startup and activation

Open a new chart and drag MT5 Simulator (Simulatorv1.7_20-3-2026_multichart_Q6) from the Navigator onto it. Use a fresh empty chart, since the simulator clears existing EAs, indicators, and objects from the chart.

In the configuration window, tick Allow DLL imports.

In the Common tab, tick Allow Algo Trading, then click OK.

In the New Simulation window, clck Login button o use Original mode and enter your email and activation code. Enable Save credentials if you want the simulator to remember your login on this platform.

The simulator verifies your license and starts. You are ready to use it.

Downloading DataGet historical market data into the simulator before you start practicing.

Data is downloaded in Data Center, accessible right after starting the simulator using the Download Historic Data button.

Choosing data folder

We refer to Data Folder as a folder where Forex Simulator stores all downloaded data. By default, it is your Documents folder, but you can easily change it to any other using Change Folder button in Data Center. Selected folder will be displayed in the top part of the window in green.

Downloaded data may take quite a lot space. One instrument usually has 1 - 2 GB. Make sure that your Data Folder has enough free space.

Downloading data

Choose a data provider from the dropdown. If unsure, start with Dukascopy.

Choose the instrument and click Download next to it.

Choose how much data to download, from 1 year up to the full history (usually 10 to 20 years depending on the instrument). Click Download.

Watch the download progress. Wait for it to finish or stop it anytime.

Once finished, the simulator shows the downloaded date range. You are ready to use it. Downloading again for the same instrument deletes the old data first, the simulator will warn you before doing this.

Updating data

Use the Update button next to an instrument to quickly pull new data without re-downloading everything. If you see "There is no new available data," your data is already current.

To download a different date range than what you already have, you need to delete the existing data first and re-download with the wider range. Partial range additions are not supported.

Deleting data

Use the Clear button next to an instrument, or delete files manually from your Data Folder.

Bulk operations

Select multiple instruments (or use Select/Deselect All), then choose Download All Selected, Update All Selected, or Clear All Selected.

Using Broker's DataAn alternative to Dukascopy, TrueFX, or HistData, useful in specific cases.

Broker data is generally lower quality than dedicated tick data providers, but worth using if your instrument is not available elsewhere, or you want to train on the exact data your broker will give you live.

Limitations to know before using this option

No real tick data, only OHLC (4 prices per candle)
No renko, range, tick, or seconds charts
Timeframes limited to multiples of your chosen base timeframe
No GMT / New York close time mode switching, only your broker's timezone
No variable spread, fixed spread only
No economic calendar
No sessions window

Downloading data from your broker

In MetaTrader, go to Tools, Options, Charts. Set Max bars in history and Max bars in chart to a large number like 1000000.

Restart MetaTrader.

Open a live chart of your instrument at your preferred base timeframe.

Disable autoscroll to allow scrolling backward.

Scroll as far back as possible using the Home key or your mouse, this forces MetaTrader to download all available data.

Restart MetaTrader again to write the downloaded data to disk.

List of InstrumentsWhich symbols are available, from which provider, and since when.

Search by symbol, or filter by provider and instrument type to see how far back the history goes.

Symbol	Instrument	Type	Provider	Data since
EURUSD	Euro / US Dollar	Forex	Dukascopy	2003
EURUSD	Euro / US Dollar	Forex	TrueFX	2009
EURUSD	Euro / US Dollar	Forex	HistData	2000
GBPUSD	British Pound / US Dollar	Forex	Dukascopy	2003
GBPUSD	British Pound / US Dollar	Forex	TrueFX	2009
USDJPY	US Dollar / Japanese Yen	Forex	Dukascopy	2003
USDJPY	US Dollar / Japanese Yen	Forex	HistData	2000
USDCHF	US Dollar / Swiss Franc	Forex	Dukascopy	2003
AUDUSD	Australian Dollar / US Dollar	Forex	Dukascopy	2003
USDCAD	US Dollar / Canadian Dollar	Forex	Dukascopy	2003
NZDUSD	New Zealand Dollar / US Dollar	Forex	Dukascopy	2003
EURGBP	Euro / British Pound	Forex	Dukascopy	2003
EURJPY	Euro / Japanese Yen	Forex	Dukascopy	2003
GBPJPY	British Pound / Japanese Yen	Forex	Dukascopy	2003
XAUUSD	Gold / US Dollar	Commodities	Dukascopy	2009
XAGUSD	Silver / US Dollar	Commodities	Dukascopy	2009
USOIL	WTI Crude Oil	Commodities	Dukascopy	2011
UKOIL	Brent Crude Oil	Commodities	Dukascopy	2011
US30	Dow Jones 30 Index	Indices	Dukascopy	2010
US500	S&P 500 Index	Indices	Dukascopy	2010
NAS100	Nasdaq 100 Index	Indices	Dukascopy	2010
GER40	DAX 40 Index	Indices	Dukascopy	2010
UK100	FTSE 100 Index	Indices	Dukascopy	2010
JPN225	Nikkei 225 Index	Indices	Dukascopy	2010
BTCUSD	Bitcoin / US Dollar	Crypto	Dukascopy	2017
ETHUSD	Ethereum / US Dollar	Crypto	Dukascopy	2018

This table is populated with a starter dataset. Send us the full provider coverage export and it will drop straight into the same table without any layout changes.

Simulate

Configure a session, control playback, place trades, and follow the news while you practice.

Starting a SimulationConfigure and launch a new practice session.

Start by choosing where your price data comes from. Pick a Provider (for example, Dukascopy) and then the Instrument you want to trade (for example, XAUUSD).

Once an instrument is selected, the panel shows its Available data range, along with the Digits and 1 point value so you know exactly what you are working with.

