A practical look at MT4 for forex traders
MT4 in 2026: why it refuses to die
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences a while back, steering brokers toward MT5. Yet most retail forex traders haven't moved. The reason is not complicated: MT4 has twenty years of muscle memory behind it. Thousands of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts run on MT4. Migrating to MT5 means rebuilding that entire library, and the majority of users would rather keep trading than recoding.
After testing both platforms side by side, and the differences are smaller than you'd expect. MT5 adds a few extras such as more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the core charting the original source feels very similar. For most retail strategies, MT4 is more than enough.
Setting up MT4 without the usual headaches
Installation takes a few minutes. Where people waste time is the setup after install. Out of the box, MT4 opens with four charts squeezed onto the screen. Shut them all and start fresh with the pairs you care about.
Chart templates save time. Set up your usual indicators on one chart, then right-click and save as template. From there you can apply it to any new chart instantly. Small thing, but over months it makes a difference.
One setting worth changing: go to Tools > Options > Charts and tick "Show ask line." By default MT4 displays the bid price on the chart, which can make entries appear wrong by the spread amount.
Backtesting on MT4: what the results actually mean
The strategy tester in MT4 lets you run Expert Advisors against historical data. But here's the thing: the accuracy of those results hinges on your tick data. The default history data from MetaQuotes is modelled, meaning the tester fills gaps with made-up prices. For anything beyond a rough sanity check, grab proper historical data.
Modelling quality tells you more than the bottom-line PnL. If it's under 90% indicates the results aren't trustworthy. I've seen people share screenshots with 25% modelling quality and can't figure out why the EA fails in real conditions.
This is one area where MT4 genuinely outperforms most web-based platforms, but it's only as good as the data you give it.
MT4 indicators beyond the defaults
MT4 ships with 30 built-in technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. But the real depth lives in community-made indicators written in MQL4. The MQL5 marketplace alone has a massive library, spanning tweaked versions of standard tools to full trading dashboards.
Adding a custom indicator is simple: copy the .ex4 or .mq4 file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, refresh MT4, and it appears in the Navigator panel. The risk is quality control. Publicly shared indicators are hit-and-miss. Some are well coded and maintained. Many are abandoned projects and can freeze your terminal.
When adding third-party indicators, verify when it was last updated and whether people in the forums report issues. A poorly written indicator doesn't only show wrong data — it can freeze your entire platform.
Risk management settings most MT4 traders ignore
You'll find a few native risk management options that the majority of users skip over. The most useful is the maximum deviation setting in the order window. It sets how much slippage you're willing to tolerate on market orders. If you don't set it and you're accepting whatever price is available.
Stop losses go without saying, but trailing stops is underused. Right-click an open trade, pick Trailing Stop, and define the pip amount. It follows automatically as the trade goes your way. It won't suit every approach, but if you're riding trends it removes the need to stare at the screen.
These settings take a minute to configure and the difference in discipline is noticeable over time.
EAs on MT4: what to realistically expect
Expert Advisors on MT4 have obvious appeal: define your rules and let the machine execute. The reality is, most EAs fail to deliver over any decent time period. EAs advertised with flawless equity curves are often fitted to past data — they worked on past prices and fall apart the moment the market does something different.
That doesn't mean all EAs are useless. A few people develop custom EAs to handle specific, narrow tasks: opening trades at session opens, automating position size calculations, or taking profit at set levels. These smaller, focused scripts work because they handle defined operations where you don't need interpretation.
If you're evaluating EAs, run them on a demo account for a minimum of two to three months. Running it forward in real time reveals more than any backtest.
MT4 on Mac and mobile: what actually works
MT4 was built for Windows. Mac users has always been friction. The traditional approach was emulation, which did the job but introduced visual bugs and stability problems. Some brokers now offer native Mac apps built on compatibility layers, which are better but still aren't built from scratch for Mac.
The mobile apps, available for both iPhone and Android, are surprisingly capable for keeping an eye on open trades 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 real Mac support or a compatibility layer — it makes a real difference day to day.