MetaTrader 5 Not Connecting? How to Fix It Step by Step

Connecting MetaTrader 5 to SniperJournal takes about five minutes: copy the agent into MetaTrader, allow one web address and put the agent on a chart. If the panel in SniperJournal still says Waiting for your MetaTrader… after that, one of those pieces is missing. It all happens inside MetaTrader, on your computer, where SniperJournal can't look, so this guide takes you through what to check, in the order the agent needs it.

It picks up where our setup guide, How to Connect MetaTrader 5 and Sync Your Trades Automatically, leaves off. Most fixes take less than a minute.

Start here: what does your screen say?

Look at two places: the connection panel in SniperJournal (or its card in Settings → Connections), and the MetaTrader chart where you put the agent. Then go to the section that matches:

• The agent isn't in MetaTrader's Navigator — section 1.
• It's in the Navigator, but no chart shows its name — section 2.
• The chart says "Backend URL NOT ALLOWED", or a window says MetaTrader is blocking the agent's connection — section 3.
• A window says the agent left the chart, or the chart shows WARNING or UPDATE — section 4.
• It was working, and now the card says No recent activity or On standby, or mentions a currency — section 5.
• It says Connected, but no trades show up — section 6.
• You're on a Mac, or MetaTrader is only on your phone — the two sections after that.

In MetaTrader itself, the Experts tab of the Toolbox (Ctrl+T) logs everything the agent does, one line at a time. Together with the status line on the chart, it shows exactly where the setup stopped.

1. The agent isn't in the Navigator

MetaTrader only lists the Expert Advisors in its own data folder. If the agent doesn't appear under Expert Advisors in the Navigator, go through these in order:

1. Open the folder from MetaTrader itself. In the MetaTrader you trade with, use File → Open Data Folder (Ctrl+Shift+D) and open MQL5 → Experts. A folder you find on your own, like the one in Program Files, is usually not the one MetaTrader reads.
2. One MetaTrader per broker. If you have more than one installed (say, one per broker or prop firm), each has its own data folder. Open it from the terminal where the account you want to sync is logged in.
3. Copy and paste the file. Copy the agent from your Downloads folder and paste it directly into Experts. Dragging the file onto the MetaTrader window doesn't always work.
4. Check the file name. It starts with SniperJournalAgent and ends in .ex5. A number added by your browser, like SniperJournalAgent-Main(1).ex5, is fine. If it ends in .crdownload, .part or .download, the download didn't finish: download it again from the connection panel, or click Continue setup on its card.
5. Refresh the Navigator. Right-click Expert Advisors in the Navigator and choose Refresh, or restart MetaTrader. If the Navigator is hidden, press Ctrl+N.

On a Mac, MQL5 → Experts sits inside MetaTrader's Wine folder: see "On a Mac" below.

2. Put the agent on a chart

An agent in the Navigator is installed, not running yet. It works from a chart, and only while that chart is open.

1. Open any chart of the account you want to sync: any symbol, any timeframe. If that chart already runs another agent or robot, open a new one with File → New Chart. A chart holds one Expert Advisor, and dropping a second one replaces the first.
2. Drag SniperJournalAgent-… from the Navigator onto the chart.
3. In the window that opens, click OK. There's nothing to fill in.
4. Check the chart: the agent's name appears in the top-right corner, and its status line runs along the top, starting with its version, for example v0.3.8 | Backend OK | queue 0.

If the agent vanishes from the chart right after you click OK, MetaTrader shows a window saying why: see section 4. Algorithmic trading can stay off. The agent never places a trade, so it doesn't need it.

3. Allow SniperJournal's URL

MetaTrader blocks Expert Advisors from going online unless you allow the address yourself, and no installer can do it for you: it's a one-time step in each MetaTrader. You're in this section if the status line says Backend URL NOT ALLOWED, or if MetaTrader showed a window that starts with "SniperJournal: MetaTrader is blocking the agent's connection".

1. Open Tools → Options (Ctrl+O) and go to the Expert Advisors tab, called Experts in recent versions.
2. Tick Allow WebRequest for listed URL.
3. Double-click the line with the + at the end of the list (add new URL…), type https://api.sniperjournal.io and press Enter, so it shows up as a line of its own.
4. Click OK. Closing the window with Cancel or its X discards the change.

The agent connects by itself within about 20 seconds, with no need to remove it or put it on the chart again. The status line switches to Backend OK, and the panel in SniperJournal to Connected.

Still URL NOT ALLOWED? Check the details that tend to slip:

• The exact address: https://api.sniperjournal.io, with https and api. The website's address, sniperjournal.io, won't work.
• The tick: while Allow WebRequest for listed URL is unticked, MetaTrader ignores the list.
• The right MetaTrader: each terminal keeps its own list, so add the address in the one running the agent.

Opened https://api.sniperjournal.io in your browser? You'll see a short page confirming it's SniperJournal's address for MetaTrader. That's expected: the address is for MetaTrader, not for browsing.

