What keeps MT4 relevant after two decades
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences some time ago, pushing brokers toward MT5. Yet most retail forex traders kept using MT4. The reason is straightforward: MT4 does one thing well. Thousands of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts were built for MT4. Moving to MT5 means rewriting that entire library, and the majority of users would rather keep trading than recoding.
After testing MT4 and MT5 side by side, and the differences are less dramatic than the marketing suggests. MT5 has a few extras such as more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the charting feels nearly identical. Unless you need MT5-specific features, there's no compelling reason to switch.
Getting MT4 configured properly the first time
Installation takes a few minutes. The part that trips people up is getting everything configured correctly. By default, MT4 opens with four charts tiled across the screen. Shut them all and start fresh with the pairs you care about.
Templates are worth setting up early. Build your go-to indicators on one chart, then save it as a template. After that you can load it onto other charts in two clicks. Small thing, but over weeks it saves hours.
Something most people miss: go to Tools > Options > Charts and tick "Show ask line." The default view is the bid price on the chart, which can make your entries look off until you realise the ask price is hidden.
Backtesting on MT4: what the results actually mean
The strategy tester in MT4 lets you run Expert Advisors against historical data. That said: the quality of those results depends entirely on your tick data. The default history data from MetaQuotes is interpolated, meaning the tester fills gaps mathematically. For anything beyond a see here rough sanity check, you need real tick data from a provider like Dukascopy.
That quality percentage in the results is more important than the bottom-line PnL. If it's under 90% indicates the results are probably misleading. People occasionally share screenshots with 25% modelling quality and can't figure out why the EA fails in real conditions.
The strategy tester is one of MT4's stronger features, but it's only as good as the data you give it.
MT4 indicators beyond the defaults
MT4 ships with 30 default technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. That said, the platform's actual strength is in community-made indicators coded in MQL4. You can find thousands available, spanning basic modifications to elaborate signal panels.
The install process is painless: drop the .ex4 or .mq4 file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, refresh MT4, and you'll find it in the Navigator panel. The risk is quality. Free indicators vary wildly. Some are well coded and maintained. Many are abandoned projects and may crash your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, check how recently it was maintained and whether people in the forums mention bugs. A poorly written indicator won't just give wrong signals — it can slow down your entire platform.
Risk management settings most MT4 traders ignore
MT4 has several built-in risk management features that a lot of people never configure. The most useful is maximum deviation in the trade execution window. It sets the amount of slippage is acceptable on market orders. Without this configured and you're accepting whatever price is available.
Stop losses are obvious, but trailing stops is underused. Click on an open trade, choose Trailing Stop, and define the pip amount. Your stop loss follows when the trade goes your way. Doesn't work well in choppy markets, but if you're riding trends it takes away the urge to stare at the screen.
These settings take a minute to configure and they remove a lot of the emotional decision-making.
EAs on MT4: what to realistically expect
Expert Advisors on MT4 sounds appealing: define your rules and let the machine execute. The reality is, the majority of Expert Advisors lose money over any decent time period. Those marketed using perfect backtest curves are often fitted to past data — they look great on the specific data they were tested on and fall apart once the market does something different.
This isn't to say all EAs are a waste of time. A few people develop their own EAs to handle specific, narrow tasks: entering at a specific time, managing position sizing, or exiting positions at fixed levels. That kind of automation work because they handle defined operations where you don't need judgment.
Before running any EA with real money, use a demo account for a minimum of a few months. Running it forward in real time reveals more than any backtest.
Using MT4 outside Windows
MT4 is a Windows application at heart. Mac users has always been compromises. Previously was emulation, which mostly worked but introduced rendering issues and the odd crash. A few brokers now offer macOS versions using Crossover or similar wrappers, which work more smoothly but remain wrappers at the end of the day.
The mobile apps, on both iPhone and Android, are genuinely useful for watching your account and making quick adjustments. Doing proper analysis on a 5-inch screen isn't realistic, but closing a trade while away from your desk is worth having.
Check whether your broker offers a native Mac build or just a wrapper — the experience varies a lot between the two.