How to Import IC Markets Trades into PipJournal

IC Markets is one of the most widely used ECN brokers among active forex traders, offering MT4, MT5, and cTrader accounts. Importing your trade history into PipJournal takes under 10 minutes and gives you access to analytics your platform’s built-in reporting can’t provide — session breakdowns, R-multiple tracking, setup win rates, and behavioral pattern detection.

This guide covers all three IC Markets platforms. Follow the section that matches your account type.

Step 1: Choose Your IC Markets Platform

IC Markets offers three platform options, each with a different export process:

• MetaTrader 4 (MT4) — Standard and Raw Spread accounts available; exports as an HTML account statement
• MetaTrader 5 (MT5) — Standard and Raw Spread accounts available; exports as an HTML account statement
• cTrader — Raw Spread pricing only; exports as a CSV file

Log into your IC Markets client area at portal.icmarkets.com to confirm which platform your account uses, or open your trading terminal and check the title bar. The export steps differ by platform, so confirm before proceeding.

Step 2: Export Your Trade History

For MT4:

1. Open MT4 and go to the Account History tab at the bottom of the screen.
2. Right-click anywhere in the tab and select All History to load your full trade log.
3. To export a custom date range, right-click and choose Custom Period, then set your start and end dates.
4. Right-click again and select Save as Report. Choose Detailed (not Summary) and save as an HTML file.

For MT5:

1. Open MT5 and navigate to View > Toolbox > History.
2. Right-click in the History panel and select Report.
3. In the dialog, choose your date range and select Detailed mode.
4. Save the file as HTML to your desktop.

For cTrader:

1. Open cTrader and click the History tab in the bottom panel.
2. Set your date range using the filter fields at the top — for a full import, set the start date to when you opened the account.
3. Click the Export button (download icon) and save as CSV.

For a complete performance picture, export at minimum the last 3 months of history — 90 days of data gives PipJournal enough trades to surface statistically meaningful patterns.

Step 3: Format the Export File

Before uploading, confirm your file is clean:

MT4/MT5 HTML files should contain columns including: Order, Time, Type, Size, Symbol, Price, S/L, T/P, Close Time, Close Price, Commission, Swap, and Profit. If the file opens in a browser and shows these columns, it is ready to import.

cTrader CSV files should contain: Position ID, Symbol, Direction, Volume, Entry Price, Close Price, Entry Time, Close Time, Net Profit, Gross Profit, Commission, and Swap.

Do not manually edit the file before importing — altering column headers or row formatting can cause the parser to fail. If you need to remove test trades or demo entries, use PipJournal’s delete function after import instead.

Step 4: Import into PipJournal

1. Log into your PipJournal account and navigate to Import Trades.
2. Select IC Markets from the broker dropdown, then choose your platform (MT4, MT5, or cTrader).
3. Upload the file you exported in Step 2.
4. PipJournal will parse the file and display a preview showing the number of trades detected, date range, and total P&L. Review this for accuracy.
5. Click Confirm Import to add the trades to your journal.

If PipJournal detects duplicate trades (from a previous import covering the same period), it will flag them before import so you can skip or overwrite as needed.

Step 5: Verify and Tag Your Trades

After import, spend 5-10 minutes reviewing the imported data:

1. Check trade count — compare the number of imported trades against your MT4/MT5 history tab or cTrader history list. A mismatch indicates a date range or file format issue.
2. Verify P&L totals — your net P&L in PipJournal should match your account statement net profit for the same period, including commissions and swap.
3. Apply tags — use PipJournal’s tagging system to label trades by setup type (e.g., “London breakout”, “H4 trend continuation”), session (London, New York, Asian), and outcome driver (e.g., “hit TP”, “early exit”, “news spike”).

Tagging at this stage transforms raw trade data into filterable segments. Once tagged, you can run analytics like “win rate on London session breakouts” or “average R on trend continuation vs. counter-trend trades.”

Pro Tips

• IC Markets Raw Spread accounts charge approximately $3.50 per standard lot per side ($7 round-turn). When reviewing your import, confirm commissions are factored into net P&L — do not compare gross profit figures to your account balance.
• Export quarterly rather than annually. Smaller files parse faster and are easier to audit for missing trades.
• If you trade multiple IC Markets accounts (e.g., a personal account and a prop-funded account), import each separately and use PipJournal’s account labels to keep them distinct in your analytics.
• cTrader’s History tab defaults to showing only the last 30 days. Always manually set the start date before exporting or you will miss older trades.
• After your first import, set a weekly calendar reminder to export and re-import. Weekly imports take under 2 minutes once you have the process memorized.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Exporting a Summary report instead of Detailed — Summary reports aggregate trades and omit individual entry/exit data. PipJournal requires the Detailed report format. Always select Detailed when prompted in MT4 or MT5.

2. Importing without including commissions — Raw Spread accounts have low spreads but real commissions. Excluding the commission column from your analysis inflates your apparent win rate and average profit. PipJournal handles this automatically as long as the commission column is present in the exported file.

3. Importing the same date range twice — Re-importing an overlapping period creates duplicate trades. Use PipJournal’s duplicate detection preview, or keep a note of the last date you imported so you always start subsequent exports from the next day.

4. Skipping the tagging step — Importing raw trade data without tags limits you to aggregate statistics. Tags are what enable you to identify which specific setups, sessions, or market conditions are driving your edge (or your losses). Tag at least 80% of imported trades before running analysis.

5. Using the MT4 Summary tab instead of Account History — The Summary tab in MT4 shows open positions and pending orders, not closed trade history. The Account History tab is the correct source for export.

How PipJournal Helps

PipJournal’s import parser is built specifically for IC Markets’ MT4, MT5, and cTrader export formats, so field mapping is automatic — no spreadsheet manipulation required. Once your trades are loaded, the analytics dashboard breaks down performance by currency pair, session, setup tag, and day of week, giving you pattern visibility that MT4/MT5’s built-in reports don’t offer.

For IC Markets Raw Spread traders, PipJournal’s P&L tracking separates gross profit, commission, and swap so you can see your true net performance per setup. If you manage multiple accounts — common among prop firm traders running IC Markets alongside an FTMO or Funded Next account — PipJournal’s multi-account tracking keeps each account’s equity curve and drawdown metrics isolated.