Backtesting

Backtests run in your MetaTrader 5 Strategy Tester, on your broker's symbols and price history. The app starts MT5 in the background, runs the test, reads the report and shows it. MT5 must be closed while it does (why).

Test settings

The panel under the strategy name holds its test settings. They're saved in the strategy's tester.ini, so the AI and you always test the same way.

Setting	What it does
Symbol	Any symbol your broker offers, with search. The ↻ button reads the list (and spreads) from MT5 again.
Timeframe	M1 to MN1. All timeframes are built from the same M1 history, so any works for a symbol with history.
Tick model	Real ticks (the broker's recorded ticks and spread, most accurate, slowest), Every tick (generated from M1), 1-minute OHLC (4 prices per M1 bar; fast, good for logic on closed bars), Open prices (fastest; only for logic at the open of a bar).
Dates	Quick ranges ending today: last month, 3 or 6 months, year to date, last 1, 2, 3 or 5 years, All history (from the symbol's first year of downloaded history). Or pick any custom range.
Deposit	Starting balance, in the account currency.

Spread: the tester uses the spread your broker recorded for each bar; MT5 doesn't let a test override it. The average spread of a run is shown next to its date.

Below the settings are the strategy's Risk & rules (details) and its Strategy inputs. The run button says Run backtest the first time, Run with these after you change something, Run again otherwise.

While it runs

A progress view replaces the results: Compile (MetaEditor) → Test (Strategy Tester) → Report (reading the results) → Chart data (exporting the bars for the chart). The title bar badge shows Backtesting…. Only one test runs at a time.

Results

• Stats: net profit, profit factor, win rate, max drawdown, each with a small trend across this strategy's runs.
• Account rules check: when rules are set, whether the run passed or breached them, the worst day, and if the profit target was reached (details).
• Chart: price candles with every entry and exit, and the equity curve.
• Trades: every trade with side, lots, entry and exit time and price, result and balance; sort and filter by side or win/loss.
• Code: the strategy's source files.
• Report: MT5's tester log.

PDF report

Export PDF (next to the runs button) saves the run you're looking at as a PDF report, to share or keep:

• page 1: the test (symbol, timeframe, dates, broker, deposit, tick model, spread), the key numbers, the balance and drawdown charts and the account rules check;
• page 2: every statistic from MT5's report, returns per month, and the price chart with each entry and exit;
• the settings the run used (risk & rules and the strategy's inputs);
• every trade;
• with Report with code, the strategy's MQL5 source as an appendix. Leave it out when you share a strategy you want to keep to yourself.

The desktop app asks where to save it; in a browser it downloads. Older runs from the history export the same way.

Run history

Every backtest is kept. The runs button next to the strategy opens its history, newest first. Each run keeps the code and settings it used, so you can go back to any of them and compare.