What keeps MT4 relevant after two decades
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences some time ago, nudging brokers toward MT5. Still, most retail forex traders stayed put. The reason is simple: MT4 has twenty years of muscle memory behind it. A huge library of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts run on MT4. Switching to MT5 means rebuilding that entire library, and few people don't see the point.
I spent time testing MT4 and MT5 side by side, and the gap is marginal for most strategies. MT5 has a few extras like more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the charting is about the same. Unless you need MT5-specific features, there's no compelling reason to switch.
Getting MT4 configured properly the first time
The install process is quick. Where people waste time is the setup after install. Out of the box, MT4 loads with four charts squeezed onto the screen. Clear the lot and open just the pairs you actually trade.
Save yourself repeating the same setup by using templates. Set up your preferred indicators once, then right-click and save as template. After that you can apply it to any new chart without redoing the work. Small thing, but over time it adds up.
Something most people miss: go to Tools > Options > Charts and enable "Show ask line." MT4 only shows the bid price by default, which can make buy entries seem misaligned by the spread amount.
Backtesting on MT4: what the results actually mean
MT4's built-in strategy tester gives you the ability to run Expert Advisors against historical data. That said: the reliability of those results hinges on your tick data. Standard history data from MetaQuotes is interpolated, meaning the tester fills gaps mathematically. For anything beyond a rough sanity check, download real tick data from a provider like Dukascopy.
Modelling quality is more important than the headline profit number. Anything below 90% indicates the results aren't trustworthy. I've seen people show off backtests 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 the output is only useful with quality tick data.
Building your own MT4 indicators
MT4 comes with 30 built-in technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. That said, where MT4 gets interesting lives in custom indicators written in MQL4. There are a massive library, ranging from basic modifications to complex multi-timeframe dashboards.
The install process is painless: place the .ex4 or .mq4 file into the MQL4/Indicators folder, restart MT4, and the indicator shows up in the Navigator panel. The catch is quality control. Free indicators range from excellent to broken. Some are well coded and maintained. Some stopped working years additional reading ago and may crash your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, check the last update date and whether other traders have flagged problems. A broken indicator won't just give wrong signals — it can slow down your entire platform.
Managing risk properly inside MT4
MT4 has a few native risk management tools that a lot of people skip over. The most useful is maximum deviation in the new order panel. This defines how much slippage you'll accept on market orders. Without this configured and you'll get whatever price comes through.
Stop losses are obvious, but MT4's trailing stop feature is overlooked. Right-click an open trade, select Trailing Stop, and enter a distance. It moves automatically as price moves into profit. It won't suit every approach, but for trend-following it reduces the urge to sit and watch.
None of this is complicated to set up and they remove a lot of the emotional decision-making.
EAs on MT4: what to realistically expect
Automated trading through Expert Advisors have obvious appeal: define your rules and let the machine execute. In reality, most EAs underperform over any decent time period. EAs sold with flawless equity curves are often over-optimised — they worked on the specific data they were tested on and stop working when conditions shift.
That doesn't mean all EAs are useless. Some traders develop custom EAs to handle well-defined entry rules: entering at a specific time, automating position size calculations, or exiting positions at fixed levels. These utility-type EAs work because they execute defined operations where you don't need discretion.
If you're evaluating EAs, run them on a demo account for no less than a few months. Live demo testing tells you more than historical results ever will.
Using MT4 outside Windows
The platform was designed for Windows. Running it on Mac deal with a workaround. The traditional approach was Wine or PlayOnMac, which mostly worked but introduced visual bugs and the odd crash. Some brokers now offer Mac-specific builds built on compatibility layers, which work more smoothly but still aren't true native apps.
MT4 mobile, available for both Apple and Android devices, are genuinely useful for monitoring your account and tweaking stops. Full analysis on a 5-inch screen isn't realistic, but adjusting a stop loss from your phone has saved plenty of traders.
Look into whether your broker has a proper macOS version or just Wine under the hood — the difference in stability is noticeable.