# How to Sync Open Positions from MetaTrader

> Syncing open positions from MetaTrader to your journal gives you a live view of your active trades. Here is how the sync works and what data it captures.

**Tags:** open-positions, mt4, mt5, live-sync, positions
**URL:** https://traderjournal.app/metatrader/how-to-sync-open-positions-metatrader

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# How to Sync Open Positions from MetaTrader

Most traders think of a trade journal as a record of closed trades only. But tracking open positions in your journal has real value - it gives you a live view of your active risk and floating P&L from your phone without needing the MetaTrader app open.

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## How Open Position Sync Works

The Trader Journal EA pushes three types of data on every sync cycle:

1. Closed trades since the last sync
2. A snapshot of all currently open positions
3. Current account balance and equity

The open position snapshot is a complete list of everything currently open in your MT4 or MT5 account at the moment of the push. It includes:

- Symbol and direction (buy/sell)
- Lot size
- Open price
- Open time
- Stop loss (if set)
- Take profit (if set)
- Floating P&L at the time of the snapshot

This snapshot updates every 30 seconds (or at the configurable push interval). The floating P&L shown in the app is a snapshot, not a live stream - it reflects the value at the last push, not the current market price.

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## The Open Positions Tab

In Trader Journal, the Open Positions tab displays all currently open trades for the selected account.

Each position card shows:
- Symbol with BUY or SELL indicator (color-coded green/red)
- Volume in lots
- Open price and time
- Stop loss and take profit levels
- Floating P&L, color-coded (green = profit, red = loss)

A Chart button on each card opens the symbol's price chart with entry, SL, and TP levels overlaid as price lines.

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## Why Open Position Monitoring Matters

**Risk visibility.** When you have multiple positions open across several pairs, the open positions tab gives you a combined view of your exposure without switching between chart windows in MT4.

**Drawdown monitoring.** For prop firm traders especially, seeing your floating P&L across all open positions helps you monitor your unrealized drawdown relative to your firm's limits.

**Pre-trade check.** Before opening a new position, a quick glance at the open positions tab shows you what you already have on and whether adding another position creates concentrated directional risk.

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## When the Terminal Is Offline

The open positions tab shows the last known state - whatever the EA last pushed before MT4/MT5 was closed. A timestamp in the tab shows when the last push occurred so you know whether the data is current.

When you reopen the terminal and the EA restarts, the positions sync updates on the next cycle.

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Download Trader Journal at android.traderjournal.app or ios.traderjournal.app.