MT5 spread and slippage: the costs your trade history does not list

The history shows what you got, not what you expected. Here is how to make the two hidden costs visible.

Two costs sit behind almost every trade result and appear on no line of the MetaTrader 5 history: the spread you paid to get in and the slippage between the price you wanted and the price you got. People search for “MT5 spread history” and “MT5 slippage” hoping the terminal will list them. It mostly does not. This page explains what the history does record, where each cost hides, how to check them yourself, and what a journal can and cannot capture.

What the trade history records

A closed trade in the history shows the symbol, direction, volume, the open and close prices, the times, profit, commission and swap. The two prices are the prices at which the deals filled. That is all. The history does not store the quote you saw on screen when you clicked, and it does not store the spread at that moment. So there is no column for either cost.

Cost	What it is	Shown in history?
Spread	The gap between the buy price (ask) and sell price (bid) at the moment you trade	No. It is built into the fill prices
Slippage	The difference between the price you expected and the price you got	No. Only the final fill price is stored
Commission	A fee per deal, per lot, charged by the broker	Yes, as its own value
Swap	Interest for holding overnight	Yes, as its own value

Commission and swap are explained in MT5 commission explained and MT5 swap explained. For adding all of them up per trade, see trading costs in MT5 trade history.

Spread: how to see it, now and in the past

Right now: the Market Watch window can show a Spread column, in points, for each symbol. Right-click the window and enable the column if it is hidden.
On a chart: enabling the Ask line in the chart properties shows the gap between bid and ask. Some platforms also offer spread indicators from the Market.
In the past: the Symbols dialog stores bars with a spread value in each bar’s data, and tick data records bid and ask changes. Both are price history, not account history. The distinction is covered in price history vs account history.
By specification: the symbol specification lists the typical spread type (fixed or floating) and the contract details.

A point is not a pip on most gold, index and five-digit forex symbols, so read the number with the symbol’s digits in mind. The relationship is in lot size and contract size explained and tick value and tick size.

Slippage: how to estimate it

To measure slippage you need two prices: what you intended and what you got. The terminal only keeps the second. For market orders the intended price is the quote on your screen when you clicked, which you can note, screenshot or read from your own record. For pending orders the intended price is the order price you typed. In the history, an order that is a stop or limit shows the requested price in the Orders view next to the fill price in the Deals view, so you can compare them for pending orders. See pending orders in MT5 history for that comparison.

A stop-loss that fills beyond its level is the most common surprise. The closing price will be worse than the stop price, and the history shows only the fill. If you want to know how often this happens to you, you must keep a record of the stop price at the time, which the order still holds in the history, and compare it to the close price of the deal.

What a journal can capture

AI Trading Journal reads closed positions from the MT5 terminal on your PC. It records the symbol, volume, times, prices, profit, commission and swap, and your own notes, tags and ratings. It does not record slippage, intended prices or the spread at entry, and it does not capture charts automatically. So spread and slippage are things you add by hand if you care about them. Practical ways:

Add a tag such as “wide spread” or “news fill” to trades you know were affected.
Write the quoted price and your stop price in the notes for market orders you expect to be sensitive.
Attach a screenshot of the order ticket or chart, which the Journal page supports.
In the weekly review, filter by that tag and add up the difference. Our weekly review checklist shows where to place it.

A worked example (hypothetical)

You buy 1 lot of gold intending to enter at 2,000.00 but the order fills at 2,000.35, and your stop at 1,995.00 is later filled at 1,994.60. Entry slippage is 0.35 and exit slippage is 0.40. If one price unit on this symbol and lot size is worth 100 account-currency units per lot, the combined slippage is 0.75 x 100 = 75.00. The history shows the open at 2,000.35 and the close at 1,994.60, so the loss looks like 575.00 for the price move, with no hint that 75.00 of it was slippage. You only know because you wrote the intended prices down. All values are invented and the point value depends on your broker’s contract specification.

Limits of this page

Column names and chart options differ between MT5 builds. Check your own terminal.
Spread data for the past comes from the broker’s price history, which may not match what you saw live on a different feed.
We make AI Trading Journal and benefit if you buy it; the app does not measure spread or slippage.
This is not trading advice.

Frequently asked questions

Does MT5 trade history show the spread?

No. The spread is built into the open and close prices. It is not stored as its own value on a closed trade.

Can I see past spread in MT5?

Bar and tick data in the price history contain spread or bid and ask values, but that is market data for a symbol, not a record of your trade.

How do I find my slippage in MT5?

Compare the price you intended with the fill price in the deal. For pending orders the requested price is in the Orders view. For market orders you must record the quoted price yourself.

Does AI Trading Journal record slippage?

No. It does not record slippage, intended prices or the spread at entry. You can add them in notes or tags.

Is spread a point or a pip?

Market Watch usually shows spread in points. On five-digit forex and many gold and index symbols a point is smaller than a pip.

Related guides

Try the journal free for 7 days

Free for 7 days, no card required. After that, a one-time $19.99 purchase. No subscription. Also on the Microsoft Store.

One-time $19.99, no monthly fee · your MT5 login never leaves your PC · trades go into your own journal on your PC, not through our servers.

Start free 7-day trial