Import a broker file

Importing a file is how your trades get into MyTraderDash. You download your trade history from your broker's website, then upload it on Accounts & Data.

Supported brokers and files

MyTraderDash reads the trade history ("activity" or "transactions") file of:

It also reads its own formats: the MyTraderDash template and files made with Export Trades (see Use the template).

The file can be CSV, XLSX, JSON or XML. A ZIP file is a full backup made by MyTraderDash, not a broker file.

The Broker list in Add Account has two groups: Files can be imported and Template or manual entry only (Wealthsimple, TD, Fidelity, Interactive Brokers and others). You can create accounts for the second group, but their files can't be read yet. Use the template or Add a trade by hand instead.

How the app recognizes your file

The app recognizes a file by its column headings, not by the broker you picked for the account. After you choose a file, the preview shows Detected broker format with the broker it found.

That also means the app can't tell whether a file belongs to the account you selected. A Questrade file imported into your Schwab account is read as Questrade and ends up in the Schwab account. Always check the account before you import.

Getting the file from your broker

Each broker names and places its export differently, and this guide doesn't cover every one. In general:

• Look for a page named activity, transactions or history in your broker's website.
• Export all activity (trades, dividends, option expirations, transfers), not only trades.
• Choose the longest date range the broker allows. A position opened before the file's first date can't be matched to its buy and shows up as an issue.
• Export one account at a time, and import each file into its own account here.

Before you start

You need an account to import into. If you don't have one yet, click Add Account on Accounts & Data. Your first login explains each field.

Import step by step

1. On Accounts & Data, click the import (up-arrow) button on the account's row in Trading Accounts (or Import Data in the Import Data card). The Import Data window opens.
2. Under Select Account for Import, pick the account. Coming from a row's import button, it's already picked; if you have only one account, it's picked for you.
3. Drag your file onto the box that says Drag & drop or click to select, or click the box and choose the file.
4. Wait while the box says Generating preview.... Nothing is saved yet.
5. Read the Import Preview (explained below). Answer any transfer questions.
6. Click Import N Trades. To pick another file instead, click Back.
7. Wait while Processing Import shows a progress bar. Large files take a while.
8. When you see Import Completed Successfully, click Done.

Several files at once

You can pick (or drag) several files for the same account in one go — for example one export per year. Each file is still imported on its own, exactly as if you'd done them one by one:

1. The window previews every file (Previewing file 2 of 3...) and lists them, one row per file, with its broker and how many rows it will import and skip. A file that can't be read says why and is left out.
2. Click Details on a row to see that file's full preview (explained below), and to answer its transfer questions. Import waits until every question is answered.
3. Click Import N files (M trades). The files are imported one after another (File 1 of 3); the result lists each file's inserted, updated and skipped rows, or why it failed. A failed file doesn't stop the others.

Files that overlap (the same trades in two exports) are fine: a trade already imported from one file is recognized in the next. A ZIP backup can't be mixed with broker files — restore it on its own.

Reading the preview

When the file holds identical rows on the same day (same ticker, quantity, price and fees), the preview lists them: each is imported as its own trade, one per fill. See Importing the same trades again.

Skipped Rows lists why rows are skipped, one reason per line with a count. If the reason is UNRESOLVABLE_TICKER, the app couldn't find the ticker. A Know what this is? link appears next to each such ticker: use it to tell us what the ticker became (after a merger or a name change, for example).

Download Issue Rows saves the skipped and low-confidence rows as a CSV file, so you can see exactly which lines they are.

Transfer questions

When the file moves positions in or out of the account, a Transfer Trades Detected box lists them. Most are worked out by themselves. When the app can't tell which way a position went, it asks "Was this position:" with two choices:

• Long (I bought this position)
• Short (I sold this position)

Answer each one. Import N Trades stays greyed out until every question has an answer.

After the import

The result shows four counts:

• Inserted: new trades.
• Updated: trades that were already here and whose values changed in this file (see Importing a file again).
• Unchanged: trades that were already here with nothing new.
• Skipped: rows that weren't imported.

If rows were skipped during the import, a Download button saves them as a CSV file. Errors come with a Download Issues button; trades that were already here and were refreshed come with their own Download.

Import Another starts over with a new file; Done closes the window. During the import the app matches your trades into positions and detects strategies, so every page is up to date.

If that processing step fails, the result says Your trades were saved, but processing them failed instead of a success message. Your trades are kept; the positions, strategies and totals may be wrong until it's fixed. We're notified automatically, and a red banner stays at the top of every page until then. See Something went wrong processing your trades.

After Done you may see a Loading Market Data page while the app gets current prices for your open positions. It returns to Accounts & Data by itself; Skip to app leaves early, and the prices still appear as they arrive.

Then check the result on the Trade Log with Show Issues, and in Data Quality on Accounts & Data. See Find and fix data issues.

When the file isn't recognized

If the app doesn't recognize the file, you see Unsupported — logged to help us add support under the drop box, and nothing is imported. We're notified, and a copy of the file is kept for 30 days so support for that format can be added, then deleted.

A file of a type the app doesn't read at all, such as a PDF, is reported the same way, and the message names the types that work: CSV, XLSX, JSON and XML (ZIP for backups). The file picker offers those types by default.

What you can do:

• Check that it's the trade history file. Broker websites often offer several exports (statements, tax slips, holdings); only the activity or transactions export works.
• Copy your trades into the template (below) and import that.
• Type the trades in with Add a trade by hand.
• Tell us about your broker with the Feedback button in the sidebar.

Use the template

The template works for any broker.

1. On Accounts & Data, in the Import Data card, click Download Template XLSX. It contains sample rows and a sheet that describes every column.
2. Replace the sample rows with your trades. Exchange and Market are optional; Currency tells US and Canadian listings of the same ticker apart.
3. Import the file like a broker file. The preview shows Detected broker format: MyTraderDash.

A CSV made with Export Trades on Accounts & Data uses the same format, so it can be imported again too.

Importing a file again

You can import the same file twice, or a newer file whose dates overlap the last one. Trades are matched by their details, so nothing is duplicated:

• A row that's already here is counted as Unchanged, not added again. Importing the same file twice changes nothing.
• A row that's already here but with a different quantity, fee or date is Updated; the result's Download lists each one with the fields that changed.
• A row that's new (a later date, or a date range you hadn't imported) is Inserted.
• A trade you added by hand is never changed by an import.
• A trade whose price you edited is left as it is; the import skips it.
• Other edits (date, quantity, fees) on a trade whose price you didn't change are replaced by the file's values.
• A trade you deleted comes back if the file still contains it.

So the easiest way to stay current is to import a fresh export from time to time. To fill in older history, import an older file into the same account.