Tutorial · MT5 · Notifications · 12 min read

Your Stop Loss just hit breakeven. Your daily drawdown is one trade away from the FTMO limit. Your trailing stop is creeping up nicely on a 30-pip winner. You should know about all of these — but you are not at the computer.

MetaTrader 5 has built-in support for two notification channels: Push Notifications straight to your phone, and Email Alerts through any SMTP server. No third-party plugins, no monthly subscription, no Telegram bot to maintain. Just configure once and your EA can ping you for any event you care about.

This guide walks through the complete setup using RiskFlow Pro as the example EA — but the MT5 setup steps work identically for any EA that supports notifications. By the end you will have push alerts on your phone and email alerts in your inbox, firing for the exact events you choose.

Why Bother with Notifications?

If you are running an EA, you might think notifications are unnecessary. The EA does the work, right? In practice, three scenarios change that quickly:

1. Prop firm challenges. You are running an FTMO challenge and your daily drawdown is approaching the limit. A push notification means you stop trading immediately instead of finding out at midnight when you check the account.

2. Manual oversight on automated systems. Even with auto-management, knowing that your SL just moved to breakeven on a runner trade is useful — you might want to add to the position, or simply enjoy the peace of mind.

3. Multi-account management. If you trade on more than one MT5 instance or VPS, notifications consolidate everything into one phone or one inbox.

Part 1 — Push Notifications to Your Phone

Push notifications send directly from your MT5 desktop terminal to the MetaTrader 5 mobile app. The connection uses a unique 8-digit ID called the MetaQuotes ID. The whole setup takes about 3 minutes.

Step A: Get Your MetaQuotes ID from the Mobile App

Your MetaQuotes ID is generated automatically when you install the MT5 app. You can only see it inside the mobile app — it is not shown anywhere on the desktop terminal.

1. Install MetaTrader 5 on your phone (free on iOS App Store and Google Play) if you have not already.
2. Open the app and tap the menu icon in the top-left corner.
3. Tap Messages from the menu.
4. Tap New Message (or the compose icon). At the top you will see Your MetaQuotes ID: followed by an 8-digit number.
5. Note the 8 digits — for example 12345678. This is what you need on the desktop side.

Step B: Configure MT5 Desktop

1. Open MT5 on your computer. Go to Tools → Options (or press Ctrl+O).
2. Click the Notifications tab at the top.
3. Check the box for Enable Push Notifications.
4. In the MetaQuotes ID field, paste the 8-digit number from Step A.
5. Click Test. Your phone should receive a notification within a few seconds.
6. Click OK to save.

If the test does not arrive, check your phone’s notification settings: on iOS go to Settings → Notifications → MetaTrader 5 and make sure Allow Notifications is on. On Android, the path is similar under Settings → Apps → MetaTrader 5 → Notifications.

Step C: Enable Notifications in RiskFlow Pro

Now MT5 can send pushes — but RiskFlow Pro also needs to be told to use them. This is in the Protect tab.

1. Click the Protect tab on the RiskFlow Pro dashboard.
2. Scroll down to the NOTIFICATIONS section near the bottom.
3. Click the Push button to toggle it ON (it turns green).
4. Pick which events you want notifications for: BE, Part.Cls, DD Limit, Trail SL (more on these below).
5. Click SEND TEST NOTIFICATION to verify everything is wired up correctly.

If you receive a test notification on your phone, push is fully working. From now on, any matching event RiskFlow Pro detects will ping your phone.

Part 2 — Email Alerts via Gmail (or Other SMTP)

MT5 sends email through any SMTP server. Gmail is the most common choice because every Gmail account works as a sender — but it requires a special App Password rather than your regular Gmail password. This is a one-time setup, then it just works.

Step A: Create a Gmail App Password

1. Go to myaccount.google.com and sign in.
2. Click Security in the left sidebar.
3. Scroll to 2-Step Verification and click into it. Scroll to the bottom and click App passwords.
4. In the App name field, type MetaTrader5 and click Create.
5. Google shows a 16-character password in the format abcd efgh ijkl mnop. Copy it now and store it somewhere safe — this is what you will paste into MT5 instead of your real Gmail password.

Step B: Configure SMTP in MT5

1. Open Tools → Options → Email.
2. Check the Enable checkbox.
3. Fill in the fields using the values in the table below.
4. Click Test. A test email should arrive in your inbox within a minute. If it lands in spam, mark it as Not Spam so future alerts arrive normally.
5. Click OK to save.

