Troubleshooting: what a message means and what to do

You see

Your robot does not run on this account. It runs only on the accounts it was built for.

Why

Your robot runs only on the MetaTrader 5 account numbers you entered when you got it. The message on the chart names the robot and its build, the accounts it may run on (their last four digits) and the account MetaTrader is logged in to now. On this account it opens, changes and closes nothing.

What to do

1. 1

   Log in to one of the accounts the robot was built for: choose File, then Login to Trade Account, or double-click the account in the Navigator under Accounts.

2. 2

   To run it on this account instead, ask for an account change on your account page. We build the same robot again for the new number. The copy you already have keeps working on its old accounts.

3. 3

   Trades the robot opened on this account earlier keep the stop loss and take profit already set at the broker, but the robot no longer manages them. Watch them yourself, or close them.

The account lock, and how to change accounts

You see

Waiting for MetaTrader to connect to your trading account.

Why

MetaTrader has not connected to your broker yet, so the robot does not know which account it is on. It waits and looks again every second. It never trades while it waits.

What to do

1. 1

   Look at the bottom right corner of MetaTrader: it shows the connection. If it says No connection, check your internet connection or log in again (File, then Login to Trade Account).

2. 2

   Once MetaTrader is connected, the message changes by itself. If it then says the robot does not run on this account, see the entry above.

You see

The account check could not be computed.

Why

Before it does anything, the robot checks the account MetaTrader is logged in to against the accounts it was built for. MetaTrader gave an error while the robot worked that check out (the message shows MetaTrader's error number). Until the check works, the robot does nothing and tries again every second.

What to do

1. 1

   Wait a minute. The robot starts by itself as soon as the check works.

2. 2

   If the message stays, close MetaTrader, open it again and put the robot back on its chart.

3. 3

   If it is still there, email us the error number from the message and your MetaTrader build (Help, then About).

How the account lock works

You see

The robot's icon in the corner of the chart shows a cross or a stop sign, and nothing happens

Why

Automated trading is switched off, either for the whole of MetaTrader (the Algo Trading button on the toolbar) or for this robot (the box on its Common tab). A robot cannot open trades while either is off.

What to do

1. 1

   On the toolbar, switch on Algo Trading (older versions call it AutoTrading). The button is green when it is on.

2. 2

   Right-click the robot's name in the corner of the chart and choose Properties. On the Common tab, tick Allow Algo Trading (older versions: Allow Auto Trading). Press OK.

3. 3

   If it still opens no trades, it may be outside its trading hours, a safety limit may have stopped it for the day, or you may have pressed its own Stop robot button. The chart says which.

Switching your robot on

You see

The symbol is not known to this broker. Set the input InpSymbolSuffix to your broker's suffix.

Why

Your robot was built for a symbol name such as EURUSD. Many brokers add letters to their symbol names, for example EURUSD.m or EURUSDxx, so the robot cannot find the symbol it was built for.

What to do

1. 1

   Open the robot's settings (right-click its name on the chart, then Properties). On the Inputs tab, find "Broker symbol suffix" (InpSymbolSuffix), type the extra letters, for example .m, and press OK. Left empty, the robot takes the suffix from the chart's symbol.

2. 2

   If the symbol is not in your Market Watch at all, right-click in Market Watch, choose Symbols, find it and tick Show.

3. 3

   Put the robot on a chart of the symbol it trades. A robot built for EURUSD does nothing on a GBPUSD chart.

You see

Only a few bars are loaded. Signals need more bars of history.

Why

The robot's indicators need a number of closed bars before they can give a value: a 200-bar average needs 200 bars. On a chart that has just opened, or in a test that starts too late, those bars are not there yet.

What to do

1. 1

   Wait. On a live chart the bars load by themselves within a minute or two. Scrolling the chart back to the left makes MetaTrader load more history.

2. 2

   In the Strategy Tester, start the date range earlier, so the first bars the robot needs come before the first day you want to test.

You see

The indicator could not be created. The robot cannot start.

