Why traders still pick MT4 over newer platforms
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences years ago, steering brokers toward MT5. But most retail forex traders haven't moved. The reason is straightforward: MT4 does one thing well. More than a decade's worth of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts run on MT4. Migrating to MT5 means rebuilding that entire library, and most traders can't justify the effort.
I spent time testing both platforms side by side, and the differences are less dramatic than the marketing suggests. MT5 adds a few extras like more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the charting is nearly identical. For most retail strategies, MT4 still holds its own.
MT4 setup: what the manual doesn't tell you
The install process is quick. What actually causes problems is the setup after install. By default, MT4 opens with four charts crammed into a single workspace. Shut them all and open just the markets you care about.
Templates are worth setting up early. Set up your go-to indicators once, then save it as a template. After that you can load it onto other charts without redoing the work. Small thing, but over months it makes a difference.
Something most people miss: open Tools > Options > Charts and tick "Show ask line." MT4 only shows the bid price by default, which can make entries appear wrong until you realise the ask price is hidden.
Backtesting on MT4: what the results actually mean
MT4 comes with a backtester that lets you run Expert Advisors against historical data. But here's the thing: the quality of those results hinges on your website tick data. Built-in history data from MetaQuotes is interpolated, meaning the tester fills gaps mathematically. If you're testing something beyond a rough sanity check, download real tick data from a provider like Dukascopy.
The "modelling quality" percentage tells you more than the bottom-line PnL. Below 90% means the results aren't trustworthy. I've seen people share screenshots with 25% modelling quality and can't figure out why their live results don't match.
This is one area where MT4 genuinely outperforms most web-based platforms, but it's only as good as the data you give it.
Building your own MT4 indicators
MT4 ships with 30 built-in technical indicators. Most traders never touch them all. But where MT4 gets interesting is in community-made indicators written in MQL4. There are a massive library, ranging from tweaked versions of standard tools to full trading dashboards.
The install process is painless: place the .ex4 or .mq4 file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, reboot MT4, and the indicator shows up in the Navigator panel. The catch is quality. Free indicators are hit-and-miss. Some are well coded and maintained. Others haven't been updated since 2015 and can freeze your terminal.
Before installing anything, look at when it was last updated and whether other traders mention bugs. A broken indicator doesn't only show wrong data — it can freeze your entire platform.
Risk management settings most MT4 traders ignore
There are several built-in risk management tools that most traders skip over. First worth mentioning is the maximum deviation setting in the trade execution window. It sets how much slippage you'll accept on market orders. Leave it at zero and you're accepting whatever price comes through.
Stop losses are obvious, but the trailing stop function are worth exploring. Right-click an open trade, choose Trailing Stop, and set your preferred distance. Your stop loss follows with the trade goes into profit. Doesn't work well in choppy markets, but for trend-following it removes the temptation to micromanage the trade.
You can configure all of this in under five minutes and they take some of the guesswork out of trade management.
EAs on MT4: what to realistically expect
Expert Advisors on MT4 attract traders for obvious reasons: define your rules and let the machine execute. In practice, a huge percentage of them underperform over any extended time period. The ones marketed using flawless equity curves tend to be curve-fitted — they worked on the specific data they were tested on and break down the moment the market does something different.
That doesn't mean all EAs are worthless. Certain traders code their own EAs to handle specific, narrow tasks: opening trades at session opens, automating position size calculations, or exiting positions at set levels. These smaller, focused scripts work because they execute defined operations where you don't need interpretation.
If you're evaluating EAs, use a demo account for at least two to three months. Forward testing is more informative than backtesting alone.
MT4 on Mac and mobile: what actually works
MT4 was built for Windows. Mac users has always been friction. The old method was emulation, which was functional but had rendering issues and stability problems. Certain brokers now offer Mac-specific builds wrapped around compatibility layers, which is an improvement but still aren't built from scratch for Mac.
On mobile, on both iOS and Android, are genuinely useful for keeping an eye on open trades and tweaking stops. Full analysis on a phone screen doesn't really work, but adjusting a stop loss while away from your desk is genuinely handy.
Check whether your broker offers a proper macOS version or just Wine under the hood — it makes a real difference day to day.