4. Messages from the agent

When the agent can't use its file, it leaves the chart and MetaTrader shows a window with the reason. Here's what each message needs:

• "this agent file was already used on another MetaTrader" — each agent file activates on one MetaTrader only. For a new computer, a VPS or a fresh install, click Download a new agent on the connection's card in Settings → Connections and install that file.
• "this agent file is no longer valid" or "this agent was replaced or its connection was deleted" — a newer agent was downloaded for this connection, or the connection was deleted. Use the file you downloaded most recently, and delete older copies of it from Experts so MetaTrader doesn't load the old one.
• "this file isn't tied to a connection" — the file didn't come from your connection. Download your agent from Settings → Connections: each connection has its own.

Two warnings can also appear at the end of the status line while the agent stays on the chart:

• WARNING: duplicate agent, keep only one — two agents are running for the same account. Keep one and close the other one's chart.
• UPDATE: download v… from SniperJournal — your agent is out of date, and the card says so too. Click Download a new agent, copy the new file into Experts, put it on the chart and remove the old one. Your trades are kept.

5. It was working and stopped

Once connected, the agent sends every trade you close while MetaTrader is open, and the card in Settings → Connections says Active. When it stops, the card usually tells you why:

• No recent activity — MetaTrader was closed, or the computer went to sleep. Nothing is lost: trades closed in the meantime, even from your phone, come in about a minute after MetaTrader is open again. You don't need a new agent.
• On standby, or "Your MetaTrader is now on another account" — MetaTrader switched to another account, and the chart reads "standby: this agent is for account …". Each connection imports one account: switch back and it carries on by itself. To keep the other account too, give it its own connection: the card offers Connect account … when it doesn't have one yet.
• A currency message — the account and the portfolio use different currencies (Exness cent accounts are USC). Create a portfolio in the account's currency, connect MetaTrader to it and delete the old connection.
• You clicked Download a new agent — the agent on your chart stops working as soon as you do, until you install the new file. Copy it into Experts, put it on the chart and remove the old agent.
• Last error: "this token belongs to a different trading account" — an older agent after an account switch. Click Download a new agent and install it: current agents wait on standby instead.

To sync two accounts from one MetaTrader, give each account its own connection and its own agent, each on a separate chart. Whichever account MetaTrader is on, its agent works and the other one waits on standby.

6. Connected, but no trades show up

• Only closed trades come in. An open position shows up once you close it; until then the card counts it under open positions skipped. A new account with no closed trades connects all the same, and its first trade arrives when you close it.
• Check the portfolio. Trades land in the portfolio you picked when you created the connection. If the app is showing a different portfolio, switch to that one or to All Portfolios.
• "already in journal" — the card counts there the trades you already had. The agent never duplicates a trade, so sending your history twice does no harm.

On a Mac

MetaTrader for Mac runs inside Wine, a compatibility layer, and the agent works there just the same. Two things change: where the Experts folder is, and how you copy files into it.

1. Find Experts. With MetaQuotes' own Mac app, open Finder, press Cmd+Shift+G and paste ~/Library/Application Support/net.metaquotes.wine.metatrader5/drive_c/Program Files/MetaTrader 5/MQL5/Experts. With a broker's Mac app, use File → Open Data Folder inside MetaTrader: it opens a Wine window where drive Z: is your Mac.
2. Copy with a right-click. In that Wine window, go to drive Z: and then to your Downloads folder, right-click the agent → Copy, open MQL5 → Experts, then right-click → Paste.
3. Restart MetaTrader so the Navigator lists the agent.
4. Type the URL in Tools → Options → Experts rather than pasting it. If you do paste, use right-click → Paste: Cmd+V doesn't always work inside MetaTrader's windows on a Mac.

The chart, the status line and the panel in SniperJournal work exactly as they do on Windows.

Only a phone, tablet or the web version?

MetaTrader 5 for phones and tablets, and MetaTrader in the browser, can't run Expert Advisors. The agent needs MetaTrader 5 on a computer: Windows, a Mac, or a Windows VPS that stays on for you. If you open the connection panel on your phone, SniperJournal offers to email you the link so you can finish on the computer.

You only set it up once. After that, trade from your phone as much as you like: the agent picks up every trade you close, wherever you close it, as soon as MetaTrader on the computer is open.

Is it safe for my account?

The agent is read-only. It never places, modifies or closes an order, and never sees your password. It sends only what your journal needs: your login number, server, broker, account currency and closed deals; never your name or your balance. If your prop firm has rules about Expert Advisors, keep in mind this one doesn't trade at all, and check their rules if you're unsure.

To stop it, close the chart it runs on, or delete the connection in SniperJournal: the agent then leaves the chart by itself.

Still stuck?

Open Support in SniperJournal and send us two screenshots: the chart with the agent's status line, and MetaTrader's Experts tab (Toolbox → Experts). With those two we can see exactly where it stopped.

Watch the full setup

Once the status line says Backend OK, the agent keeps your journal up to date on its own: every trade you close in MetaTrader 5 reaches SniperJournal a few seconds later.