Trailing Stop Explained: How to Lock In Profit on MT5 Step by Step

A trailing stop is a stop-loss that follows price at a fixed distance as a trade moves into profit and never moves back when price reverses. On MetaTrader 5 (MT5) it has quirks that catch most traders out, including when it actually starts and what happens when your computer is off. This guide gives the exact setup steps, shows how to pick the distance with worked numbers, and covers the alternatives.

What Is a Trailing Stop?

A trailing stop is an order that automatically moves your stop-loss in the direction of profit, keeping it a set distance behind the current price. When price turns against the position the stop stays where it is, so the trade closes at the last level reached and keeps part of the gain.

Wikipedia's overview of stop and trailing stop orders describes a stop as an instruction that becomes a market order once its price is reached, and a trailing stop as a version whose level moves with the market. The practical consequence is that a trailing stop guarantees an exit attempt but never guarantees the price.

A fixed take-profit decides in advance how much a trade can earn, while a trailing stop leaves the exit open and lets the market decide. The method suits trends and suffers in sideways markets, where price keeps touching the stop without going anywhere.

How a Trailing Stop Works on MT5

A trailing stop on MT5 starts only when open profit in points equals or exceeds the distance you set. At that moment the platform moves the stop-loss to the set distance behind price, and from then on it adjusts the stop each time price makes a new favourable extreme.

That activation rule surprises most new users. Setting a 300-point trail on a new trade does not place a stop 300 points away. MetaQuotes states that the function engages only as soon as profit reaches the indicated level, so a position with no separate stop-loss has no protection at all until then.

Worked Example: A 300-Point Trail on EUR/USD

Take a long EUR/USD position entered at 1.1000 with an initial stop-loss at 1.0960 and a 300-point trail, which is 30 pips on a five-digit quote. The table follows the bid price, because MT5 checks a buy position's stop against the bid.

Notice the jump from 1.0960 to 1.1000 in one step. The first adjustment moves the stop by the full gap to the trail level, and a new trail distance shorter than your original stop can close the trade at breakeven on a routine pullback. The final profit of 60 pips is the 90-pip peak minus the 30-pip trail.

MT5 Trailing Stop Rules Worth Knowing

Each position or pending order can have only one trailing stop, and MetaQuotes notes that it cannot update more than once every 10 seconds for a position. In a fast spike the stop can lag price, so the level you see after a sharp move may not be the tightest one possible.

How to Set a Trailing Stop on MT5 Step by Step

To set a trailing stop on MT5, open the Toolbox, right-click your position in the Trade tab, hover over Trailing Stop and choose a preset or Custom distance in points. The feature exists only on the desktop platform, so a position opened on the mobile app must be managed from a computer.

Any MT5 broker account uses the same procedure, because the function belongs to the platform rather than the broker. Follow the steps in order, and set a normal stop-loss first.

1. Open the position and place an ordinary stop-loss, so the trade is protected before the trail engages.

2. Press Ctrl+T to open the Toolbox and select the Trade tab.

3. Right-click the position and move the pointer to Trailing Stop.

4. Choose a preset distance, or choose Custom and type the number of points.

5. Check that the value exceeds the symbol's Stops level, because the platform will not accept a smaller one.

6. Confirm that a T icon appears beside the position in the Trade tab.

7. Leave the terminal running and connected to the server for as long as you want the trail to work.

To remove a trail, right-click the position, open the Trailing Stop menu and select None. The Delete All command in the same menu removes trailing stops from every open position and pending order, while leaving the last stop-loss level in place.

How to Convert a Trailing Distance Into Points

MT5 trailing stops are entered in points, and a point is the smallest quoted price step for that symbol. On a five-digit forex pair ten points equal one pip, so a 30-pip trail is entered as 300, while the same number on gold or an index means something completely different.

Gold is where the short presets do damage. With two digits, a preset of 30 points on XAU/USD is a trail of just $0.30, which is often smaller than the spread and would be removed on the first tick of a pullback. Check the Digits value in the symbol's Specification window before using any preset, as index and metal contracts vary between brokers.

How to Choose the Right Trailing Stop Distance

The right trailing stop distance is wider than the normal pullbacks in the current trend and narrower than a move that would prove the trend has ended. Too tight and a routine retracement closes the trade early, and too wide and the stop gives back most of the gain before it triggers.

Compare three distances on the same hypothetical price path: a trade rises to +60 pips, falls to +25 pips, climbs to +120 pips and then falls back to zero. The result shows why the distance has to match the size of the pullback rather than a round number.

The 20-pip and 80-pip trails finish with the same profit for opposite reasons, and the 40-pip trail doubles it because it sits just beyond the 35-pip pullback. Measure the last few pullbacks on your chart before choosing a distance, because those swings tell you how much room the current market needs.

Using ATR to Set the Distance

The Average True Range (ATR) indicator shows how far a pair typically moves per candle, and many traders set the trail at a multiple of it. With H4 ATR at 25 pips, a 2 × ATR trail is 50 pips, or 500 points. No published test establishes a best multiple for forex, so treat 1.5 to 3 × ATR as a range to test rather than a rule.

