What keeps MT4 relevant after two decades
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences some time ago, nudging brokers toward MT5. Yet most retail forex traders stayed put. The reason is straightforward: MT4 has twenty years of muscle memory behind it. A huge library of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts run on MT4. Migrating to MT5 means porting that entire library, and the majority of users don't see the point.
I've tested MT4 and MT5 side by side, and the differences are less dramatic than the marketing suggests. MT5 adds a few extras such as more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but chart functionality is very similar. Unless you need MT5-specific features, there's no compelling reason to switch.
Setting up MT4 without the usual headaches
Downloading and installing MT4 is the easy part. The part that trips people up is the setup after install. Out of the box, MT4 shows four charts crammed into one window. Close all of them and open just the pairs you follow.
Chart templates save time. Build your preferred indicators once, then right-click and save as template. Then you can apply it to any new chart instantly. Small thing, but over weeks it saves hours.
Something most people miss: go to Tools > Options > Charts and check "Show ask line." The default view is the bid price by default, which can make entries appear wrong by the spread amount.
MT4 strategy tester: honest expectations
The strategy tester in MT4 gives you the ability to run Expert Advisors against historical data. But here's the thing: the accuracy of those results depends entirely on your tick data. Standard history data from MetaQuotes is interpolated, meaning it fills in missing ticks with made-up prices. For anything beyond a rough sanity check, grab third-party tick data.
The "modelling quality" percentage is more important than the headline profit number. Anything below 90% means the results aren't trustworthy. Traders sometimes share screenshots with 25% modelling quality and can't figure out why live trading looks different.
This is one area where MT4 genuinely outperforms most web-based platforms, but the output is only useful with quality tick data.
Building your own MT4 indicators
MT4 ships with 30 built-in technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. However where MT4 gets interesting comes from user-built indicators written in MQL4. You can find over 2,000 options, covering everything from simple moving average variations to full trading dashboards.
The install process is painless: drop the .ex4 or .mq4 file into the MQL4/Indicators folder, reboot MT4, and you'll find it in the Navigator panel. The risk is quality. Publicly shared indicators vary wildly. A few are well coded and maintained. Others are abandoned projects and can freeze your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, verify how recently it was maintained and if other traders report issues. Bad code won't just give wrong signals — it can freeze MT4.
Risk management settings most MT4 traders ignore
There are a few native risk management tools that the majority of users never configure. Probably the most practical one is maximum deviation in the order window. It sets the amount of slippage you'll accept on market orders. Leave it at zero and you'll get whatever price the broker gives you.
Stop losses go without saying, but trailing stops are underused. Click on an open trade, pick Trailing Stop, and set your preferred distance. It adjusts when the trade goes your way. Doesn't work well in choppy markets, but on trending pairs it takes away the temptation to micromanage the trade.
These settings take a minute to configure and the difference in discipline is noticeable over time.
EAs on MT4: what to realistically expect
Expert Advisors on MT4 attract traders for obvious reasons: set rules, let the code trade, walk away. The reality is, the majority of Expert Advisors fail to deliver over any extended time period. The ones sold with flawless equity curves tend to be curve-fitted — they look great on past prices and break down the moment market conditions change.
That doesn't mean all EAs are a waste of time. A few people code their own EAs for one particular setup: time-based entries, managing position sizing, or taking profit at predetermined levels. That kind of automation work because they execute mechanical tasks without needing judgment.
When looking at Expert Advisors, test on demo first for a minimum of a few months. Forward testing tells you more than any backtest.
Using MT4 outside Windows
The platform was designed for Windows. Mac users face friction. Previously was Wine or PlayOnMac, which did the job but had rendering issues and stability problems. Some brokers now offer macOS versions wrapped around Wine under the hood, which are better but still aren't true native apps.
The mobile apps, on both Apple and Android devices, are genuinely useful for watching positions and managing trades on the move. Doing proper analysis on a phone screen is pushing it, best mt4 brokers but managing exits from your phone has saved plenty of traders.
Look into whether your broker has a proper macOS version or just Wine under the hood — the experience varies a lot between the two.