What keeps MT4 relevant after two decades
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences years ago, pushing brokers toward MT5. But most retail forex traders haven't moved. The reason is not complicated: MT4 works, and people trust what works. A huge library of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts were built for MT4. Migrating to MT5 means porting that entire library, and the majority of users can't justify the effort.
I spent time testing MT4 and MT5 side by side, and the differences are marginal for most strategies. MT5 adds a few extras such as more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the core charting feels nearly identical. For most retail strategies, 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 configuration. On first launch, MT4 shows four charts crammed into the screen. Close all of them and start fresh with the instruments you care about.
Chart templates save time. Configure your go-to indicators on one chart, then right-click and save as template. Then you can apply it to any new chart without redoing the work. Small thing, but over weeks it saves hours.
One setting worth changing: open Tools > Options > Charts and tick "Show ask line." The default view is the bid price on the chart, which makes entries appear wrong until you realise the ask price is hidden.
MT4 strategy tester: honest expectations
The strategy tester in MT4 allows you to run Expert Advisors against historical data. But here's the thing: the reliability of those results depends entirely on your tick data. The default history data from MetaQuotes is modelled, meaning it fills in missing ticks using algorithms. For anything beyond a rough sanity check, download real tick data from a provider like Dukascopy.
The "modelling quality" percentage tells you more than the profit figure. Below 90% indicates the results shouldn't be taken seriously. People occasionally show off backtests with 25% modelling quality and ask 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.
Custom indicators on MT4: worth the effort?
MT4 comes with 30 built-in technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. That said, the platform's actual strength lives in user-built indicators coded in MQL4. There are a massive library, spanning simple moving average variations to elaborate signal panels.
Adding a custom indicator is simple: place the .ex4 or .mq4 file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, refresh MT4, and you'll find it in the Navigator panel. One thing to watch is quality control. Publicly shared indicators are hit-and-miss. A few are well coded and maintained. Some are abandoned projects and will crash your terminal.
When adding third-party indicators, verify the last update date and if users report issues. Bad code won't just give wrong signals — it can lag MT4.
The MT4 risk controls you're probably not using
There are a few native risk management options that article a lot of people skip over. Probably the most practical one is maximum deviation in the order window. This controls the amount of slippage you're willing to tolerate on market orders. If you don't set it and the broker can fill you at whatever price is available.
Stop losses are obvious, but the trailing stop function are overlooked. Right-click an open trade, select Trailing Stop, and set the pip amount. Your stop loss follows with the trade goes in your favour. It won't suit every approach, but if you're riding trends it removes the need to sit and watch.
These settings take a minute to configure and the difference in discipline is noticeable over time.
EAs on MT4: what to realistically expect
Automated trading through Expert Advisors sounds appealing: define your rules and let the machine execute. In practice, the majority of Expert Advisors fail to deliver over any extended time period. Those sold with flawless equity curves are often fitted to past data — they look great on the specific data they were tested on and stop working once conditions shift.
None of this means all EAs are worthless. A few people code personal EAs to handle well-defined entry rules: entering at a specific time, managing position sizing, or exiting positions at predetermined levels. That kind of automation work because they execute defined operations without needing discretion.
If you're evaluating EAs, run them on a demo account for no less than two to three months. Forward testing tells you more than any backtest.
Using MT4 outside Windows
MT4 was built for Windows. If you're on macOS face a workaround. The traditional approach was emulation, which was functional but introduced rendering issues and occasional crashes. A few brokers now offer native Mac apps using Wine under the hood, which are better but still aren't true native apps.
MT4 mobile, available for both Apple and Android devices, work well for watching your account and making quick adjustments. Full analysis on a mobile device doesn't really work, but managing exits from your phone is worth having.
Look into whether your broker has a native Mac build or just a wrapper — it makes a real difference day to day.