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Slippage in Forex: Why Your Fill Differs From the Price on Screen

Slippage is the gap between requested and executed price. When it is normal, when it signals a problem with your broker, and how to cap it in the terminal.

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BrokerObserver Research9 years in investing education, live accounts at every broker we rank · Updated 2026-09-07

You click buy at 1.0850 and the statement shows 1.0852. Those two pips are slippage. It happens because time passes between your click and execution, and price moves in the meantime.

When it is normal

  • News. During NFP or a rate decision, spreads widen and order book depth thins. Five to twenty pips in the first seconds is ordinary.
  • Monday open. If something happened over the weekend, price gaps and stops fill beyond their level.
  • Large size. A 20-lot order may not find matching volume at one price and gets filled in pieces.

When it becomes a question for the broker

Slippage that consistently runs against the client is a bad sign. So are requotes that appear whenever price moves your way and vanish when it moves against you. That is not a technical fault.

The test is simple: log requested and filled prices for a month. At a sound broker the distribution comes out roughly symmetrical.

How to cap it

MetaTrader's market execution dialog has a maximum deviation box. Two to three pips is sensible in quiet hours. Around news, pending orders give you control over entry price, though they still cannot guarantee a fill across a gap.

Frequently asked questions

Is slippage always against the trader?

Not at an honest broker. Positive slippage should appear about as often as negative. If a month of records shows only negative fills, that is worth questioning.

Can slippage be switched off?

Not entirely, but MetaTrader has a maximum deviation setting. If price moves beyond it, the order simply is not filled.

Why did my stop-loss fill at a worse price?

A stop is a market order triggered at a level. It fills at the first available price, and across a gap that price can be well beyond the level.

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CFDs are complex instruments with a high risk of losing money