How to Export Your Trade History from Your Broker
By PlainSight — Insightful Actions · Updated November 2026 · ~6 min read
The short answer: on your broker's website or desktop app, look under Reports, Statements, Activity or History for your trade history (it may be called transactions, orders or realized gain/loss), set the date range, and export it as CSV or Excel. That one file is all a trading journal needs. A few brokers give PDF statements only; there's a way around that below.
Which file to export
Brokers usually offer two kinds of trade file, and either one works:
- Transactions or fills — a row for every buy and every sell, with the date and time, symbol, quantity and price. PlainSight pairs the buys and sells into round-trip trades for you, options and futures included.
- Realized gain/loss — a row for each closed trade with its profit or loss. Quick to read, but it often has dates without times.
If you can, take the transactions file. The time on each fill is what shows how long you held your winners against your losers, which is often the most telling number in the whole review. A file without times still gives your win rate and the size of your losers next to your winners.
How much history: a month or more. The leak check needs at least ten trades, and under about 30 the numbers are mostly noise. If your broker exports one year at a time, export each year; the full journal can put several files into one account (a Pro feature).
Step by step, broker by broker
Choose your broker below. Entries that name a help page were checked against that broker's own instructions in November 2026; the rest follow the menus as they're usually laid out. Brokers move things around, so if a step doesn't match your screen, look for Reports, Statements, Activity or History, and tell us so we can fix the step.
Charles Schwab / thinkorswim
- Schwab.com → Accounts → History & Statements → Transactions.
- Set the date range, then Export (top-right) → CSV.
- In thinkorswim desktop: Monitor → Account Statement → set dates → right-click the grid → Export to File → CSV.
- Drop it on the leak check or into the full journal.
Prefer per-trade P/L? Use Accounts → Realized Gain/Loss and export that instead. (TD Ameritrade accounts are now on Schwab.)
Interactive Brokers (IBKR)
- Client Portal → Performance & Reports → Statements (or Menu → Reporting → Statements).
- Press the blue Run arrow beside the Activity statement → choose the Period and the dates → Format: CSV.
- Save the file when it's offered, then drop it on the leak check or into the full journal.
Power users: a saved Activity Flex Query also exports trades as CSV.
Fidelity
- Fidelity.com → Accounts & Trade → Portfolio → Activity & Orders (or History).
- Set the date range → the download icon → CSV.
- For realized gains: Accounts → Tax Info → Realized Gain/Loss → Download.
- Drop it on the leak check or into the full journal.
Robinhood
- Account → Menu (☰; on the web, skip this) → Reports and statements → Reports.
- Generate new report → choose the account and the start and end dates → Generate report.
- When it's ready (usually about 2 hours, up to 24), download the CSV from Reports and drop it on the leak check or into the full journal.
Robinhood lists buys and sells separately — PlainSight pairs them into round-trip trades for you. Its activity report leaves out futures and crypto.
Public
- Menu (≡) → Settings → Documents → Account Statements or Trade Confirmations (the same on the web).
- Public gives these as PDF documents, not a spreadsheet — PlainSight reads CSV and Excel files, so a statement can't be dropped in as it is.
- Type or paste the trades from a statement into a spreadsheet (date, symbol, side, quantity, price), save it as CSV and drop it on the leak check — or use “Paste data” in the full journal.
Public's trade history comes as PDF statements and confirmations; its help pages list no CSV export (checked November 2026). Developers can read order history from Public's own API.
E*TRADE
- etrade.com → Accounts → Transactions (or At a Glance → Transactions).
- Set the date range → Download → Export to Excel/CSV.
- For gains: Accounts → Tax Center → Gains & Losses → Download.
- Drop it on the leak check or into the full journal.
Webull
- Desktop app: Account (left side; under More if hidden) → Orders → the ☰ icon on the right → Export Orders.
- Website: WebTrade → Account → Order History → Export. Phone app: Account → History → Orders Records → the download icon.
- Drop it on the leak check or into the full journal.
Webull's export lists cancelled and failed orders beside filled ones; PlainSight keeps only the fills.
tastytrade
- History tab → Transactions → choose the account and the date range.
- Scroll to the bottom: the list loads about 200 lines at a time, and lines not loaded are left out of the file.
- Press the CSV icon, then drop it on the leak check or into the full journal.
