Copy trades already open on the master account

When you switch on a trade copier, the positions already open on the master account are copied too, once each. CopySignals does this: it is a cloud Telegram signal copier for MT4, MT5 and eTrader that reads the rooms you already follow through your own Telegram account and places the trades on your own broker account, and the same product copies between your own accounts. If your master has three trades open on Monday morning when you connect a follower, the follower gets three trades.

That is useful and it can surprise you. A position that is already 80 pips in profit is not the same trade for a new account as it was for the master. This article covers what gets copied, what changes for the follower, and the settings to check before you press start.

Does a trade copier copy positions that are already open?

In CopySignals, yes. The copier reads the master account by polling its open positions, and anything open when the copier is switched on is mirrored onto every target account, one copied trade per master trade. Nothing is installed on the master and nothing is placed on it.

If you only want trades opened after the copier starts, connect it while the master is flat. Otherwise assume that everything open will be copied. Our guide to the master and follower setup covers the general arrangement.

What happens to the stop loss and targets on a copied open trade?

Changes made on the master after the copy exists are applied to the copy. If you move the stop or a target on the master, the follower's position follows, and if you close the master position, the copy is closed as well. The follower tracks the master after the copy is made.

The opening price is the part that cannot match. The copy is made after the master entered, and your follower's broker has its own prices. The distance from entry to stop and to target may therefore be different on the follower, and the trade can be worth more or less than the master's at the moment it starts. This is the same effect described in our article on signal copier slippage, only larger because more time has passed.

Should you open the copier with trades running?

Usually it is cleaner not to, and that is a judgement, not a rule of the product. A follower that joins a trade halfway has a different risk picture. If the master's stop is close to the current price, a small adverse move closes the copy at a loss that the master never took at the same level. If the stop is far, the follower carries a full-size risk on a trade whose best part may be over.

So the choice is yours, and you have three sensible ways to make it:

1. Switch the copier on while the master is flat, so every copied trade starts together with its original.
2. Switch it on with trades open, accept that those first copies start late, and size the follower small enough that a poor start does not matter.
3. Test the sequence on a demo follower first and read what it did.

How are open trades sized on the follower?

By the follower's own rules, set per account, exactly as for any other trade. There are four methods: a fixed lot, a percent of the account measured against the stop, a multiple of the master's lot, or the master's lot scaled by balance. Every one is capped by that account's maximum lot.

The percent method matters here. It works out the lot from the follower's balance and the distance to the stop, so a stop that is already close to the market gives a larger lot, and the cap is what keeps it sane. See lot size from risk percent and the maximum lot setting before you rely on it with open trades.

Which controls limit a burst of copies at switch-on?

If the master holds six positions, the copier will try to place six on each follower within moments. Three controls shape that:

• A cap on open positions, so the follower never carries more than a number you chose. See the open positions cap.
• A maximum spread, so a copy is not placed while the broker is quoting a wide spread.
• A delay before placing, if you want the copier to wait before it acts.

Set the cap first. It is the one that decides how much of a crowded master you actually take on.

Do instrument names matter across brokers?

Yes. Open trades on the master are matched to the instrument names each follower's broker quotes, so a gold position at one broker lands on the right symbol at another. Check that the symbols resolve before switching on, with symbol renames, prefixes and suffixes set where your broker uses them. A trade whose symbol cannot be matched is a trade that is not copied, and with a running position on the master you will notice the gap quickly.

How do you check it worked?

Compare the two accounts side by side. Every open master position should have one copy on each follower, at the size your rule gives. The copier keeps an event log of the last hundred decisions per copier, each with the reason, so a missing copy shows up there. How to read the event log explains the entries.

Do this on a demo account the first time. Copying to a demo account first describes what to match to live and how long to watch. Trading carries risk, and a follower that joins running trades carries a different one from a follower that starts clean.

Which setup fits which case?

What does it cost to try?

Every CopySignals plan is the whole product, from $14 a month, and there is a 30 day money back guarantee. The plans differ only in how many trading accounts and Telegram accounts they cover; see pricing. For the product that does the copying between accounts, start at the MT4 and MT5 trade copier page. It supports MT4, MT5 and eTrader only, so an account on any other platform cannot be a master or a follower.

Our recommendation: connect a demo follower, switch the copier on while the master has one trade open, and watch what the follower does with it. Ten minutes of that tells you more than any description.