Why traders still pick MT4 over newer platforms
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences a while back, steering brokers toward MT5. Yet most retail forex traders stayed put. The reason is simple: MT4 does one thing well. Thousands of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts run on MT4. Switching 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 gap is marginal for most strategies. MT5 adds a few extras including more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but chart functionality is about the same. If you're weighing up the two, MT4 still holds its own.
Setting up MT4 without the usual headaches
The install process is quick. What actually causes problems is getting everything configured correctly. On first launch, MT4 opens with four charts squeezed onto a single workspace. Close all of them and open just the markets you follow.
Templates are worth setting up early. Build 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 months it adds up.
A quick tweak that helps: open Tools > Options > Charts and check "Show ask line." MT4 only shows the bid price by default, which makes entries appear wrong 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. But here's the thing: the quality of those results hinges on your tick data. Standard history data from MetaQuotes is not real tick data, meaning the tester fills gaps mathematically. For anything that needs accuracy, grab third-party tick data.
That quality percentage in the results tells you more than the headline profit number. If it's under 90% suggests the results are probably misleading. Traders sometimes share screenshots with 25% modelling quality and wonder why their live results don't match.
Backtesting is where MT4 earns its reputation, but the output is only useful with quality tick data.
MT4 indicators beyond the defaults
MT4 comes with 30 standard technical indicators. Most traders never touch them all. However where MT4 gets interesting is in custom indicators written in MQL4. You can find a massive library, ranging from basic modifications to elaborate signal panels.
Installing them is straightforward: place the .ex4 or .mq4 file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, restart MT4, and you'll find it in the Navigator panel. The risk is reliability. Publicly shared indicators article source range from excellent to broken. Some are solid tools. Many stopped working years ago and will crash your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, verify the last update date and whether other traders mention bugs. Bad code won't just give wrong signals — it can slow down your entire platform.
Managing risk properly inside MT4
There are some risk management features that a lot of people don't bother with. First worth mentioning is the maximum deviation setting in the order window. It sets how much slippage you'll accept on market orders. If you don't set it and you'll get whatever price comes through.
Stop losses are obvious, but MT4's trailing stop feature are overlooked. Click on an open trade, pick Trailing Stop, and set your preferred distance. Your stop loss follows automatically as price moves your way. Doesn't work well in choppy markets, but on trending pairs it reduces the urge 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.
Expert Advisors — before you trust a robot with your money
Expert Advisors on MT4 have obvious appeal: define your rules and let the machine execute. The reality is, most EAs lose money over any meaningful time period. Those sold with flawless equity curves are often over-optimised — they look great on historical data and fall apart once the market does something different.
That doesn't mean all EAs are worthless. Certain traders develop custom EAs for well-defined entry rules: time-based entries, automating position size calculations, or taking profit at fixed levels. These utility-type EAs are more reliable because they handle repetitive actions without needing interpretation.
Before running any EA with real money, test on demo first for at least two to three months. Forward testing reveals more than any backtest.
MT4 on Mac and mobile: what actually works
The platform was designed for Windows. Mac users has always been a workaround. Previously was Wine or PlayOnMac, which mostly worked but had visual bugs and occasional crashes. A few brokers now offer macOS versions built on Crossover or similar wrappers, which work more smoothly but remain wrappers at the end of the day.
MT4 mobile, on both iOS and Android, work well for monitoring your account and tweaking stops. Doing proper analysis on a 5-inch screen isn't realistic, but adjusting a stop loss from your phone is worth having.
Look into whether your broker has a proper macOS version or just Wine under the hood — the experience varies a lot between the two.