What keeps MT4 relevant after two decades
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences a while back, steering brokers toward MT5. Still, most retail forex traders stayed put. The reason is straightforward: 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 rebuilding that entire library, and most traders would rather keep trading than recoding.
I've tested both platforms side by side, and the differences are smaller than you'd expect. MT5 has a few extras including more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the core charting is about the same. If you're weighing up the two, MT4 still holds its own.
MT4 setup: what the manual doesn't tell you
Installation takes a few minutes. Where people waste time is configuration. Out of the box, MT4 opens with four charts crammed into the screen. Close all of them and start fresh with the instruments you actually trade.
Chart templates save time. Configure your go-to indicators on one chart, then save it as a template. From there you can apply it to any new chart without redoing the work. Sounds trivial, but over time it adds up.
A quick tweak that helps: open Tools > Options > Charts and check "Show ask line." MT4 only shows the bid price on the chart, which makes entries appear wrong by the spread amount.
How reliable is MT4 backtesting?
The strategy tester in MT4 allows you to run Expert Advisors against historical data. Worth noting though: the accuracy of those results hinges on your tick data. The default history data from MetaQuotes is interpolated, meaning the tester fills gaps with made-up prices. If you're testing something more precise than a quick look, download real tick data from a provider like Dukascopy.
Modelling quality is more important than the profit figure. Anything below 90% indicates the results are probably misleading. Traders sometimes share screenshots with 25% modelling quality and wonder why live trading looks different.
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 comes with 30 default technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. However the real depth is in custom indicators built with MQL4. You can find thousands available, spanning basic modifications to complex multi-timeframe dashboards.
Installing them is straightforward: drop the .ex4 or .mq4 file into the MQL4/Indicators folder, reboot MT4, and it appears in the Navigator further reading panel. The catch is quality control. Free indicators range from excellent to broken. Some are well coded and maintained. Others stopped working years ago and will crash your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, look at how recently it was maintained and whether people in the forums mention bugs. Bad code doesn't only show wrong data — it can freeze MT4.
Managing risk properly inside MT4
MT4 has some risk management features that a lot of people don't bother with. The most useful is the maximum deviation setting in the order window. This controls the amount of slippage you're willing to tolerate on market orders. Without this configured and you're accepting whatever price is available.
Stop losses are obvious, but MT4's trailing stop feature are worth exploring. Right-click an open trade, choose Trailing Stop, and enter a distance. Your stop loss follows with price moves in your favour. Not perfect for every strategy, but if you're riding trends it reduces 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
EAs sounds appealing: set rules, let the code trade, walk away. The reality is, the majority of Expert Advisors underperform over any decent time period. EAs advertised with incredible historical results are often fitted to past data — they look great on past prices and fall apart when the market does something different.
That doesn't mean all EAs are a waste of time. A few people develop their own EAs to handle specific, narrow tasks: time-based entries, managing position sizing, or taking profit at fixed levels. These utility-type EAs are more reliable because they execute repetitive actions without needing discretion.
When looking at Expert Advisors, test on demo first for a minimum of several weeks in different conditions. Running it forward in real time reveals more than historical results ever will.
MT4 beyond the desktop
MT4 is a Windows application at heart. If you're on macOS deal with friction. The traditional approach was running it through Wine, which mostly worked but introduced visual bugs and occasional crashes. A few brokers now offer native Mac apps wrapped around Wine under the hood, which are better but remain wrappers at the end of the day.
The mobile apps, available for both Apple and Android devices, are genuinely useful for keeping an eye on open trades and managing trades on the move. Doing proper analysis on a 5-inch screen doesn't really work, but managing exits while away from your desk is worth having.
It's worth confirming if your broker provides real Mac support or a compatibility layer — the difference in stability is noticeable.