Allow for the Spread

A buy position's stop is checked against the bid and a sell position's stop against the ask, so a short trail on a sell can be hit by a widening spread with no visible price move. Quoted forex spreads on many pairs widen around the 5 p.m. New York rollover and during major data releases. Keep the trail several times wider than the largest spread you normally see at those moments.

Trailing Stop Slippage and Gaps

A trailing stop does not guarantee the exit price, because the stop becomes a market order when price reaches it. In a fast market or over a weekend gap the position closes at the next available price, which can sit well below the trailing level on a buy and well above it on a sell.

Suppose a trail has locked in 60 pips at a level of 1.1060, and a Sunday open prints at 1.1020. The position closes around 1.1020 for a gain of 20 pips rather than 60, and a larger gap could turn the locked gain into a loss. A trailing stop protects against gradual reversals far better than against sudden jumps.

Execution varies with liquidity at the moment the stop is reached. The best forex broker for active stop management is one whose stop fills stay close to the level during fast markets, and the only way to judge that is to compare the stop level with the fill price in your own MT5 history. Record that gap for a few dozen trades before relying on any assumption about slippage.

Why a Trailing Stop Stops Working When MT5 Closes

A trailing stop stops working when MT5 closes because MetaQuotes runs the function in the platform rather than on the server. Only the last stop-loss level reaches the server, so that level will still trigger after you shut down, but the stop will not move any further until the terminal reconnects.

The effect is easy to miss. A trade can run 200 pips further overnight while the trail sits frozen where it was when you closed the laptop, and a reversal then returns everything above that old level. Check the connection status in the bottom-right corner of the terminal, because a lost connection has the same result as closing the program.

Traders who need the trail to run around the clock keep a full copy of the terminal open on a Windows virtual private server. Forum reports from MQL5 users say the built-in MetaTrader hosting service is intended for Expert Advisors (EAs) and signals and does not carry a manual trailing stop, so use a trailing EA in that environment.

Trailing Stop Methods Beyond the Built-In Function

Methods beyond the built-in MT5 function include moving the stop by hand behind market structure, stepping it to breakeven once, and using an Expert Advisor for ATR or stepped trailing. Each one fixes a limitation of the native tool, which offers only a fixed distance in points and needs the terminal running.

Manual Trailing Behind Swings

Manual trailing moves the stop just beyond each new swing low in an uptrend or swing high in a downtrend, usually after a candle closes on your trading timeframe. The stop sits at a level the market has already defended, and a swing trader only needs to check it once a day.

Breakeven First, Trail Later

Some traders move the stop to the entry price after a gain equal to the initial risk, then start trailing once the trade has reached twice that amount. Moving to breakeven too early is a common way to turn winners into scratches, since price often returns to test the entry area.

EA-Based and Stepped Trailing

The native MT5 dialog has one input, the distance, so step-based trailing, where the stop moves only in fixed increments, comes from an EA. An EA can also trail by ATR or a moving average and keeps working on a hosted server, but test any purchased tool on a demo account first.

Trailing Stop vs Fixed Take-Profit

A trailing stop keeps a trade open for as long as the trend continues, while a fixed take-profit closes it at a predetermined level. The trailing approach gives up some profit on every exit in exchange for the occasional large winner, and the fixed target banks more often but caps the best trades.

A common compromise closes half at a fixed target and trails the rest, which pays something on most winners and leaves room for a run. Published evidence that trailing beats fixed exits is thin, and forum backtests point both ways, so test your own setup instead of assuming the answer.

Trailing Stop Questions Traders Ask Next

Traders using trailing stops usually ask next whether the stop can move backwards, whether it can be combined with a take-profit, whether it works on the phone and whether beginners should use one. MT5 handles each of these in a specific way, and a wrong assumption can leave a position unprotected.

Can a Trailing Stop Move Backwards?

A trailing stop cannot move backwards on its own, since MT5 modifies the level only when profit increases. You can still drag the stop-loss by hand, or remove the trail with the None option, so any widening of risk is your own decision.

Can You Use a Trailing Stop With a Take-Profit?

A trailing stop can run alongside a take-profit on the same position, and whichever level is reached first closes the trade. The take-profit is stored on the server, so it continues to work when the terminal is closed even though the trail stops updating.

Does a Trailing Stop Work on the MT5 Mobile App?

The MT5 mobile app does not offer the built-in trailing stop, and the function depends on a running desktop terminal. A trail set on the desktop keeps working while that computer stays online, and the phone can show you the stop-loss as it moves.

Should Beginners Use a Trailing Stop?

Beginners can use a trailing stop, provided they also set a normal stop-loss and understand the activation rule. It removes some of the temptation to close winners early. It does not fix a poor entry, and a demo trade or two will show exactly how the stop behaves before real money is involved.

Set the Stop First, Then the Trail

A trailing stop on MT5 does nothing until profit reaches your distance, and it stops moving when the terminal closes. Place an ordinary stop-loss on every trade, choose a distance wider than the recent pullbacks, and enter it in points only after checking the digits for that symbol.