These settings decide how orders behave inside the simulation and become the defaults applied to your trades.

Pip size — the pip/point value used for the instrument.
Lot size — the default trade size.
Spread — Real (variable) to replay historical spread, or a fixed value.
Commission per lot — cost applied per lot (e.g. 1.00 USD; min 1, max 10,000).

Build a correlated symbol set. Each row keeps its own pip, lot, leverage, spread and commission settings, so you can backtest several instruments together in one session.

Use Add Current to add the configured instrument to the table. The simulator then prepares chart history for every selected symbol, and you can drop any row with Remove.

Pick the Start Date and End Date from the calendar pickers. This defines the historical window the simulation will play through.

Set your Account currency (e.g. USD), starting Balance (e.g. 10,000; min 100, max 10,000,000)

Choose Time on charts to control the session/timezone shown on your charts, such as GMT or New York Close.

When everything is configured, click Start Simulation at the bottom right. Previous Settings restores your last configuration if you want to reuse it.

The simulator adds the charts and launches. You will see Adding charts… and then Launching simulation… as it prepares your workspace.

Your workspace opens with the selected symbol(s) in a Paused state. Use the Start / Forward controls to step through price action and the Trade Panel to place buy and sell orders.

Controlling a SimulationPlay, pause, speed up, and navigate through your simulation.

Execution settings

Start and pause with the [>] button. Use the speed slider to control pace, either Ticks/sec (uniform tick distribution) or Live (real historical pacing, speed-adjustable, e.g. 2x or 5x).

Moving forward

Step forward candle by candle using the Forward button, applies to whichever chart is selected in the dropdown at the bottom of the window.

Automatic pause

Use the [...] button to set conditions that automatically pause the simulation, for example when price hits your Stop Loss, Take Profit, or a pending order.

Hotkeys

Ctrl + Space: Pause/Play
Ctrl + Up Arrow: Increase speed
Ctrl + Down Arrow: Decrease speed
Ctrl + Right Arrow: Next bar
Ctrl + B: Buy
Ctrl + S: Sell
Ctrl + C: Close last trade
Ctrl + A: Close all trades

Hotkeys only work when the simulator's window is active, not when a chart is clicked.

Sessions window

Open with the Sessions button to see opening and closing hours for each trading session, with the current session highlighted.

Saving a simulation

Go to the Save tab and choose Save Simulation to save your progress to a .sim file. Note there is no auto-save, save manually before exiting.

If a trade is open while you save, the trade lines will save along with the simulation. These trade lines will reappear when the saved simulation file is loaded back onto the charts.

Loading a simulation

Choose Saved Simulation from the startup window and select your .sim file.

TradingPlacing, managing, and closing trades and pending orders.

Trades

Set trade size in the Lots field. Set Stop Loss or Take Profit in the SL and TP fields (zero disables them), either as pips from entry or as an exact price.

Open trades appear on the chart as horizontal lines: green for open price, red for Stop Loss, blue for Take Profit.

Placing pending orders

Set size, execution price (in pips or as price), and SL/TP the same way as market trades. Four pending order types are available: Buy Stop, Buy Limit, Sell Stop, Sell Limit.

GUI (visual trading)

Enable GUI in the main window to place trades and pending orders by dragging lines directly on the chart.

Risk-based position sizing

Set position size automatically based on how much you want to risk, either as a percent of balance (Risk %) or a fixed amount (Risk $). Requires a Stop Loss to be set.

Editing orders

Use Mod. in the Trades window to change SL, TP, or execution price of a pending order.

Add or remove SL/TP using the + and X buttons, choosing pips from entry, exact price, or drag visually on the chart.

Closing trades

From the main window: Close All or Close Last.

From the Trades window: Close All, Close Winners, Close Losers, close an individual trade, or Close Part for a partial close.

Closing pending orders

From the main window: Close All or Close Last.

From the Trades window: Delete All or delete an individual order.

Break-even

Move Stop Loss to entry price manually using the B/E column, or automatically using Auto B/E with two parameters: activation level (pips in profit) and how many pips of profit to lock in.

Trailing stop

Automatically moves Stop Loss to follow price in your favor. Configurable with a trail distance and a minimum profit level before it activates.

One-Close-Other (OCO)

Mark two or more pending orders as OCO so that filling one automatically cancels the others.

You need to mark at least 2 orders for this to work. Marking only 1 order will have no effect.

S/L settings

Preset Notes, Trailing Stop, and Auto Break/Even so they apply automatically to every new trade without re-entering them each time.

Templates

Create a template by naming it and setting your preferred parameters in Create New Template, then Save.

Apply a saved template from the Apply Template tab.

Economic CalendarSee real news events during your simulation.

Forex Simulator includes a built-in economic calendar showing major news releases during the simulation, displayable as vertical lines on your charts.

Downloading and updating

Download the calendar from Historic Data before use. Update regularly, new data is available daily.

Calendar window

Open and close with the Calendar button. Shows upcoming news (and up to 100 past events), with color coding by impact (High, Medium, Low) and the next event highlighted in green. Filter by impact or currency.

Showing on charts

Enable Show on charts (global) and the Calendar button in each chart's control box (per chart). Events appear as vertical lines colored by impact.

Limitations

Starts from 2007, unavailable before that
Does not work with broker's data, only Dukascopy, TrueFX, or HistData
Only works on time-based charts, not Renko, Range, Tick, Weekly, or Monthly charts

Review

Read your results, export them, and work out where your edge actually is.

Results and StatisticsUnderstand how your practice session actually went.

P/L tab

Shows Realized P/L (closed trades), Floating P/L (open trades), Total, Equity, Balance, and Free Margin. History on chart shows entry and exit points directly on your charts.