Your bot runs on MetaTrader 5, on a broker account. If you do not have one, open it before you start: the list of brokers that offer MetaTrader 5 is just below. Opening the account is free and done online.
Ten minutes from start to finish, and it is all clicks. If you want to try it on a demo account first —it is free and I recommend it—, the steps are exactly the same: only the account type changes when you open it.
Your bot runs on MetaTrader 5, on a broker account. Any broker will do as long as it meets three conditions:
IC Markets · Pepperstone · Exness · XM · FP Markets · Tickmill · AvaTrade · FxPro · Vantage · Eightcap · HFM · Octa · OANDA · Swissquote · BlackBull Markets · ActivTrades · FOREX.com · IG · CMC Markets.
I am not paid to recommend them and I earn nothing depending on where you open your account. I list them so you do not have to go looking. Exness is the one I use as a reference because it lists crypto, metals, indices and currencies on MetaTrader 5 with hedging, but what each broker offers changes depending on the country you open from. Before depositing, check its instrument list for yours.
They are the two details it will ask for when you create the account. If the broker does not let you choose Hedge, it is not the broker.
ID and proof of address. You can trade without it, but you will not be able to withdraw. It takes between a few hours and two days, so it is worth getting it out of the way.
From their downloads section. Install it with a double click and next all the way. To log in you need three details, and all three are in your broker's dashboard: the account number, the trading password — which is not the one you use to log into the broker's website — and the exact server name, number included. Copy the server exactly as it appears there: pick a similar one and MetaTrader will not find the account.
If you already have MetaTrader 5 installed from another broker, do not reinstall anything: File → Login to Trade Account and enter those three details.
Look at the MetaTrader title bar, right at the top. It has to say Hedge. If it says Netting, close that account and open another one with the right type.
In MetaTrader: File → Open data folder. The file ending in .ex5 va en MQL5 → Experts. The ones starting with Sq go in MQL5 → Indicators.
That is what makes it show up in the list.
The button Algorithmic trading, in the top toolbar, has to be green. If it is grey, click it.
Press Ctrl+U, find your bot's instrument and click Show symbol. Then right-click on it → Chart window, and choose the timeframe H4. A single chart is enough.
Press Ctrl+N to open the Navigator, expand Expert Advisors and drag your bot onto the chart.
A window with several tabs opens. All of this is done here, before clicking OK — once you click OK, the window closes.
· In the Common, tick Allow algorithmic trading.
· The other tick on that tab, the one about signals, leave it as it is: your bot does not use it.
· Only now, OK.
Right-click on the chart → Expert Advisors list → select the bot → Properties. The same parameters window opens.
The bot draws its own panel at the top left of the chart, with its name, its Magic Number and two little green boxes reading Long Enabled y Short Enabled. If you see that panel, it is running.
At the top right of the chart you also get the bot's name with a little icon next to it: a smiley face means it can trade; a cross or a sad face means something is missing —almost always the Algorithmic trading button from step 3, which has to be on.
Your download contains a single .ex5 file — that is the bot — and the indicators it needs, which are the ones starting with Sq. The .ex5 goes in MQL5 → Experts and the Sq ones in MQL5 → Indicators. You do not have to pick which: copy every one that came with it, and only then restart MetaTrader. Without the indicators the bot will not start.
What you receive is the file .ex5, ready to install. There is no key, no activation, nothing tied to your account number: you install it and it runs, in whatever account you want, with no expiry. What is not handed over is the source code (.mq5), because the strategy is exactly what you are buying.
It is the only setting worth looking at. It is called mmLots and it is in the bot's parameters, in the window that opens when you drag it onto the chart. Double-click in the Value column and type the number.
It comes preloaded with the same size your bot’s technical sheet was measured with, stated there on a reference account of USD 100,000. Everything scales in direct proportion: at half the size you make half and the maximum drawdown is also half; at double, both double. Before raising it, look at the maximum drawdown in dollars on your sheet, multiply it by the factor you are going to use, and ask yourself whether you could watch that number in red in your account without switching the bot off. If the answer is no, lower the size.
Brokers trade from 0.01 lot upwards, in steps of 0.01. It is a small minimum, so almost every bot in the catalogue fits comfortably in modest accounts. Still, do the maths before you start: take the size on the sheet, divide it by how many times your capital fits into USD 100,000, and check the result does not fall below that minimum. If it comes out tight, write to us before buying and we will tell you which one in the catalogue to start with.
It analyses the market on every bar and waits for its entry conditions to be met. That can take days or weeks. No trades on the first day does not mean it is badly installed: it means it is doing its job, which is not to trade when there is no signal. How many trades it makes per year is in its technical sheet.
| WHAT YOU SEE | WHAT TO CHECK |
|---|---|
| The bot does not appear in the Navigator | The file is not in MQL5 → Experts, or MetaTrader still needs to be restarted. |
| A cross or a sad face next to the name | The Algo Trading button is off, or the Allow Algo Trading tick is missing. |
| You lost the bot file | You download it again at ehtradebots.com/soporte.html with the email you bought with. |
| Errors in the Experts tab | An indicator is usually missing in MQL5 → Indicators. Send us the text of the error. |
| Smiley face but it never trades | Most likely there is no signal yet. Check that the chart is on the right instrument and timeframe. |
| It says there is not enough money | The size is too big for your account. Lower mmLots. |
| The instrument shows a price but the order is rejected | That broker does not enable it for your account type. It is not the bot: write to us and we will look at it. |
If something does not go the way this guide says, write to us at support@ehtradebots.com or through the contact form on the site. Tell us which step you are on, what you expected to see and what you saw. If there is an error message, copy it in full: it is in the Experts o Journal, at the bottom of MetaTrader. Support runs until the bot is trading in your account. If you do not see my reply within 24 hours, check your spam folder: the first messages from a new address usually land there.
Risk warning. Trading leveraged financial instruments carries a high risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. You can lose all of the invested capital. The published results come from historical simulations and do not guarantee future results: a backtest shows how a strategy would have behaved on past data, not how it is going to behave from here on.
Disclaimer. EH-TRADE sells software. It does not manage third-party funds, does not provide financial advice and does not recommend instruments. The decisions to trade, with what capital and with what position size, are exclusively yours.