Match-Trader trade history: how to journal it
Short answer: in Match-Trader, open the Closed Positions tab and set the dates. Use the export button and choose CSV. That gives you every closed trade as a row. Import the file into a journal and add what the platform can't know: your setup, your planned stop and whether you followed your plan.
Match-Trader is clean to trade on. Looking back is another story. The closed list is fine for checking yesterday. It won't tell you which setup has been bleeding for three weeks. For that you need the history out of the platform and next to your notes.
Where Match-Trader keeps your history
Your trades live in the panel at the bottom of the platform. Open positions are on one tab. Finished trades are on Closed Positions. That's the one you want.
Newer versions show a Reason column there. It tells you how each trade ended: closed by hand, take profit, stop loss or stop out. Keep that column. It's one of the most useful things to have in a journal. A pile of stop outs says something very different from a pile of manual closes.
Step by step: export closed positions
- Open the Closed Positions tab.
- Set the date range you want. A week or a month is easiest to handle.
- Click the export button. In newer versions it's labelled Export to CSV and opens a small list with two options.
- Choose CSV for a file you can work with. HTML is a nicer page to read. It's harder to do anything with.
- Save the file. Put the account and the dates in the name.
Match-Trader runs under many different names. Whoever provides your account can change the look. The tab and the button might sit in slightly different places for you. The idea stays the same: closed positions, dates, export.
Example: two weeks on one account
- Account: one account, closed positions for 3-14 November.
- Dates set, export to CSV, file saved as mt-2026-11-03-to-14.csv.
- Inside: one row per closed position, with the Reason column showing how each one ended.
- Quick check in a spreadsheet: 9 of 23 trades closed by hand before the stop or target.
- Result: one file with every closed trade of the two weeks, plus a first question for the journal: why so many manual closes?
What to add to each trade
The file has prices, times and results. It doesn't have you. I add four things per trade:
- Setup. A short fixed name. Use the same words every time.
- Planned stop. Where it was when you entered. Not where it was when the trade closed.
- Plan followed? Yes or no.
- One line. What you saw. What you'd repeat. What you wouldn't.
It takes a couple of minutes per trade. It pays off the first time you sort by setup and see the numbers.
Why R beats money in a journal
A trade that lost 150 tells you little on its own. Was that a full stop or a quarter of one? R answers it. R is the result divided by the risk you took. Risk 100 and lose 150 and you're at -1.5R. That's a stop that slipped or a trade you held past your exit. Either way it's worth a note.
R needs the planned stop. Without it you only have money. That's why the planned stop is the one field I never skip.
How often to export
Once a week. Fixed day, fixed time. Write the notes while the trades are still fresh. A month later you'll remember the big ones and forget the rest. The rest is where the habits are.
Common questions
Can I export Match-Trader history to Excel?
Export to CSV and open the file in Excel or any spreadsheet. CSV is the easier format to sort and import.
Why can't I find the export button?
Check you're on Closed Positions, not on open positions. If it still isn't there, your version may place it differently. The help pages of whoever provides your account usually show it.
Does the export include open trades?
No. Closed Positions holds finished trades only. Open trades land there once you close them.
What does the Reason column mean?
It shows how a trade ended: closed by hand, take profit, stop loss or stop out.
Tomky, Dojiwave · Updated