Opening MQ5 Files

The MQ5 file type is primarily associated with MetaTrader 5.

MQ5	File extension: MQ5
	File type:	source code file

What is an MQ5 file?

MQ5 files mostly belong to MetaTrader 5. MQ5 files are the source code files used with the MetaTrader 5 platform. They are written in MetaQuotes Language 5 (MQ5) and are used to develop automated trading scripts, commonly known as Expert Advisors.
The files can serve several functions, such as:

Defining rules for automated trading

Creating custom market indicators

Running scripts for specific trading tasks

These files are typically edited and compiled in MetaTrader 5’s MetaEditor. Once compiled, the code produces an executable (.EX5) file that the platform uses to manage trades.
FilExt.com tip: For more technical details and community support, please visit the MQL5 community page.

How to open an MQ5 file

You need a suitable software like MetaTrader 5 to open an MQ5 file. Without proper software you will receive a Windows message "How do you want to open this file?" or "Windows cannot open this file" or a similar Mac/iPhone/Android alert. If you cannot open your MQ5 file correctly, try to right-click or long-press the file. Then click "Open with" and choose an application. You can also display a MQ5 file directly in the browser:. Just drag the file onto this browser window and drop it.

Online MQ5 Text Viewer

Choose your .mq5 file to analyze

or drag and drop it here

Online File Viewer

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MQ5 file format details:

The file format, which is the arrangement and type of data in a file, determines which program can open the file. A file format is determined by the file extension and signature, so JPEG images have the extension .jpg and the first bytes in the file are ÿØÿ. If the file extension does not match the file format, double-clicking on the file will cause an error upon opening. When there is a problem with a file, the first step to solving it is to determine the file format. Our evaluation of the MQ5 files is as follows:

The MQ5 file ending covers different formats for different programs. The two most popular formats are as follows:

• 55% of all MQ5 files have the same signature //+-----------------------------------------------. These files are text files and can therefore be read using a text editor. A typical file size is 22 KB. This file type is new and state-of-the-art. The following keywords are characteristic: //+------------------------------------------------------------------+. Such MQ5 files store data about weltrade, universal, weltradenlu, vpfr, gold, elite, trend, phantom and levels.
• 25% of all MQ5 files internally utilize the UTF-16 (LE) file format. UTF-16 (LE) is an character encoding system for Unicode. UTF-16 files can be viewed in any modern text editor. These files start with the two bytes FF FE, the so called byte order mark (BOM). These files contain neither text nor words, but only data. MQ5 files can be up to 590 KB in size, but are often around 9 KB - 99 KB. The keywords //+------------------------------------------------------------------+ are typical for these files. Files like these have the following tags: scalping, live, fafa, average, hedging, moving, simple, index, price and pure.

All other MQ5 files (20%) have different formats, often, for example, property. These files sometimes refer to xauusd, candle, eurusd, sniper, studio, fixed or trade. If you want to find out what your MQ5 file contains, drag and drop it onto this page.