How to Close a Trade on MT4

Closing a trade on MetaTrader 4 means ending an open position and locking in whatever profit or loss it has accumulated up to that point. MT4 offers several ways to close a trade, including full closes, partial closes, offsetting hedged positions through the Close By feature, and one-click trading for fast manual exits.

This article explains how closing a trade works on MT4, walks through each of the standard methods, and covers the practical considerations that affect how close orders behave in live market conditions.

How Closing a Trade Works on MT4

When you close a position on MT4, the platform sends an instruction to the broker to execute an opposite trade at the current market price. A long position is closed by selling at the bid; a short position is closed by buying at the ask. The difference between the entry price and the close price, multiplied by the position size and adjusted for any swap and commission already applied, is added to or subtracted from your account balance as realised profit or loss.

The position disappears from the Trade tab of the Terminal window (Ctrl+T) and moves to the Account History tab, where you can review the full details of the closed trade.

How to Close a Position in MT4

There are two main ways to close a single open position in MT4.

The most direct method is from the Terminal window. Open the Trade tab (Ctrl+T to show the Terminal if it is hidden), find the position you want to close, right-click it, and select Close Order. A dialog opens showing the symbol, volume, and current bid and ask prices. Click the yellow Close button labelled with the close price. The order is sent to the broker, and the position is closed at the best available market price.

Alternatively, double-click anywhere on the position's row in the Trade tab. The same Order dialog opens, ready for you to confirm the close.

Either method produces the same result. The position is closed at the current market price.

How to Close Part of a Position

MT4 supports partial closes. To close only some of a position rather than all of it, open the close dialog using either method above, then change the Volume field from the full position size to the smaller amount you want to close. For example, to close half of a 1.0 lot position, change Volume from 1.00 to 0.50.

Click the yellow Close button. The platform closes the specified portion of the position and leaves the rest open with a new ticket number. The remaining open portion appears as a separate position in the Trade tab and continues to operate with its existing stop loss and take profit unless you adjust them.

Partial closes are useful for taking some profit off a winning trade while letting the rest run, or for reducing exposure on a position that has moved against you.

How to Close Pending Orders

Closing a pending order is technically called deleting, since the order has not yet opened a position.

To delete a pending order, find it in the Trade tab of the Terminal window. Pending orders appear in the same tab as open positions but are labelled with their order type (Buy Limit, Sell Limit, Buy Stop, Sell Stop) instead of buy or sell. Right-click the pending order and select Modify or Delete Order. In the dialog that opens, click Delete at the bottom. The pending order is removed from the broker's server and no longer active.

You can also double-click the pending order to open the same modify or delete dialog.

Closing Positions with Close By

Close By is an MT4 feature that allows you to close two opposing positions on the same symbol against each other, rather than closing each at the market individually. This is useful for hedged accounts where you have both a long and a short position on the same instrument.

To use Close By, right-click the position you want to close in the Trade tab and select Close By. A list of opposite-direction positions on the same symbol appears at the bottom of the close dialog. Select the position you want to use to close the original and click the Close By button.

The platform offsets the two positions against each other. If they are the same size, both are fully closed and the realised result is the net of the two entry prices. If they are different sizes, the smaller one is fully closed and the larger one remains open at its reduced volume. Close By avoids paying the spread on both close trades because the offsetting happens against each other rather than against the market.

Close By is only available when hedging is supported on the account, which is the case for all TIOmarkets account types.

One-Click Trading

MT4 includes a one-click trading mode that lets you close positions without going through the confirmation dialog.

To enable one-click trading, open Tools > Options > Trade and tick the box marked One Click Trading. You will be asked to accept the terms of use for one-click trading the first time you enable it.

Once enabled, one-click close buttons appear in the Trade tab and on chart panels. Clicking these closes the position immediately at the current market price, with no confirmation step. This is faster but removes the chance to double-check the order before sending it, so it suits active traders who want speed and are confident in their workflow.

You can disable one-click trading at any time by unticking the same option.

Trading at TIOmarkets

TIOmarkets offers MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 on desktop, web, and mobile, across four account types. The Standard account is created automatically on registration with a minimum deposit of $20 or currency equivalent. The Raw and VIP Black accounts are opened separately through the client area. The Nano account is MT5 only with a $20 minimum deposit, USD only. Hedging is supported on all accounts. A swap-free Islamic account is available; contact TIOmarkets for eligibility and instrument requirements. Copy trading is available on both MT4 and MT5.

Orders are executed at the best available market price, which may result in positive or negative slippage. Demo accounts often execute instantly and may not fully replicate live slippage conditions. Spreads are variable and are typically higher than minimum figures shown. Leverage on each instrument is subject to change depending on market conditions and applicable regulatory requirements. You can review the full list of account types on the TIOmarkets accounts page.