FIRST — THE 60-SECOND CHECK
Before anything else, look at two things on your chart:
- The AutoTrading button in the toolbar — it must be green/active, not red. This is the master switch for every EA running on the platform.
- The icon in the top-right corner of the chart your EA is attached to — a smiling face (MT4) or a small icon next to the EA's name (MT5) means it's actually running. A sad face, an X, or no icon at all means the EA isn't active on that specific chart, even if AutoTrading is on globally.
If both of those look correct and you're still seeing zero trades, go through the list below.
THE 9 MOST COMMON CAUSES
Right-click the chart → Expert Advisors → Properties → Common tab. If "Allow live trading" isn't ticked here, the EA will run and show as active but will never actually send an order. This is the single most common cause and the easiest to miss.
If the EA's calculated lot size needs more margin than your free balance allows, the broker silently rejects the order. This is especially common on cent accounts where lot sizing wasn't calibrated correctly — check the Experts tab for a "not enough money" rejection.
Most EAs only trade when specific conditions are met. If you just attached it and the market hasn't produced a valid setup yet, zero trades after an hour (or even a day) can be completely normal. Check the EA's strategy description for how often it's expected to trade.
The Magic Number is how an EA identifies its own trades versus trades from another EA or your own manual trades. If you're running more than one EA on the same account with the same magic number, one can silently block or interfere with the other. Each EA needs a unique number.
Many EAs include a maximum-spread setting to avoid trading during volatile or illiquid conditions. If your broker's live spread is wider than that filter — common right after major news or outside peak trading hours — the EA will correctly refuse to open a trade.
An outdated terminal build can cause silent malfunctions with newer EAs. Update MetaTrader 5 from Help → Check for Updates, then remove and re-attach the EA fresh.
Some brokers disable automated trading at the account level by default, separate from your local AutoTrading button. Check your broker's Personal Area or contact support to confirm algo/EA trading is enabled for your specific account.
If you're running on a VPS, a dropped connection can leave the terminal open but disconnected from the trade server — everything looks normal on screen while nothing actually executes. Check the connection icon in the bottom-right corner of the terminal and restart the VPS if needed.
If the EA came as a free trial or demo version for review, many are coded with a time limit or an expiry date that silently stops new trades once it passes — with no error message. Confirm with the developer whether your copy has an expiry built in.
WHERE TO ACTUALLY FIND THE ANSWER
Stop guessing and check the logs directly: open the Toolbox panel (Ctrl+T) and look at the Experts and Journal tabs. Almost every cause above leaves a specific message here — "not enough money," "trade is disabled," "invalid stops," or a rejection code from the broker. The log tells you exactly which of the nine causes you're dealing with instead of working through the list blind.