Prop trading isn’t easy, let’s face it. You must balance stringent regulations, constrained drawdown limitations, and ever-changing market conditions. You lose the game after one mistake or missed entry. As your own personal trading assistant, MT5’s alerts and notifications come in handy in this situation. They are not excessive, yet when used properly, they have great power. In fact, these tools can be game changers if you are trying to get funded or trading for a prop firm.
Therefore, let’s explain everything human-to-human, without excessive jargon or automated justifications. Simply said, discuss how to get MT5 notifications and alerts to work for you.
Why Alerts and Notifications Matter in Prop Trading
Timing is crucial when dealing with a prop firm account. You are managing not only your transactions but also risk, feelings and regulations. Unlike trading your own money, prop firms frequently have very strict rules, such as maximum daily loss, maximum drawdown, minimum profit targets and occasionally even a ceiling on the number of trading days.
Not only may missing a crucial setup or a risky deal cost you your account, but it’s also irritating.
This is the point at which MT5’s notifications and alerts truly shine. They serve as your second pair of eyes. Unless you have superpowers, you cannot watch charts all the time, but MT5 can. Whether it’s a warning when the price reaches a certain level, the RSI crosses a barrier, or your trade enters a profit zone, these alerts keep you focused without tiring.
Getting Started with Alerts in MT5
Let’s review how to configure notifications on MT5. Don’t worry, it’s not difficult.
Price Alerts
Let’s imagine you have your charts marked up and are watching for a specific price level, such as a significant support or resistance. Rather than hawkishly looking at your screen, you can choose “Trading” > “Alert” by right-clicking on the price level in Market Watch or immediately on the chart.
A tiny bell icon will appear on the price line. Done, boom. When the price hits that level, MT5 will now ping you.
Indicator-Based Alerts
This is where things start to get a little more complicated but still manageable. Do you want to be notified when the RSI reaches 70? Alternatively, when does the 50 EMA meet the 200 EMA? The “Alert” tab in the Terminal window is what you must use.
Click on the “Alerts” tab (located at the bottom of MT5).
With a right-click, select “Create.”
The resulting window allows you to configure custom alerts based on time, indicators and symbols.
Many of the indicators or EAs you use have built-in alert features. When you’re configuring them, just be sure to check the “enable alerts” box.
News Alerts
Making trades as the news is released? Oh no. Some prop companies either forbid it or strongly discourage it. MT5 can alert you to news events in advance, allowing you to reduce your risk or take a step back.
Turn on updates to the economic calendar and create event alerts. You’ll stay up to date because MT5 pulls data from news sources like Trading Central or Dow Jones, depending on your broker.
Notifications That Go Beyond MT5
What happens if you’re not in front of your desk?
Notifications are useful in this situation. With MT5, you may send alerts straight to your email or phone. Indeed, it’s among the platform’s most underutilized yet potent capabilities.
Here’s how to get them set up:
Push Notifications to Your Phone
Download the MetaTrader 5 app on your phone (Android or iOS).
On your desktop MT5, go to Tools > Options > Notifications.
Check “Enable Push Notifications.”
Then enter your MetaQuotes ID—you’ll find this ID in your mobile app under Settings.
Now, whenever your alert triggers, you’ll get a notification straight to your phone. It’s like having a mini trading assistant in your pocket.
Email Notifications
Prefer emails instead? No problem.
Again, head to Tools > Options > Email.
Set up the SMTP server settings (your broker might provide these, or you can use Gmail with a bit of tinkering).
Test it with the “Test” button to make sure everything works.
This setup is especially useful if you’re trading on a VPS or if you leave your trading station running 24/7. You don’t have to be glued to your setup—you’ll still get updates when it matters.
Combine Alerts with MT5’s Economic Calendar
The MT5 trading platform now includes a built-in economic calendar (depending on the broker you use). It’s honestly such a handy little tool. You can filter events by currency, importance, and date.
Here’s what smart prop traders do: they sync the economic calendar with their trading plans and use alerts to stay ahead of major announcements. If Non-Farm Payrolls is dropping in 30 minutes, you want to know, right? An alert can remind you to tighten stops, close positions, or avoid entering new trades.
Custom Scripts and EAs for Advanced Notifications
If you’re the kind of trader who likes to get a bit geeky, MT5 lets you build or download custom Expert Advisors (EAs) that manage alerts for you.
For example:
An EA that notifies you when several indicators line up, such as the price at support, the MACD crossing and the RSI.
Using a single screen, a dashboard script provides you with real-time warnings for many currency pairs.
An EA session timer that lets you know when New York or London opens and closes.
Many coders have already created these tools, many of which are free and others are reasonably priced, on sites like MQL5.com.
Coding from scratch is not required unless you so choose. However, your MT5 setup is much more powerful when you add these kinds of tools, particularly when you’re trading across sessions or handling many pairings.
