EQUITY GUARD AI MT5 Installation & User Guide
EquityGuard AI is a professional account protection Expert Advisor for MetaTrader 5 that monitors your trading account in real-time and triggers an automatic emergency shutdown the moment a drawdown threshold is breached. It is designed for:
• FTMO & prop firm traders who must stay within strict daily drawdown limits
• Live account traders who want a hard safety net against catastrophic losses
• All account sizes — cent accounts, standard accounts, funded accounts
When protection triggers, EquityGuard AI executes three steps in sequence: Close All Trades → Cancel All Pending Orders → Close All Charts & Remove All EAs. Your account is locked down before the next tick can cause further damage.
Free Demo Version
Test EquityGuard AI completely free before purchasing. The demo version is fully functional with no restrictions, on demo accounts only.
Paste the downloaded EquityGuard_AI_MT5_1.10_Demo.ex5 file into: MT5 >> File >> Open Data Folder >> MQL5 >> Experts — then restart your terminal.
Installation Guide
To purchase and install EquityGuard AI from the MQL5 Market, you will need an MQL5 community account. If you do not have one, register at: https://www.mql5.com/en/auth_register
Step-by-Step Installation
1. Fund your MQL5 account. It is easier to pay with an existing MQL5 balance. Top up your account at mql5.com before beginning the purchase.
2. Open the product page and click the Buy or Rent button.
3. Choose your payment method and click the green Next button to complete your purchase.
4. Open MetaTrader 5. After payment, open your MT5 terminal.
5. Log into your MQL5 account in the terminal. Go to MT5 >> Tools >> Options >> Community tab and log in using your MQL5 username (not your email). Your username is the last part of your profile URL — for example, if your profile is https://www.mql5.com/en/users/YourName then your login is YourName.
6. Install from Purchases. In MT5, go to the Navigator window, open the Market folder, then click Purchases. Find EquityGuard AI in the list and click the Install button.
⚠️ Note: If you cannot see your purchase in the terminal: (1) Make sure you are using the latest MT5 build. (2) Confirm you are logged in with your username, not your email. (3) Verify your MQL5 account password is less than 10 characters. (4) Close all MetaTrader terminals, delete files starting with mql5.market.* from C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\MetaQuotes\Terminal\Community, then reopen MT5.
Attaching EquityGuard AI to a Chart
7. Open any chart of any symbol at any timeframe.
8. In the Navigator window, find EquityGuard AI under Market >> Purchases (or Experts if installed manually) and drag it onto the chart, or double-click it.
9. In the settings window (Common tab), tick Allow Algo Trading and Allow modification of Signals settings, then click OK.
10. Go to the Inputs tab and configure your protection thresholds (see the Settings Guide below). Click OK when done.
11. Enable Algo Trading. After closing the settings window, you will see a red indicator on the top-right of the chart. Click the Algo Trading button in the MT5 toolbar to turn it green. EquityGuard AI is now active.
💡 Tip: If chart candles appear on top of the EquityGuard AI panel, right-click the chart >> Properties >> Common tab >> Chart on foreground >> untick.
Panel User Guide
The EquityGuard AI dashboard appears in the top-left corner of your chart and updates in real-time on every tick.
Panel Sections
Header Bar
Displays the product name and subtitle. The header bar changes color to reflect the current protection status:
• Blue — Normal. Protection is armed and all thresholds are safe.
• Orange — Warning. Drawdown is approaching your configured warning level.
• Red — Triggered. A threshold has been breached and the emergency shutdown has executed.
Account Section
• Balance: Your current account balance.
• Equity: Your current account equity including floating P&L. Displayed green when equity is above balance, red when below.
Risk Monitor Section
• Drawdown %: Current drawdown as a percentage of your peak equity since the EA was attached. Color changes from blue to orange at the warning level, and to red at the trigger level.
• Drawdown $: The same drawdown expressed in dollar/account currency amount.
Demo Timer Row (Demo Version Only)
Shows the remaining demo session time in HH:MM:SS format. Turns orange when under 30 minutes, red when under 5 minutes.
Status Bar
• ● ACTIVE — Protection is running normally.
• ● WARNING — Drawdown has crossed the warning threshold. No action taken yet.
• ● TRIGGERED — Protection has fired. Trades closed, charts closed, EAs removed.
Inputs / Settings Guide
=== Protection Thresholds ===
Maximum Drawdown % (default: 4.5)
The maximum allowed drawdown as a percentage of your peak equity. When your equity drops by this percentage from its highest point since the EA was loaded, protection triggers immediately. Set to 0 to disable this threshold.
Example: If your peak equity is $10,000 and you set Maximum Drawdown % to 4.5, protection will trigger the moment your equity drops to $9,550.
Minimum Equity Amount (default: 0)
A fixed minimum equity floor in your account currency. If your equity drops to or below this value, protection triggers. Set to 0 to disable this threshold.
Example: If your account balance is $10,000 and you set Minimum Equity Amount to 9,200, protection triggers if equity falls to $9,200 or lower — regardless of what percentage that represents.
Maximum Drawdown $ (default: 0)
A fixed dollar amount drawdown limit. If the drawdown from peak equity reaches or exceeds this amount, protection triggers. Set to 0 to disable this threshold.
Example: Setting Maximum Drawdown $ to 500 means protection fires if you lose $500 from your highest equity point, regardless of account size.
