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The Backtesting Lab lets you step back into any trading day and work through it as if you were live. You advance the chart one bar at a time, mark hypothetical entries, stops, and exits directly on the chart, and see your P&L calculate instantly — all without a single dollar at risk. Sessions are saveable and shareable as interactive replays, so you can revisit your reasoning or send a session to a peer for review.
Backtesting Lab is a Pro tier feature. Upgrade your plan to unlock access.

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What you can do in Backtesting Lab

  • Replay any historical trading day bar-by-bar from market open
  • Choose any timeframe: 1min, 5min, 15min, 1hr, 4hr, or daily
  • Mark hypothetical entries, stop losses, and exits directly on the chart
  • See instant P&L calculations for every hypothetical fill
  • Add journal-style notes at any point during the replay
  • Save sessions and share them as interactive replays
Use your Analytics heatmap and setup performance data to identify the setups you struggle with most, then build dedicated Backtesting Lab sessions around exactly those patterns. Targeted repetition is the fastest way to convert a weak setup into a reliable one.

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Run a backtesting session

1

Open Backtesting Lab

Navigate to Backtesting in the Advanced section of the sidebar.
2

Select an instrument and date

Choose the symbol you want to replay and pick the historical date you want to work through.
3

Choose your timeframe

Select the chart timeframe that matches how you trade that instrument — 1min, 5min, 15min, 1hr, 4hr, or daily.
4

Advance bar-by-bar

The chart loads at market open with all future bars hidden. Use the advance control to reveal one bar at a time, exactly as price would have unfolded live.
5

Mark a hypothetical entry

When you see your setup, click on the chart to drop a hypothetical fill at that price. The entry is pinned to the bar you’re on.
6

Add a stop loss and target

Set your stop loss price and profit target. The lab calculates your risk-to-reward ratio and tracks both levels as you advance bars.
7

Advance to the outcome

Keep advancing bars to see how the trade would have played out. Your P&L updates in real time as price moves through your levels.
8

Add notes

At any point during the replay — before entry, at the exit, or anywhere in between — add notes just as you would in a live journal entry. These notes are attached to the session, not to a real trade.
9

Save the session

When you’re done, save the session. You can return to review it later or share it as an interactive replay with other NextTick users.