How to Manage Open Positions in MT5 for Prop Firm Trading

It takes more than just seeing green and red numbers move across your screen to manage open positions in MetaTrader 5 (MT5). Discipline, accuracy, and making the most of the platform’s capabilities are crucial, particularly if you’re trading under the close supervision of a prop firm. Understanding how to effectively manage your transactions might be the difference between growing your business or receiving that dreaded account compromised notice, regardless of whether you’re in a struggle phase or fully financed. Let’s examine in more depth how to effectively handle open positions in MT5. 

Why Position Management Even Matters

Although you may already be aware of this if you have been trading for some time, it is nevertheless important to reiterate. The simple thing is getting into a trade. Your ability to manage that trade—knowing when to cut it, when to let it ride when to hedge, and when to scale out—is what truly puts you to the test.

Because prop company traders are operating under a set of regulations, this is much more crucial. There are total drawdown limitations, maximum daily losses, and occasionally even trading time constraints. Your whole challenge or financed account might be ruined by one careless move. It is, therefore, necessary to manage open positions; it is not merely excellent trading. 

Use the ‘Trade’ Tab Like a Command Center

The “Trade” tab is where you’ll be fixated when you have positions open in MT5. All of the live information is displayed to you, including open transactions, profit/loss, lot size, stop loss, take profit, and more.

However, don’t focus just on the figures. Consider it your command center. Here, you’ll keep an eye on your positions and act quickly if the market starts to move against you.

Quick tip: The order modification box appears when you double-click on an open position. Without having to end the transaction or open a new order ticket, you can then easily modify your stop loss or take profit. 

Adjusting Stop Loss and Take Profit on the Fly

There’s no shame in adjusting your SL and TP as a trade evolves—just don’t make it a habit to widen your stop “hoping it’ll turn around.” That’s how you blow accounts.

But if a trade moves into profit and you want to lock in gains, go ahead and trail that stop manually. You can do this by dragging the SL line on the chart or modifying it through the order window.

Trailing stops can also be set automatically. Right-click on the trade in the ‘Trade’ tab, and you’ll see a ‘Trailing Stop’ option. Set it to, say, 20 pips, and the platform will automatically move your stop up as the price climbs. Super handy when you want to protect profits without babysitting every candle.

Using the Chart to Manage Trades Visually

The chart-based trade management feature in the MT5 trading platform is underrated. You can click and drag your stop loss or take profit lines right on the chart—super intuitive and fast.

Here’s why this is gold for prop traders: When you’re juggling multiple trades across different pairs, it’s easy to get confused. But seeing everything on the chart helps you stay oriented. You can literally watch how price reacts near your SL or TP and make smarter decisions in real-time.

Plus, if you’re using any kind of support/resistance, trendlines, or indicators, adjusting your SL/TP directly on the chart just feels more aligned with your analysis.

Scaling In and Scaling Out

Scaling in (adding to a winning trade) and scaling out (closing parts of a position) are advanced techniques that can help you manage risk and maximize profits.

Let’s say you’re long on EUR/USD and it’s flying. You might want to add another position but only if it meets your criteria. Or maybe you’re happy with half your gains and want to secure some profit while letting the rest run. MT5 lets you do both.

To close part of a trade, right-click the open position, select “Modify or Delete Order,” and change the volume to the portion you want to close. For example, if you’re in a 1.0 lot trade, closing 0.5 lots lets the rest ride.

Just keep an eye on your leverage and margin requirements when scaling in—especially with prop firm rules.

Hedging vs. Closing

Unlike MT4, MT5 offers native support for hedging and netting, depending on how your account is set up.

With hedging, you can open a trade in the opposite direction of an existing one without closing the original position. This is useful if you think the market’s about to retrace but you’re not ready to close your main trade yet.

Let’s say you’re long GBP/USD, but the news is about to drop and you expect short-term volatility. Instead of closing your long, you can open a short position to hedge the move. Once the volatility settles, you can close the hedge and ride your original trade again.

Just make sure your prop firm account supports hedging. Some firms set accounts to netting mode, which means opposite positions cancel each other out.