⚠️ Note: You can enable multiple thresholds simultaneously. Protection triggers as soon as any single threshold is breached.
=== Alert Settings ===
Enable Alerts (default: true)
Shows a pop-up alert dialog in MT5 when the warning threshold is crossed and again when protection triggers.
Enable Push Notifications (default: true)
Sends a push notification to your MetaTrader mobile app when warnings or protection events occur. Requires you to have paired your phone in MT5 >> Tools >> Options >> Notifications.
Enable Email Alerts (default: false)
Sends an email notification on protection events. Requires your email SMTP settings to be configured in MT5 >> Tools >> Options >> Email.
Warning at % of Threshold (default: 80)
Sends an early warning alert when your drawdown reaches this percentage of your maximum threshold. For example, with Maximum Drawdown % set to 4.5% and Warning at % of Threshold set to 80, you will receive a warning when drawdown reaches 3.6% — giving you time to manually intervene before the automatic shutdown. Set to 0 to disable warnings.
=== Display Settings ===
Show Info Panel (default: true)
Toggles the on-chart dashboard panel. Set to false if you prefer a clean chart without the panel overlay.
Apply White Theme (default: true)
Applies a professional white background with dark grey candles to the chart for a clean, modern look that complements the panel design. You can disable this if you prefer your own chart theme.
Panel Background Color (default: Light Silver)
The background fill color of the dashboard panel.
Accent Color (default: Blue)
Used for normal-state highlights, the header bar color, and the demo timer. Default is a professional blue.
Text Color (default: Dark Slate)
The main text color for labels and values inside the panel.
Warning Color (default: Orange)
The color used for warning-state indicators when drawdown is approaching the limit.
Danger Color (default: Red)
The color used when a threshold is breached or protection has been triggered.
How Protection Works
When any configured threshold is breached, EquityGuard AI executes the following sequence automatically:
1. Close All Open Positions. Every open trade on the account is closed at market price, with up to 3 retry attempts per position to handle broker requotes or server delays.
2. Cancel All Pending Orders. Every pending order (buy limit, sell limit, buy stop, sell stop) is deleted from the account.
3. Close All Charts. All open MT5 charts are closed. Closing charts automatically removes all Expert Advisors and indicators running on those charts — preventing any other EA from reopening trades after the shutdown.
A protection event is logged in the MT5 Experts journal with full details including the time, trigger reason, account balance, and equity at the moment of the breach. Global variables EQUITY_GUARD_PROTECTION_ACTIVE and EQUITY_GUARD_SHUTDOWN_TIME are set so you can confirm the event occurred and review logs afterward.
⚠️ Note: Once protection triggers, EquityGuard AI removes itself along with all other charts and EAs. You must re-attach it manually to re-activate protection for your next session.
Recommended Settings for FTMO & Prop Firm Accounts
EquityGuard AI is purpose-built for prop firm challenges. Most FTMO-style firms use a 5% daily drawdown and 10% maximum drawdown rule. Here are the recommended settings:
FTMO / Prop Firm Challenge (Conservative) — Recommended:
• Maximum Drawdown %: 4.5 (leave a 0.5% safety buffer below the 5% daily limit)
• Minimum Equity Amount: 0 (disabled)
• Maximum Drawdown $: 0 (disabled)
• Warning at % of Threshold: 80 (you will receive a warning at 3.6% drawdown)
• Enable Alerts: true
• Enable Push Notifications: true
FTMO / Prop Firm Challenge (Dollar-Based Rule — e.g., $10,000 account with $500 daily loss limit):
• Maximum Drawdown %: 0 (disabled)
• Maximum Drawdown $: 450 (leave a $50 buffer below the $500 limit)
• Minimum Equity Amount: 0 (disabled)
• Warning at % of Threshold: 80 (warning fires at $360 drawdown)
💡 Tip: For maximum protection on a prop firm challenge, you can enable both Maximum Drawdown % and Maximum Drawdown $ together. Protection will trigger at whichever threshold is hit first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does EquityGuard AI place or manage trades?
No. EquityGuard AI is a pure protection tool. It never opens, modifies, or scales trades on its own. It only monitors your account and triggers the emergency shutdown if a threshold is breached. It is compatible with any other EA, manual trading, or signals service.
Can I run EquityGuard AI alongside other Expert Advisors?
Yes. Attach EquityGuard AI to any chart at any timeframe — it does not need to be on the same chart as your trading EA. It monitors the entire account, not just the current chart’s trades.
Does drawdown reset each day?
The drawdown is calculated from the peak equity recorded since the EA was last attached to the chart. If you remove and re-attach the EA, the baseline resets. For daily drawdown protection on prop firms, re-attach the EA at the start of each trading day to reset the peak equity reference.
What happens if the EA is removed from the chart without triggering?
The protection simply stops monitoring. Your trades remain open. No emergency shutdown occurs. EquityGuard AI only triggers on threshold breaches, not on manual removal.
Does it work on VPS?
Yes. EquityGuard AI is fully compatible with MQL5 VPS and any Windows VPS running MetaTrader 5. For VPS use, enable Push Notifications so you receive mobile alerts even when your computer is offline.
Which account types are supported?
EquityGuard AI works on all account types — standard, cent, ECN, hedge, and netting accounts — across all brokers that support MetaTrader 5.
