What keeps MT4 relevant after two decades
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences years ago, nudging brokers toward MT5. But most retail forex traders kept using MT4. The reason is simple: MT4 works, and people trust what works. Thousands of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts only work with MT4. Migrating to MT5 means porting that entire library, and the majority of users can't justify the effort.
I've tested both platforms side by side, and the differences are less dramatic than the marketing suggests. MT5 adds a few extras including more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but chart functionality feels very similar. If you're weighing up the two, MT4 is more than enough.
Getting MT4 configured properly the first time
Installation takes a few minutes. The part that trips people up is getting everything configured correctly. Out of the box, MT4 shows four charts crammed into a single workspace. Close all of them and open just the instruments you care about.
Save yourself repeating the same setup by using templates. Build your usual indicators once, then save it as a template. From there you can apply it to any new the full details chart instantly. Sounds trivial, but over time it makes a difference.
A quick tweak that helps: go to Tools > Options > Charts and enable "Show ask line." By default MT4 displays the bid price by default, which makes entries appear wrong by the spread amount.
Backtesting on MT4: what the results actually mean
MT4 comes with a backtester that allows you to run Expert Advisors against historical data. But here's the thing: the quality of those results hinges on your tick data. The default history data is modelled, meaning the tester fills gaps with made-up prices. For anything that needs accuracy, you need third-party tick data.
That quality percentage in the results tells you more than the profit figure. Anything below 90% indicates the results shouldn't be taken seriously. I've seen people post backtest results with 25% modelling quality and can't figure out why their live results don't match.
The strategy tester is one of MT4's stronger features, but only if you feed it decent data.
MT4 indicators beyond the defaults
MT4 comes with 30 built-in technical indicators. The average trader uses maybe a handful. That said, where MT4 gets interesting lives in custom indicators coded in MQL4. There are thousands available, ranging from simple moving average variations to full trading dashboards.
The install process is painless: copy the .ex4 or .mq4 file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, reboot MT4, and you'll find it in the Navigator panel. The catch is quality. Community indicators are hit-and-miss. Some are well coded and maintained. Many haven't been updated since 2015 and will crash your terminal.
Before installing anything, verify how recently it was maintained and if people in the forums report issues. Bad code won't just give wrong signals — it can freeze MT4.
Managing risk properly inside MT4
MT4 has several built-in risk management features that most traders never configure. The most useful is the maximum deviation setting in the new order panel. This controls the amount of slippage you'll accept on market orders. Leave it at zero and you're accepting whatever price the broker gives you.
Stop losses go without saying, but MT4's trailing stop feature are underused. Right-click an open trade, choose Trailing Stop, and set your preferred distance. The stop adjusts automatically as price moves into profit. It won't suit every approach, but on trending pairs it removes the need to stare at the screen.
None of this is complicated to set up and they remove a lot of the emotional decision-making.
EAs on MT4: what to realistically expect
Expert Advisors on MT4 sounds appealing: set rules, let the code trade, walk away. The reality is, the majority of Expert Advisors fail to deliver over any decent time period. Those marketed using incredible historical results are often fitted to past data — they look great on past prices and stop working once the market does something different.
This isn't to say all EAs are a waste of time. Certain traders code their own EAs for well-defined entry rules: entering at a specific time, calculating lot sizes, or taking profit at fixed levels. That kind of automation are more reliable because they do defined operations that don't require judgment.
If you're evaluating EAs, run them on a demo account for no less than several weeks in different conditions. Running it forward in real time reveals more than historical results ever will.
Using MT4 outside Windows
MT4 was built for Windows. If you're on macOS face compromises. The traditional approach was running it through Wine, which was functional but had rendering issues and stability problems. A few brokers now offer Mac-specific builds wrapped around Crossover or similar wrappers, which is an improvement but still aren't true native apps.
MT4 mobile, available for both iOS and Android, are surprisingly capable for keeping an eye on positions and making quick adjustments. Serious charting work on a phone screen isn't realistic, but managing exits from your phone is genuinely handy.
Look into whether your broker has real Mac support or a compatibility layer — it makes a real difference day to day.