The Trade Log tab shows every single trade your automated backtest took, in order. Where the Overview tab gives you the big-picture stats, the Trade Log lets you verify exactly how those numbers were made — trade by trade.
What is the Trade Log?
The Trade Log is the full, ordered list of trades the engine executed during your backtest. Each row is one trade, and the running balance updates down the list so you can follow your account through the whole period.
To open it, go to Backtesting → Sessions, click the three-dot menu (⋮) on an automated backtesting session, and choose Session results.
Then click the Trade Log tab at the top of the Results page.
What do the Trade Log columns mean?
Each trade shows the following:
# — the trade's order in the backtest.
Date — the date and time the trade was taken (shown in ET).
Direction — whether the trade was a Long or a Short.
Entry — the price the engine entered at. When your strategy described how to enter, a small label next to the price shows it, such as Limit, Stop or Next bar open.
Exit — the price the engine exited at.
Size — the position size for that trade.
P&L — the profit or loss on that trade.
Exit Reason — why the trade closed (see below).
Running Balance — your account balance after the trade closed.
What do the exit reasons mean?
The Exit Reason tells you what closed each trade. You'll commonly see:
Target Hit — the trade reached your take-profit level.
Stop Hit — the trade reached your stop loss.
Session end — the trade was closed at the end of your selected session because it hadn't yet hit its target or stop.
Signal exit — your strategy's exit signal fired, and the trade closed at that bar's close.
If a trade took partial profits before its final exit, a small label such as +2 partial TPs shows next to its Exit Reason. Open the trade to see each part.
How do I filter and sort the Trade Log?
Above the table, a filter bar lets you narrow the list:
Direction — choose All, Long, or Short.
Date range — set a From and a To date (in ET). Both days are included.
Clear filters — active only when a filter or a non-default sort is on.
Click the Date, Direction, or P&L column heading to sort by it. Click again to flip between ascending and descending. By default, trades are sorted by Date, oldest first.
The Running Balance column keeps each trade's true balance, even when the list is sorted by P&L or filtered.
If nothing matches the filters applied, the table says "No trades match the current filters".
How do I open a trade to see it on the chart?
Click any trade in the Trade Log to open its detail panel. This lets you check each trade against your written rules, so you understand how your results were made rather than trusting a final number.
The detail panel shows:
P&L, Entry and Exit prices, and the trade's Duration
Entry Time, Exit Time, Exit Reason, and Position Size
The trade plotted on a chart, with its Entry, Exit, and Stop marked
A card for each partial exit, if the trade took any
Use the Timeframe selector above the chart (1m through 1d) to view the trade on different timeframes.
You can also mark each trade as Valid or Invalid using the toggle in the top-right of the panel. It's a quick way to separate the trades that followed your rules from the ones that didn't.
How do I export my backtest trades?
Click Export CSV in the top-right of the Trade Log to download every trade as a spreadsheet. This is useful for deeper analysis, keeping a record, or comparing runs side by side.
Where can I see a more detailed list of backtest trades?
For a richer breakdown, open the Trade View page from the Backtesting sidebar and filter to your session using the accounts filter. From there, you can customize which columns to show — like Net ROI, Commissions, Total fees, Zella Insights, and Zella Scale.
For more details on the Trade View, see the Understanding the Trade View Page.
If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to reach out to our support team — we're here to help!