Experts tab
Also called Experts log, Expert tab, EA log, Experts journal, Toolbox Experts tab
The Experts tab is the log panel in MetaTrader 5 where Expert Advisors, indicators and scripts running on your charts write their messages: start-up notes, the trade sizes they calculate, alerts and error lines that explain why an order was not placed.
When an automated strategy skips a trade or has an order rejected, the chart does not tell you why. The Experts tab is where the EA itself explains a skipped or rejected trade, so read it before you trust a program with real money.
Where the Experts tab sits, and the logs it gets confused with
In MetaTrader 5 on desktop, the Experts tab is one of the tabs in the Toolbox window at the bottom of the platform. If the Toolbox is hidden, open it from the View menu or press Ctrl+T.
The tab shows the current session. Older lines are kept in daily log files, which you can open from the tab's right-click menu. Each file is named by its date and sits in the MQL5\Logs folder inside the platform's data folder.
The MT5 mobile apps do not run EAs and have no Experts tab, so this log exists only on the desktop terminal or on the VPS where the EA runs.
Three logs sit close together and answer different questions.
| Log | Who writes to it | Open it when |
|---|---|---|
| Experts tab | EAs, indicators and scripts on live charts | An EA skipped a trade, sized it oddly or an indicator alert never fired |
| Journal tab | The platform itself | You need connection events, logins or the record of an order request |
| Strategy Tester journal | An EA during a backtest | A backtest opened no trades or stopped early |
A common misread is running a backtest and then looking in the Experts tab for the EA's messages. Backtest messages go to the tester's own journal, so the Experts tab stays silent.
What the Experts tab records, line by line
An Expert Advisor (EA) is a program that places and manages trades for you. Each time its code is told to report something, one line lands in the Experts tab.
Every line has three parts: the time, the program and chart that wrote it, and the message itself. The bracket after the program name names the chart the program is on: its symbol and timeframe. The message text is chosen by the program's author, so two EAs can describe the same event in different words.
The drawing below shows three such lines from one EA. In the two lines stamped with the same second, the first is what the EA intended to send and the second is the EA reporting the result the broker returned, so no trade opened.
A wide stop such as this one can still be rejected as invalid if it sits on the wrong side of price, for example above the current price on a buy.
Common Experts tab error lines and what to do about each
The exact wording depends on who wrote the EA, but most failed-order lines contain one of these phrases.
| What the line says | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Invalid stops | The stop or target is on the wrong side of price, or closer to it than the broker allows | Widen the stop in the EA's settings; the stops-level check further down shows how to compare it. If it is on the wrong side, the EA's logic or inputs are wrong; contact the author or stop the EA |
| Not enough money | Free margin is too small for the lot size the EA asked for | Check the logged lot size against your own sum, then lower the risk or lot input |
| Market closed | The order was sent while the symbol was not trading, such as at the weekend | Check the symbol's trading sessions in its contract specification; the EA needs a fresh signal once trading resumes |
| Automated trading disabled | The EA was not allowed to send orders | Switch trading permission on, as the FAQ below explains |
| Invalid volume | The lot size is below the symbol's minimum, above its maximum, or not a multiple of its volume step | Compare the logged lot size with those limits in the contract specification and fix the lot or risk input |
| Requote or off quotes | Price moved before the order was filled, or the broker had no price to fill it at | Usually passes once the market calms; if it repeats, check the EA's allowed slippage setting |
Checking an EA's lot size against the log: a worked example
The figures here are an illustrative example. You have a $5,000 account and set an EA to risk 1% per trade. The log line says it wants to buy with a 25-pip stop on a USD-quoted pair, where one standard lot moves $10 per pip.
Redo the sum yourself before you accept what the EA did.
If the log shows 0.20 lots, the EA sized the trade as you intended. If it shows 2.00 lots, the loss at the stop is 2.00 × $250 = $500, which is 10% of the account. That gap usually means a risk input was typed as 10 instead of 1.
If the Trade tab volume differs from your sum, the Experts line just before the order shows which risk and stop the EA used.
Checks to run in the Experts tab before you leave an EA alone
- Start-up line. After attaching the EA, confirm that it logged a start message and that the settings it reports match what you typed.
- First trade. Compare the logged lot size with your own calculation, as in the example above.
- Repeating errors. If the same error appears on every new price tick, remove the EA. It will keep retrying.
- Rejected stops. Compare the logged stop distance with the stops level (see the drawing below).
- Indicator messages. Indicators write here too, so look at the source column before blaming the EA.
FAQ
Why is my Experts tab empty when an EA is attached?
An EA writes a line only when its code tells it to. Many stay quiet until a signal or an error occurs. If nothing appears even at start-up, check that the EA is actually running on the chart and that automated trading is switched on.
Why does the Experts tab say automated trading is disabled?
The EA tried to send an order while it was not allowed to trade. Either the platform's main algorithmic trading switch is off, or the permission to trade is not ticked in that EA's own settings. Turn both on, then watch the tab for the next order line.
Can I read the Experts tab for an EA running on a VPS?
The log is written on the machine where the EA runs. The Experts tab on your home computer shows only programs running there. On a rented Windows VPS, log in and open the terminal there. With the platform's built-in virtual hosting there is no desktop to open, so you request the logs from the hosting entry in your own terminal.