What keeps MT4 relevant after two decades
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences a while back, pushing brokers toward MT5. Yet most retail forex traders haven't moved. The reason is simple: MT4 works, and people trust what works. A huge library of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts run on MT4. Migrating to MT5 means porting that entire library, and few people can't justify the effort.
After testing MT4 and MT5 side by side, and the differences are less dramatic than the marketing suggests. MT5 has a few extras like more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but chart functionality is nearly identical. If you're weighing up the two, MT4 is more than enough.
MT4 setup: what the manual doesn't tell you
Installation takes a few minutes. The part that trips people up is getting everything configured correctly. On first launch, MT4 shows four charts tiled across one window. Close all of them and open just the markets you follow.
Save yourself repeating the same setup by using templates. Build your go-to indicators once, then right-click and save as template. From there you can load it onto other charts in two clicks. Small thing, but over weeks it saves hours.
A quick tweak that helps: open Tools > Options > Charts and check "Show ask line." The default view is the bid price on the chart, which makes your entries look off until you realise the ask price is hidden.
MT4 strategy tester: honest expectations
MT4 comes with a backtester that lets you run Expert Advisors against historical data. That said: the accuracy of those results hinges on your tick data. Standard history data is interpolated, meaning gaps between real data points see here are estimated with made-up prices. If you're testing something that needs accuracy, grab real tick data from a provider like Dukascopy.
Modelling quality matters more than the bottom-line PnL. If it's under 90% suggests the results shouldn't be taken seriously. People occasionally post backtest results with 25% modelling quality and can't figure out why live trading looks different.
Backtesting is where MT4 earns its reputation, but only if you feed it decent data.
MT4 indicators beyond the defaults
MT4 ships with 30 standard technical indicators. Most traders never touch them all. That said, the real depth is in user-built indicators coded in MQL4. The MQL5 marketplace alone has a massive library, covering everything from simple moving average variations to full trading dashboards.
The install process is painless: place the .ex4 or .mq4 file into the MQL4/Indicators folder, restart MT4, and you'll find it in the Navigator panel. The catch is quality control. Free indicators vary wildly. Some are solid tools. Some haven't been updated since 2015 and may crash your terminal.
When adding third-party indicators, verify how recently it was maintained and if users have flagged problems. A broken indicator won't just give wrong signals — it can lag the whole terminal.
Risk management settings most MT4 traders ignore
You'll find several built-in risk management tools that a lot of people don't bother with. First worth mentioning is maximum deviation in the trade execution window. This controls how much slippage is acceptable on market orders. Without this configured and you're accepting whatever price comes through.
Everyone knows about stop losses, but the trailing stop function is underused. Click on an open trade, pick Trailing Stop, and enter a distance. It adjusts with price moves in your favour. Not perfect for every strategy, but on trending pairs it takes away the temptation to sit and watch.
These settings take a minute to configure and they take some of the guesswork out of trade management.
Expert Advisors — before you trust a robot with your money
Expert Advisors on MT4 have obvious appeal: program your strategy and stop staring at charts. In reality, most EAs underperform over any meaningful time period. Those sold with perfect backtest curves tend to be curve-fitted — they worked on past prices and break down when conditions shift.
This isn't to say all EAs are useless. Certain traders develop personal EAs for specific, narrow tasks: time-based entries, automating position size calculations, or exiting positions at set levels. These smaller, focused scripts are more reliable because they do repetitive actions that don't require judgment.
When looking at Expert Advisors, use a demo account for a minimum of two to three months. Running it forward in real time reveals more than backtesting alone.
MT4 beyond the desktop
MT4 is a Windows application at heart. If you're on macOS face compromises. The old method was emulation, which did the job but introduced display glitches and occasional crashes. A few brokers now offer macOS versions using Crossover or similar wrappers, which is an improvement but still aren't true native apps.
The mobile apps, on both Apple and Android devices, are genuinely useful for monitoring open trades and tweaking stops. Full analysis on a phone screen isn't realistic, but closing a trade from your phone has saved plenty of traders.
It's worth confirming if your broker provides real Mac support or a compatibility layer — the difference in stability is noticeable.