If you trade several MetaTrader 5 accounts — a funded account and a personal one, accounts at different brokers, or a set of accounts you manage — you'll quickly hit a wall: one MT5 terminal can only be logged into one account at a time. Switching between them isn't a workaround, because the account you log out of stops doing anything at all.
The answer is to run several MT5 terminals side by side, each permanently logged into its own account. Here's how to do that properly, what it costs in resources, and the mistakes that catch most people out.
Why one terminal isn't enough
MetaTrader 5 binds a running terminal to a single trading account. Log into a different account and the previous one is simply no longer connected — any Expert Advisor attached to it stops running, open positions are no longer being managed by that EA, and anything that depended on it being online silently stops.
That matters if you:
- Run a funded/prop account alongside your own
- Trade the same strategy at several brokers
- Manage accounts for other people
- Copy trades between accounts (every receiving account must be online at the same time)
- Test an EA on one account while trading live on another
Method 1: Install MT5 several times (recommended)
The most reliable approach is simply to install MetaTrader 5 more than once, each copy in its own folder.
- Download the MT5 installer from your broker.
- Run it, and before confirming, click Settings in the installer.
- Change the installation folder to something you'll recognise —
C:\MT5-Account1,C:\MT5-Account2, and so on. - Finish the install, then repeat for every account you need.
- Open each installation and log it into one account.
Each installation keeps its own settings, charts, EAs and data folder, so they never interfere with each other. Name the folders after the account or broker — with six terminals open, generic names become unmanageable fast.
Method 2: Portable mode
If you already have MT5 installed and don't want to re-download it each time, you can copy the folder and run the copies in portable mode:
- Copy your existing MT5 installation folder to a new location (e.g.
C:\MT5-Account2). - Create a desktop shortcut to
terminal64.exeinside the new folder. - Right-click the shortcut → Properties → add
/portableto the end of the Target field, after the closing quote. - Launch via that shortcut.
In portable mode MT5 stores its data inside the installation folder rather than the shared AppData location, which is what keeps each copy independent. Without the flag, copies can end up sharing one data folder and overwriting each other's settings.
What it costs in resources
Each MT5 terminal typically uses somewhere between 150 MB and 400 MB of RAM, depending on how many charts and how much history it holds. CPU use is low when a terminal is just running an EA on one chart.
| Terminals | Sensible minimum RAM |
|---|---|
| 2–3 | 2 GB |
| 4–6 | 4 GB |
| 7–10 | 8 GB |
Four ways to keep the footprint down — worth doing before you conclude you need a bigger machine:
- One chart per terminal. An EA only needs a single chart to run on. Close the rest.
- Reduce chart history: Tools → Options → Charts → set Max bars in chart to something modest like 5,000.
- Trim Market Watch to the symbols you actually trade (right-click → Hide All, then add back what you need).
- Turn off the News tab if you don't read it in-terminal.
Should you use a VPS?
If your terminals need to stay online when your computer is off — which is the case for anything automated, including trade copying — then yes. A Windows VPS runs them 24/7 with a stable connection and no risk of a laptop sleeping mid-session.
Size it by RAM using the table above; CPU is rarely the constraint for terminals running a single EA each. Choosing a VPS located near your broker's servers can shave latency, though for most strategies the difference is small.
The mistakes that catch people out
⚠️ Logging one terminal in and out of each account in turn.
This is by far the most common. People set up account one, then log that same terminal into account two, then account three — and wonder why only the last one ever seems to work. Each account needs its own terminal, all running simultaneously.
- Per-terminal settings are per-terminal. Options such as the WebRequest URL whitelist (Tools → Options → Expert Advisors) apply only to the installation you set them in. Every new install needs configuring again.
- AutoTrading is per-terminal too. The toolbar button must be green in each one.
- Copies without
/portablecan share a data folder and overwrite each other's settings. - Undersized VPS. Terminals that get starved of RAM disconnect intermittently, which looks like a broker problem but isn't.
Keeping several accounts in sync
Once your terminals are running, the next question is usually how to trade them together rather than one at a time. That's what a trade copier does: you trade one account, and the rest mirror it automatically.
MetaToolsLab copies trades from one MT5 account to your others in under a second, across different computers, VPS providers and brokers. You install a lightweight EA in each terminal, paste that account's key, and every trade, modification and close is mirrored — with a per-account lot multiplier, reverse mode, slippage limits and cross-broker symbol mapping. No broker password is ever required.
Frequently asked questions
Can I run two MT5 terminals from the same broker? Yes. Install MT5 twice into separate folders (or use portable mode) and log each into a different account with that broker.
Is there a limit to how many terminals I can run? Not from MetaTrader itself — the practical limit is your machine's memory. Use roughly 150–400 MB per terminal as a planning figure.
Do I need a separate MT5 installation per account, or per broker? Per account. Two accounts at the same broker still need two terminals if you want both online at once.
Will multiple terminals slow down my trading? Not meaningfully, provided the machine has enough RAM. Terminals running one chart and one EA are light; problems appear when memory runs out and Windows starts swapping.
Can I do this on a Mac? Not natively — MT5 is a Windows application. Mac users generally run it through a virtualisation layer or, more commonly for automated setups, on a Windows VPS.
Running several accounts already? MetaToolsLab mirrors your trades across all of them in real time — cloud-based, no VPS requirement for the copier itself, and no broker credentials. Free 14-day trial, no card required.
MetaToolsLab is trade-copying software — not a broker, signal provider, or financial advisor, and nothing here is financial advice. Trading carries a high risk of loss.