Why

When it starts, the robot asks MetaTrader for the indicators its rules use. MetaTrader could not make one of them, so the robot stops at once and does nothing. This is rare. It can happen when the symbol has no prices in MetaTrader yet, or when the computer is short of memory.

What to do

1. 1

   Check that the robot's symbol is in Market Watch and that its chart shows prices.

2. 2

   Close MetaTrader, open it again and put the robot back on its chart.

3. 3

   If it still cannot start, email us the indicator's name from the message and your MetaTrader build (Help, then About).

You see

Not opening a new trade: the size for your risk is below the broker's minimum.

Why

Your robot works out the trade size from the risk you set and the distance to the stop loss. On a small account, or with a wide stop loss, that size can come out smaller than the smallest trade your broker allows (often 0.01 lots). Unless your robot was set to round a small size up to the broker's minimum, it declines the trade instead.

What to do

1. 1

   Use a larger account, or a demo account with a larger balance for testing.

2. 2

   In the builder, look at the risk per trade and the stop loss. The size grows with the risk and shrinks as the stop loss gets wider. Change them only if the new risk suits you, then get the robot again.

3. 3

   Check your broker's minimum trade size for the symbol: right-click the symbol in Market Watch, then Specification.

You see

An order was not accepted, or closing a position, deleting an order or moving a stop failed.

Why

Your broker's server refused what the robot asked for. MetaTrader's own code and reason are in brackets in the message. Common reasons are a closed market, not enough free margin (money not already held for open trades), a stop loss too close to the price, or trading switched off for the symbol.

What to do

1. 1

   Read the reason in brackets. It is MetaTrader's own text, and your broker can explain any code.

2. 2

   Check that the market is open, that the account has enough free margin, and that the symbol allows new trades (right-click it in Market Watch, then Specification).

3. 3

   If closing a position failed, look at the Trade tab and close it yourself if it is still open. If deleting a pending order failed, delete it there. When the message says it is trying again in 30 seconds, the robot does that by itself.

4. 4

   If moving a stop failed, the stop loss stays where it was. Check it in the Trade tab.

5. 5

   If the same code comes back on every trade, ask your broker what it means for your account.

You see

Not opening a new trade: the daily loss limit is reached.

Why

The account lost as much today as the daily loss limit you set, so the robot opens no new trades until the next day starts. This is the robot working as told. Trades already open keep their stop loss and take profit.

What to do

1. 1

   Nothing. It starts again by itself after the daily reset time (midnight by default, on the clock the robot uses).

2. 2

   To change the limit, change the number in the builder and get the robot again. You cannot delete the limit.

Safety limits and stops

You see

Not opening a new trade: the equity floor is reached.

Why

The account's equity (its value with open trades counted) fell to the floor you set. Depending on what you chose, the robot stopped opening new trades, or it closed its trades and stopped. This is the robot working as told. A robot with a minimum balance says that the balance is below the minimum instead, and opens nothing new until the balance is back above it.

What to do

1. 1

   Decide whether you want to keep trading at all. The floor is there to make you stop and look.

2. 2

   The robot opens no new trades while the account is at or below the floor. To change the floor, change the number in the builder and get the robot again.

Safety limits and stops

You see

Not opening a new trade, followed by a reason.

Why

Before each new trade the robot checks its safety limits and your settings. When one of them says no, it writes the reason in the Experts tab and skips that trade. Trades already open keep their stop loss and take profit. This is the robot working as told.

What to do

1. 1

   Usually nothing. The robot tries again at its next signal, once the reason has passed.

2. 2

   If it says locked, this account is not allowed yet: MetaTrader is still connecting, the account check failed, the robot is a test copy, or the account is not one it was built for. The message on the chart says which, and its entry is above.

3. 3

   If it says paused, your Stop new trades button or one of your robot's own rules has paused it. Outside the session hours, inside a news window, weekend break and waiting after the last trade come from your robot's timing rules. The limits on open positions, open risk and trades per day come from its risk guard.

4. 4

   If the spread (the gap between the buy and the sell price) is above the maximum, prices are moving fast or the market is thin, often around the open and around the news.

