MT5 partial close in trade history

Closed half of a trade? Here is how MetaTrader 5 records it, how to read it in the History tab and how a journal counts it.

A partial close means closing part of a position and leaving the rest open. In MetaTrader 5 it is common among traders who scale out: take half at the first target, move the stop, let the rest run. The History tab then shows more than one line for what you think of as a single trade, and the numbers in a journal can look different from what you expect. This page explains how MT5 records a partial close, how to read it, and how AI Trading Journal treats it.

What MT5 does when you close part of a position

In MetaTrader 5 a position is the result of one or more deals. The deal that opens it is an entry deal. When you close only part of the volume, the platform creates a closing deal for that part and the position stays open with the smaller volume. The position keeps the same position ID through all of this. Every deal that belongs to it carries that ID, which is the thread that ties them together. The page on deals, orders and position IDs explains the three kinds of number in detail.

This is different from MetaTrader 4, where closing part of an order closed the original and opened a new order with the remaining volume. A broker's own MT5 release notes describe it as one ticket in MT5, with an open volume and closed portions. If you move from one platform to the other, expect the history to look different.

What you see in the History tab

The History tab can be shown by positions, by orders or by deals, and the layout differs from one build to another. In the deals view each partial close is a separate line marked as out, with its own time, price, volume and profit. In the positions view you normally see the position with its overall result. Check the view you are in before you count trades, otherwise one scaled-out trade can look like three. The exact menu names change between builds, so look in your own terminal.

Step	Deal	Volume	Position
Open	Buy in	1.00 lot	Opens, 1.00 lot
First target	Sell out	0.50 lot	0.50 lot still open
Second target	Sell out	0.30 lot	0.20 lot still open
Final exit	Sell out	0.20 lot	Closed

The example is hypothetical. One position, one position ID, one entry deal and three exit deals, so a deals list shows four lines and a count of closing deals shows three.

How AI Trading Journal records it

The app reads closed positions from the history and saves one row per position, not one per deal. For a scaled-out trade that means:

One row for the whole position, however many closing deals it had.
Volume is the total of the entry deals, the size you opened, not the size left at the end.
Open time and entry price come from the first entry deal.
Close time and exit price come from the last closing deal. If your exits were at different prices, the exit price shown is the last one, not an average.
Result is profit plus commission plus swap over every deal of the position, which is what the balance actually moved by.
Stop loss and take profit are the last non-zero values found on the position's orders, so a stop you moved after the first partial close is the one recorded.

While a position is only partly closed, its row exists but holds the money of the parts closed so far. It updates after a later sync once the last part closes. When you want to judge a scaled-out trade as one trade, wait until the whole position is done.

Why one row matters for your numbers

Win rate, average win and profit factor all depend on what you count as a trade. If every partial close counted as its own trade, a trader who takes half at a target would double their count of winners and make the win rate look better than the real behaviour. Counting by position avoids that. It also means the numbers can differ from a broker report that lists deals, so when two sources disagree, check whether one counts deals and the other positions. The trading metrics page explains how these figures are built, and the win rate calculator lets you test the effect.

A worked example (hypothetical)

A trader buys 1.00 lot of gold. At the first target they close 0.50 lot for +$250, at the second 0.30 lot for +$240, and the last 0.20 lot is stopped at break-even after the stop was moved, for $0 before costs. Commission on all deals totals -$14. In the deals list there are four lines and three results. As a position there is one trade with a result of 250 + 240 + 0 - 14 = $476. A journal that counts positions records one winner of $476, with a stop loss at the break-even level because that was the last stop set. For how a moved stop looks afterwards, see break-even stops in trade history.

Netting and hedging accounts

Account type changes the picture. On a netting account there is one position per symbol, so adding to it and reducing it happen on the same position, and reversing it can produce a deal that both closes and opens. On a hedging account you can hold several positions on the same symbol, each with its own ID. The page on hedging versus netting in trade history goes through both, and it is worth reading if your partial closes do not match the examples here.

Reviewing a scaled-out trade

A scaled-out trade is really several decisions. The entry, the first exit, the stop move and the last exit can each be judged on their own. A single number for the whole trade hides which part helped. Use the notes and tags in a journal to record what you did at each stage, and compare the result against holding the full size to the first target. The tagging guide shows one way to mark such trades so you can filter them later. Being honest about whether scaling out improved or reduced your results over a few dozen trades is more useful than any single example.

Limits

The way MT5 lists partial closes depends on the account type, the build and the broker, so check your own History tab.
A journal that shows one exit price for a scaled-out trade cannot show every exit price. Look at the deals in MT5 if you need them.
AI Trading Journal reads closed history only. It does not place, change or close trades.
This page explains how data is recorded and is not trading advice.

Closing several positions at once is a different pattern: close all positions in history.

Frequently asked questions

How does MT5 show a partial close?

The position keeps its ID and a new closing deal is created for the part you closed. The History tab can show it as a separate deal line or inside the position, depending on the view.

Does a partial close create a new ticket in MT5?

No. In MT5 the position stays the same one, unlike MT4 where closing part of an order created a new order for the rest.

How does the journal count a partial close?

It saves one row per position, with the total entry volume and the result of every deal added together.

Why is my journal exit price different from my first exit?

The exit price shown is the price of the last closing deal, not an average of all of them.

Will my win rate change if I scale out?

Counting by position treats the scaled-out trade as one trade, so the win rate reflects the trade as a whole.

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