Trading checklist template: pre-trade and post-trade

A copy-paste checklist for before you enter and after you exit, with a forex and MT5 slant, and a way to check you actually follow it.

Why use a checklist

A checklist moves a decision from feeling to rules. Before you enter, it asks whether the trade qualifies and whether the risk is controlled. After you exit, it makes you record what happened while it is fresh. The rule is simple: if a key item is unchecked, skip the trade.

Pre-trade checklist (copy and paste)

## Pre-trade checklist
- [ ] Symbol and session are on my plan
- [ ] No high-impact news in the next [hours]
- [ ] Higher-timeframe direction identified
- [ ] This is one of my written setups: [name]
- [ ] Entry, stop and target are defined
- [ ] Reward to risk is at least [x]
- [ ] Position size keeps risk at or below [x]% of balance
- [ ] Spread is acceptable
- [ ] I am not entering to win back a recent loss
- [ ] I am calm enough to follow my rules

Post-trade checklist (copy and paste)

## Post-trade checklist
- [ ] Result recorded (net of commission and swap)
- [ ] Followed my plan? Yes / No
- [ ] Emotion before and after, one word each
- [ ] What would I repeat? What would I change?
- [ ] Screenshot saved (if useful)

Forex and MT5 touches

• Check your broker's server time when you note a session, since MT5 times follow the server clock.
• Use your stop distance, not a habit, to size the trade; the position size calculator does it.
• Check the spread before entry, especially near news and rollover.
• For gold, check your lot value: usually 100 ounces per lot (see the gold trading journal).

How to use it without it becoming a chore

• Keep it to ten items or fewer.
• Put it where you will see it: a Notion template page, a note on screen, or a printed card.
• Review how often you skipped it. A checklist you skip is a rule you broke.
• Update it monthly based on your journal.

Check yourself against it

Add a Plan followed yes or no to every trade and review the no entries each week; see the Notion trading plan template. AI Trading Journal records every closed MT5 trade automatically, so the checklist answers are the only part you write.

The free CSV in the free Notion trading journal template already includes Plan Followed, Setup and Emotion columns you can use straight away.

This page is general education. It is not trading or investment advice.

A filled-in pre-trade checklist (hypothetical)

A checklist works best when you write values, not just ticks. Writing the actual figure forces you to look at it. Here is what a filled-in version looks like for a made-up EURUSD trade:

Measure whether you actually use it

A checklist you ignore is worse than none, because it gives a false sense of order. Count how many of your trades had a completed checklist. If the ratio is under 90%, find out why: is it too long, kept somewhere awkward, or only skipped when you are in a hurry? The skipped trades are often the ones that deserve it most. Compare the average result of trades with and without a completed checklist; many traders find the gap larger than expected.

Variations by trading style

How to build your own in five steps

• List every mistake in your last 30 losing trades.
• Turn each repeated mistake into a yes/no question that would have prevented it.
• Keep only the questions that cover several mistakes; aim for ten or fewer.
• Use it for a month, noting which questions you answered without thinking.
• Replace the thoughtless items with ones tied to a recent mistake.

The checklist should change as you do. A rule that no longer applies is clutter; a mistake that keeps repeating deserves a new item. See common forex trading mistakes for a list to draw from and trading discipline rules for the rules behind them.

When the checklist says no

The point of a checklist is that a failed item changes what you do. Decide in advance what each kind of failure means. If a hard item fails, such as no stop defined or risk above your limit, you skip the trade. If a soft item fails, such as a slightly wide spread, you reduce size or wait. Write the action next to the item so you are not negotiating with yourself when the chart is moving. Over a few months, count how many trades you skipped because of the list and what those trades would have done. That count is the checklist's real return, and it is only visible if you record the skipped trades as well as the taken ones.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• A local trading journal for MT5
• P&L calendar for MT5
• Trade notes, ratings and screenshots
• Trading progress and goals
• Back up your journal and move it to a new PC
• An offline trading journal for Windows
• How to set monthly trading goals
• Import your whole MT5 history
• How to tag trades
• Trade screenshots for your journal
• All trading journal comparisons