5. 5

   If it says close to the prop firm limit, the robot stops opening new trades before the account reaches the daily or total loss limit you entered for your prop firm. The daily figure starts again the next day; the total does not.

6. 6

   Adding to an open position is declined when adding is switched off, when the limit on adds is reached, or when the open trade is not far enough in profit. Your risk guard sets all three.

7. 7

   To change any of these, change the setting in the builder and get the robot again.

Safety limits and stops

You see

No news source: the economic calendar is not available and the news file is missing.

Why

A robot with a news pause finds the news times in MetaTrader's economic calendar or in a news file, as it was set in the builder. The calendar does not work inside the Strategy Tester, so a test always needs the file. With no source, the news pause blocks new trades, so in a test the robot opens no trades.

What to do

1. 1

   Run our free news helper once on a live chart. It writes the calendar for the dates you choose to a file in MetaTrader's common files folder, where the robot looks for it.

2. 2

   Start the test again. The robot now knows when the news is.

3. 3

   If it says the news file could not be opened, run the news helper again to write a fresh file.

4. 4

   On a live chart the calendar comes through your broker's MetaTrader server. If the robot says the economic calendar could not be read, check that MetaTrader is connected (bottom right corner). A robot set to use the news file as a backup reads the file then.

The news file for the Strategy Tester

You see

This login cannot place trades on this account.

Why

Most often you are logged in with the investor password, which lets you look at an account but not trade on it. The robot is allowed on the account, but no trade can be placed from this login.

What to do

1. 1

   Log out and log in again with the account's main (trader) password: File, then Login to Trade Account. Never share either password with anyone, including us.

2. 2

   If you used the main password and still see this, your broker has switched trading off for this account. Ask your broker why.

You see

MetaTrader will not load the file and says the version is newer or unsupported

Why

Your MetaTrader 5 is older than the version that built your robot. An older MetaTrader cannot open a robot made by a newer one.

What to do

1. 1

   Update MetaTrader 5. It usually updates itself when it starts; if not, restart it and wait, or choose Help, then Check for Updates.

2. 2

   The build your robot needs is shown with your download. Compare it with Help, then About in MetaTrader: the number there must be the same or higher.

Where robots run, and the version you need

You see

My robot is not in the Navigator

Why

MetaTrader only lists robots that are in its Experts folder, and it reads that folder when it starts and when you refresh the list.

What to do

1. 1

   Check that the file (its name ends in .ex5) is in MQL5, then Experts, inside the data folder. To open the folder, choose File, then Open Data Folder.

2. 2

   In the Navigator, right-click Expert Advisors and choose Refresh.

Put your robot into MetaTrader 5

You see

Your robot is a test copy. A test copy runs only in the Strategy Tester.

Why

A free test copy has no accounts in it, so it works in the Strategy Tester and nowhere else. On a chart it shows this message and does nothing.

What to do

1. 1

   To run your robot on your own accounts, get it for those accounts from the builder. The download is a different file, built for the account numbers you enter.

Getting your robot for your accounts

You see

Stopped from the chart button. Press Resume robot on the chart to start it again.

Why

You pressed the Stop robot button on its chart. The robot stays stopped, even after MetaTrader restarts, until you press Resume robot.

What to do

1. 1

   Press Resume robot on the chart. The robot says "Resumed from the chart button." in the Experts tab.

2. 2

   If you chose Stop and close its trades, the robot closed them when you pressed the button. Look at the Trade tab: if one could not be closed, the Experts tab says so, and you can close it yourself.

Your own stop button

You see

The push notification or the email was not sent, or nothing arrived.

Why

Robots send email and push messages through MetaTrader's own services, which you set up once. Nothing is sent through our website.

What to do

1. 1

   Email: in MetaTrader choose Tools, then Options, then the Email tab. Enter your mail server details and press Test.

2. 2

   Push: install the MetaTrader 5 app on your phone and find its MetaQuotes ID in its settings. In the desktop app choose Tools, then Options, then Notifications, and enter the ID.

3. 3

   Email and push messages are not sent from the Strategy Tester. There the robot writes them in the journal and adds that they were not sent.