When it comes to algorithmic trading, precision is key.
Backtesting with high-quality data in MetaTrader 5 provides the accuracy needed to evaluate your strategies effectively.
Most brokers don’t store old tick data, which means the historical data you get from them is often limited, especially for data older than a few months.
This leads to poor backtesting quality, as the data can be missing critical details about price movements and spreads.
This might cause disappointing results or really great results which then are not real in live markets. Without high-quality, detailed data, your backtest results can mislead you about a strategy's performance.
By using 100% tick data, you gain access to every price movement, enabling a more realistic simulation that mirrors live trading conditions.
This type of data allows you to better assess metrics like slippage, spread, and drawdown, which are essential for accurate strategy evaluation.
📌 How to Import Tick Data from External Sources into MetaTrader 5
To improve the quality of your backtesting, you can import tick data from sources like
- QuantDataManager
- or Dukascopy into MetaTrader 5 by creating a custom symbol.
Here’s how to do it with QuantDataManager.
📍 Download Tick Data
-
First, download QuantDataManager (QDM) and install it on your computer.
-
Open QDM, and in the main menu, navigate to the Data Sources tab and add the symbol you want to download data from
-
Afterwards select the symbol and click on Download data for existing symbol. Here you can select the data range.
-
Now, you can change the timezone to make sure it matches your borker timezone by clicking on the tools and clone to timezone
- Finally go to Export and click on export to mt5. Chose the dates to download from and where to store the data. After the data is downloaded, we will now import it in MetaTrader 5.
📍 Create a Custom Symbol
-
In MetaTrader 5, go to Symbols in the Market Watch window, right-click, and select Create Custom Symbol.
-
There click on copy from and select the symbol that you are importing from the current symbols and change the symbol name to your preferred one.
📍 Import the Data
-
The symbol is created, now to import the data. You should see your recently created symbol on the Symbols window, so now you need to click on it and make sure the icon is orange, after this click on the top part on Ticks.
-
You will then click on import ticks, browse the file where you downloaded the data and click ok. It might take few minutes to load but once is done you will be ready to test with 100% quality data.
📍 Backtest with Your Custom Symbol
-
Now that you have tick data loaded into your custom symbol, open the Strategy Tester.
-
Select your custom symbol from the dropdown, set your backtesting parameters, and choose Every Tick based on real ticks for the most accurate simulation.
By following these steps, you’ll ensure that your back testing reflects market conditions as closely as possible.
It will allow you to have reliable insights into how your strategy performs under real-world scenarios.
With this data, you can be confident in understanding how your strategy would perform, giving you a clearer edge when it comes to live trading.
We're here to make sure you have what you need for reliable and realistic backtesting!
Discover our MetaSHIELD our new EA
