Beginner4 min read
Your first week on a demo account: a checklist
A practical seven-day plan for learning your platform and your broker before any real money is at risk.
Why a demo account is useful, and where it misleads
A demo account lets you learn the platform, order tickets and the rhythm of the market without risking money. It can mislead, though: demo fills are often more favourable than live ones, emotions are muted when nothing real is at stake, and some demos do not model slippage or a realistic spread. Treat demo results as practice, not as a forecast.
The checklist
- Day 1: place one market order, one limit order and one stop-loss, and confirm each one in the trade history.
- Day 2: practise changing and cancelling pending orders, and note how the platform shows the spread.
- Day 3: measure the spread on your chosen pairs at three times of day, including the quietest session.
- Day 4: write a one-page plan with pairs, timeframe, entry rules, exit rules and maximum risk per trade.
- Day 5: follow the plan on every trade and record why you took each one.
- Day 6: review the week: how many trades followed the plan, and what you did when you were tempted not to.
- Day 7: decide whether you are ready for a small live account, and if not, what you need to practise more.
Key takeaways
- Use the demo to learn the mechanics, not to prove a strategy.
- Write your plan before the first trade and follow it.
- Measure real spreads and keep a record of every decision.