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 kept using MT4. The reason is straightforward: MT4 has twenty years of muscle memory behind it. More than a decade's worth of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts only work with MT4. Migrating to MT5 means rewriting that entire library, and the majority of users don't see the point.
After testing both platforms side by side, and the differences are smaller than you'd expect. MT5 has a few extras such as more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the core charting feels nearly identical. If you're weighing up the two, MT4 is more than enough.
MT4 setup: what the manual doesn't tell you
Downloading and installing MT4 is the easy part. The part that trips people up is the setup after install. By default, MT4 shows four charts squeezed onto a single workspace. Clear the lot and open just the instruments you follow.
Chart templates save time. Set up your preferred indicators once, then save it as a template. After that you can apply it to any new chart without redoing the work. Sounds trivial, but over weeks it makes a difference.
A quick tweak that helps: 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 lets more help you run Expert Advisors against historical data. But here's the thing: the quality of those results depends entirely on your tick data. The default history data is interpolated, meaning gaps between real data points are estimated mathematically. For anything more precise than a quick look, you need third-party tick data.
That quality percentage in the results is more important than the bottom-line PnL. Anything below 90% means the results aren't trustworthy. Traders sometimes share screenshots with 25% modelling quality and wonder why live trading looks different.
Backtesting is where MT4 earns its reputation, but the output is only useful with quality tick data.
Building your own MT4 indicators
MT4 comes with 30 standard technical indicators. Most traders never touch them all. But the real depth is in custom indicators built with MQL4. You can find a massive library, ranging from simple moving average variations to elaborate signal panels.
The install process is painless: drop 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 reliability. Publicly shared indicators range from excellent to broken. A few are well coded and maintained. Others haven't been updated since 2015 and can freeze your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, verify when it was last updated and if users mention bugs. Bad code doesn't only show wrong data — it can lag MT4.
Managing risk properly inside MT4
There are some risk management options that a lot of people skip over. First worth mentioning is maximum deviation in the new order panel. This defines how much slippage is acceptable on market orders. Without this configured and you're accepting whatever price the broker gives you.
Everyone knows about stop losses, but the trailing stop function is worth exploring. Right-click an open trade, select Trailing Stop, and define the pip amount. The stop adjusts automatically as the trade goes in your favour. It won't suit every approach, but on trending pairs it reduces the urge 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
EAs attract traders for obvious reasons: define your rules and let the machine execute. The reality is, a huge percentage of them fail to deliver over any decent time period. Those marketed using flawless equity curves are usually fitted to past data — they look great on historical data and fall apart when the market does something different.
This isn't to say all EAs are a waste of time. Certain traders develop personal EAs to handle one particular setup: time-based entries, automating position size calculations, or closing trades at set levels. These utility-type EAs are more reliable because they handle repetitive actions without needing discretion.
When looking at Expert Advisors, test on demo first for no less than two to three months. Running it forward in real time reveals more than any backtest.
Using MT4 outside Windows
MT4 is a Windows application at heart. If you're on macOS deal with a workaround. The old method was emulation, which did the job but came with display glitches and stability problems. Certain brokers now offer native Mac apps using compatibility layers, which work more smoothly but still aren't built from scratch for Mac.
MT4 mobile, on both Apple and Android devices, work well for watching open trades and managing trades on the move. Serious charting work on a mobile device isn't realistic, but adjusting a stop loss while away from your desk is genuinely handy.
Check whether your broker offers real Mac support or a compatibility layer — it makes a real difference day to day.