Why traders still pick MT4 over newer platforms
MetaQuotes stopped visit this site issuing new MT4 licences some time ago, pushing brokers toward MT5. But most retail forex traders kept using MT4. The reason is not complicated: MT4 works, and people trust what works. More than a decade's worth of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts only work with MT4. Migrating to MT5 means rewriting that entire library, and most traders would rather keep trading than recoding.
I've tested MT4 and MT5 side by side, and the differences are marginal for most strategies. MT5 has a few extras including more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the core charting feels about the same. Unless you need MT5-specific features, MT4 still holds its own.
Setting up MT4 without the usual headaches
The install process is quick. Where people waste time is the setup after install. Out of the box, MT4 opens with four charts crammed into the screen. Shut them all and open just the pairs you care about.
Save yourself repeating the same setup by using templates. Build your usual indicators on one chart, then save it as a template. From there you can apply it to any new chart in two clicks. Sounds trivial, but over time it makes a difference.
Something most people miss: open Tools > Options > Charts and tick "Show ask line." By default MT4 displays the bid price by default, which makes buy entries seem misaligned by the spread amount.
Backtesting on MT4: what the results actually mean
The strategy tester in MT4 gives you the ability to run Expert Advisors against historical data. That said: the quality of those results hinges on your tick data. Standard history data is not real tick data, meaning it fills in missing ticks with made-up prices. If you're testing something that needs accuracy, grab real tick data from a provider like Dukascopy.
That quality percentage in the results is more important than the profit figure. If it's under 90% indicates the results aren't trustworthy. Traders sometimes post backtest results with 25% modelling quality and can't figure out why live trading looks different.
The strategy tester is one of MT4's stronger features, but the output is only useful with quality tick data.
MT4 indicators beyond the defaults
MT4 comes with 30 default technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. But the real depth is in custom indicators written in MQL4. You can find over 2,000 options, ranging from tweaked versions of standard tools to complex multi-timeframe dashboards.
The install process is painless: drop the .ex4 or .mq4 file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, reboot MT4, and it appears in the Navigator panel. The risk is reliability. Free indicators range from excellent to broken. Some are solid tools. Many haven't been updated since 2015 and can freeze your terminal.
When adding third-party indicators, verify when it was last updated and whether users have flagged problems. A poorly written indicator doesn't only show wrong data — it can slow down MT4.
Risk management settings most MT4 traders ignore
There are some risk management features that the majority of users skip over. The most useful is maximum deviation in the trade execution window. This defines how much slippage you'll accept on market orders. Leave it at zero and you'll get whatever price is available.
Stop losses go without saying, but trailing stops are overlooked. Click on an open trade, pick Trailing Stop, and set the pip amount. It adjusts when price moves in your favour. Doesn't work well in choppy markets, but if you're riding trends it removes the temptation to stare at the screen.
You can configure all of this in under five minutes and they remove a lot of the emotional decision-making.
Running Expert Advisors: practical expectations
Automated trading through Expert Advisors attract traders for obvious reasons: set rules, let the code trade, walk away. In reality, a huge percentage of them lose money over any decent time period. Those sold with perfect backtest curves are often curve-fitted — they worked on the specific data they were tested on and break down when the market does something different.
That doesn't mean all EAs are worthless. Some traders build custom EAs for one particular setup: time-based entries, automating position size calculations, or taking profit at fixed levels. That kind of automation are more reliable because they execute mechanical tasks that don't require judgment.
When looking at Expert Advisors, run them on a demo account for no less than a few months. Forward testing is more informative than backtesting alone.
Using MT4 outside Windows
MT4 was built for Windows. If you're on macOS face compromises. The old method was running it through Wine, which mostly worked but had visual bugs and occasional crashes. Certain brokers now offer macOS versions wrapped around Wine under the hood, which are better but still aren't built from scratch for Mac.
The mobile apps, on both iOS and Android, are surprisingly capable for keeping an eye on open trades and making quick adjustments. Doing proper analysis on a 5-inch screen doesn't really work, but managing exits from your phone has saved plenty of traders.
It's worth confirming if your broker provides a proper macOS version or just Wine under the hood — the experience varies a lot between the two.