Where to find these numbers
Open the Terminal (Ctrl+T) and look at the "Trade" tab. When you have positions open, a summary row shows Balance, Equity, Margin, Free Margin, and Margin Level. These five numbers together tell you how much room your account has before the broker starts closing trades on you.
They look intimidating at first, but each one has a plain meaning, and reading them is a core survival skill. Ignoring them is how beginners get surprised by a forced closure.
What each number means
Balance is your account before counting open trades. Equity is your balance plus or minus the floating profit and loss of open trades — your account "right now". Margin is the deposit the broker is holding to keep your positions open. Free Margin is equity minus margin: what is left to open new trades or absorb losses.
Margin Level is the key percentage: equity divided by used margin, times 100. A high percentage means plenty of breathing room; a low one means you are close to trouble.
How to read the margin level, step by step
Step 1: Find the "Margin Level" figure in the Trade tab summary, shown as a percentage.
Step 2: Understand the direction: it falls as your open trades move against you (equity drops) or as you add more positions (margin rises).
Step 3: Know your broker's thresholds. Many brokers issue a margin call warning around 100% and begin automatically closing your worst positions (a "stop out") somewhere lower, such as 50%. These numbers are in your account terms.
Step 4: Treat a falling margin level as an early warning. Well before it nears the stop-out level, you should be reducing size or closing trades — not hoping it recovers.
Keeping the level healthy
The simplest way to keep a comfortable margin level is to trade small and not to open too many positions at once. Heavy leverage and oversized trades are what push the level down fast, leaving no cushion for normal market swings.
If you never see the margin level get anywhere near the warning zone, you are probably sizing sensibly. If it dips low regularly, that is a clear signal you are trading too big.
An honest risk note
When the margin level hits the stop-out point, the broker closes positions for you, at market, whether you like it or not — often at the worst possible moment. That is not a glitch; it is the system protecting itself, and it can crystallise large losses instantly. Watching your margin level and sizing conservatively is how you avoid ever meeting it.