Gmail SMTP settings:

• SMTP server: smtp.gmail.com:587
• Login: your Gmail address (e.g. yourname@gmail.com)
• Password: the 16-character App Password from Step A — paste it without spaces (e.g. abcdefghijklmnop)
• From: your Gmail address (same as Login)
• To: wherever you want alerts to land (your Gmail or any other inbox)

Other SMTP Providers

Not on Gmail? Most major providers work — they all use SMTP on port 587 with SSL/TLS:

• Outlook / Hotmail: server smtp.office365.com:587 — uses your regular Outlook password (no App Password needed in most cases).
• Yahoo Mail: server smtp.mail.yahoo.com:587 — like Gmail, requires an App Password generated under your Yahoo account security settings.
• iCloud Mail: server smtp.mail.me.com:587 — requires an app-specific password from appleid.apple.com.

Step C: Enable Email in RiskFlow Pro

Same flow as push: go to the Protect tab, find NOTIFICATIONS, and toggle Email ON. Click SEND TEST NOTIFICATION and check your inbox to confirm.

Choosing Which Events Trigger Alerts

RiskFlow Pro fires notifications for four event types. You toggle each one independently in the NOTIFICATIONS section. Here is what each event means and when you actually want it on.

BE (Breakeven). Fires when your stop loss has been moved to the entry price. Sample message: Breakeven moved | ticket 123 | SL→1.08500. Useful for psychological reassurance — you know the trade is now risk-free even before checking the chart.

Part.Cls (Partial Close). Fires when a partial close has executed at the configured R multiple. Sample: Partial Close L1 fired | 50% @ R=1.00. Useful when you want to know that profit has been banked and the runner portion is now in play.

DD Limit (Daily Drawdown Limit). Fires when your daily drawdown limit has been hit and trading is locked. Sample: Daily DD HIT [FTMO Rel] | Trading LOCKED. Always keep this one ON if you trade prop firm challenges — it is the single most important alert.

Trail SL (Trailing Stop Move). Fires every time the trailing stop moves. Sample: Trail SL moved | ticket 123 | SL→1.08520. Useful for visibility on long-running trades, but can become noisy on lower timeframes.

Common Issues and Fixes

Push test does not arrive on phone. Most likely the MetaQuotes ID has a typo, or the MT5 mobile app’s notifications are blocked at the OS level. Re-check both. On the phone, also confirm you are signed into the same MT5 mobile install where you originally read the ID — uninstalling and reinstalling generates a new ID.

Email test returns an error in MT5 Journal. Look at the error code. If it says authentication failed, you used your real Gmail password instead of the App Password — go back to Step A. If it says connection refused, double-check the SMTP server and port (Gmail uses port 587, not 25 or 465).

Email test arrives in Spam, not Inbox. Gmail flags MT5-style auto-mail aggressively. Open the spam message and mark Not Spam, or create a Gmail filter for the sender address that forces it into the inbox. After one or two trades the filter usually learns.

Worked for a while, then stopped. Free Gmail accounts have a daily SMTP send limit (around 500 messages). If you have Trail SL on with high-frequency trading, you can blow through this. Turn off Trail SL or switch to Outlook (which has a much more relaxed limit).

Journal shows error 4014 or 4510. Error 4014 means the MetaQuotes ID is missing or push is not enabled in MT5 Options. Error 4510 means SMTP is not properly configured or your computer cannot reach the SMTP server (firewall, no internet, or wrong server name).

Quick Reference

For when you forget the steps and need a 30-second recap:

Push: Phone → MT5 app → Messages → New Message → copy 8-digit MetaQuotes ID. Then desktop → Tools → Options → Notifications → Enable + paste ID + Test. Then RiskFlow Protect tab → Push ON + select events.

Email (Gmail): myaccount.google.com → Security → 2-Step Verification → App passwords → create one named MetaTrader5 → copy 16-char password. Then desktop → Tools → Options → Email → Enable, server smtp.gmail.com:587, login = email, password = App Password, From/To = email → Test. Then RiskFlow Protect tab → Email ON.

Where to Go From Here

If you have not used RiskFlow Pro before and you are wondering how to get the dashboard onto your chart in the first place, the Quick Start Guide covers download, install, and your first trade in under 5 minutes.

For deeper coverage of the Protect tab — including the four daily drawdown calculation methods, the floor line on the chart, and exact FTMO setup recommendations — see the Advanced Features Guide. The Protect tab section walks through each setting in detail, including which combinations work best for prop firm challenges versus standard live accounts.

Hit a setup problem not covered above? Leave a comment on the MQL5 product page — that is where I read and respond.