The export includes positions still open; PlainSight pairs what closed and sets the rest aside.
Merrill Edge
- merrilledge.com → Accounts → Activity (or Holdings → Realized Gain/Loss).
- Set the date range → Download → CSV.
- Drop it on the leak check or into the full journal.
SoFi Invest
- SoFi app/web → Invest → Account → Documents / Statements.
- Download your transaction history (CSV where offered).
- Drop it on the leak check or into the full journal.
If only PDF is available, paste the table with “Paste data.”
Vanguard
- vanguard.com → My Accounts → Activity (or Statements).
- Set the date range → Download → CSV.
- For gains: My Accounts → Cost Basis → Realized → Download.
- Drop it on the leak check or into the full journal.
TradeStation
- TradeStation → Client Center / Reports → Trade History (or Account Statements).
- Set the dates → Export → CSV.
- Drop it on the leak check or into the full journal.
NinjaTrader
- Control Center → Account Performance (or Trade Performance).
- Set the date range and run the report.
- Right-click the results grid → Export → CSV. (Or Control Center → Executions → right-click → Export.)
- Drop it on the leak check or into the full journal.
Futures fills pair into round-trip trades automatically.
Tradovate
- Tradovate web/app → Reports / Performance → Orders or Fills.
- Export the fills/orders as CSV.
- Drop it on the leak check or into the full journal.
Coinbase
- Coinbase → Profile → Reports (or Taxes → Documents).
- Generate a transaction-history report → CSV → Download.
- Drop it on the leak check or into the full journal.
Crypto buys/sells pair into round-trips just like equities.
Kraken
- Kraken → History → Export.
- Choose Trades (or Ledgers) → CSV → Submit → Download.
- Drop it on the leak check or into the full journal.
Other / any broker
- In your broker, find Reports / Statements / Activity / History.
- Look for Trade History, Realized Gains/Losses, or Transactions.
- Export as CSV or Excel. If only PDF is offered, copy the table and use “Paste data.”
- drop it on the leak check or into the full journal — PlainSight pairs raw buy/sell fills into round-trip trades automatically.
When an export won't read
- It's a PDF. PlainSight reads CSV, TSV and Excel files, not PDFs. If your broker gives PDF statements only (Public does, for one), copy the trades into a spreadsheet — date, symbol, side, quantity, price — and save it as CSV, or paste the table into Paste data in the full journal.
- It's a whole account statement. Some exports, like thinkorswim's Account Statement, put several sections in one file: cash, orders, trades, positions. PlainSight looks for the trade history among them. If it can't find one, export the trade history on its own.
- "No trades found." The file needs a date, a symbol, and either a profit-and-loss column or buys and sells to pair. A positions or balances file has neither, so go back for the transactions or the trade history.
- Cancelled orders are in it. That's fine. Order histories (Webull's, for example) list cancelled and failed orders next to filled ones, and only the fills are counted.
- Some positions are still open. Also fine. An open position isn't a finished trade, so it's set aside until it closes.
- Something's missing. Check the date range first. Some reports leave whole kinds of trades out — Robinhood's account activity report has no futures or crypto — and some lists export only what has loaded on screen (tastytrade's loads about 200 lines at a time, so scroll to the bottom first).
- It's a currency (forex) book. Its profit and loss is in another currency, so the quick check can't add it up.
- It's very large. The leak check reads files up to 25 MB; the full journal reads bigger ones.
What happens to the file
On PlainSight, nothing leaves your device. Your browser reads the file, and no copy of it is sent anywhere. How that works, and how to check it yourself.
Frequently asked questions
- What file do I export from my broker for a trading journal?
- Your trade history as a CSV or Excel file: either the transactions (every buy and sell, with times) or a realized gain/loss report. The transactions file is better, because its times show how long you held each trade.
- Can I use a PDF statement?
- Not directly. Copy the trades into a spreadsheet and save it as CSV, or paste the table into Paste data in PlainSight's full journal.
- How much trade history should I export?
- A month or more. Under about 30 trades, the numbers say more about luck than about your habits.
- Does PlainSight need my broker login?
- No. You export the file yourself and drop it on the page. It's read in your browser and never uploaded.
Broker menus were checked as noted above and can change without notice. PlainSight is not affiliated with any broker named here. This guide is general information, not investment advice.