What keeps MT4 relevant after two decades
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences years ago, nudging brokers toward MT5. But most retail forex traders haven't moved. The reason is not complicated: MT4 works, and people trust what works. A huge library of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts only work with MT4. Moving to MT5 means rebuilding that entire library, and the majority of users can't justify the effort.
I spent time testing both platforms 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 chart functionality feels about the same. For most retail strategies, MT4 is more than enough.
Getting MT4 configured properly the first time
Installation takes a few minutes. Where people waste time is configuration. Out of the box, MT4 shows four charts tiled across the screen. Shut them all and open just the markets you care about.
Templates are worth setting up early. Configure your preferred indicators on one chart, then save it as a template. Then you can apply it to any new chart in two clicks. Sounds trivial, but over weeks it adds up.
Something most people miss: go to Tools > Options > Charts and tick "Show ask line." By default MT4 displays the bid price by default, which can make your entries look off until you realise the ask price is hidden.
Backtesting on MT4: what the results actually mean
MT4 comes with a backtester that gives you the ability to run Expert Advisors against historical data. But here's the thing: the reliability of those results hinges on your tick data. Standard history data is interpolated, meaning the tester fills gaps using algorithms. If you're testing something more precise than a quick look, you need real tick data from a provider like Dukascopy.
Modelling quality tells you more than the profit figure. Below 90% suggests the results aren't trustworthy. Traders sometimes post backtest results 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.
Building your own MT4 indicators
MT4 comes with 30 default technical indicators. The average trader uses maybe a handful. But the real depth is in user-built indicators built with MQL4. There are a massive library, ranging from tweaked versions of standard tools to full trading dashboards.
Installing them is straightforward: copy 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. Community indicators vary wildly. A few are genuinely useful. Some are abandoned projects and may crash your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, verify the last update date and whether people in the forums have flagged problems. A broken indicator won't just give wrong signals — it can slow down the whole terminal.
Managing risk properly inside MT4
MT4 has a few native risk management features that most traders don't bother with. First worth mentioning is maximum deviation in the trade execution window. This controls how much slippage you'll accept on market orders. Without this configured and you'll get whatever price comes through.
Everyone knows about stop losses, but trailing stops is underused. Click on an open trade, pick Trailing Stop, and define your preferred distance. The stop moves automatically as the trade goes into profit. It won't suit every approach, but on trending pairs it removes the urge to micromanage the trade.
You can configure all of this in under five minutes and the difference in discipline is noticeable over time.
Running Expert Advisors: practical expectations
Automated trading through Expert Advisors sounds appealing: define your rules and let the machine execute. In reality, a huge percentage of them underperform over any meaningful time period. The ones sold with perfect backtest curves tend to another source be over-optimised — they performed well on historical data and stop working once market conditions change.
This isn't to say all EAs are useless. Some traders develop their own EAs to handle specific, narrow tasks: entering at a specific time, managing position sizing, or exiting positions at predetermined levels. That kind of automation are more reliable because they do repetitive actions without needing judgment.
Before running any EA with real money, run them on a demo account for a minimum of a few months. Running it forward in real time is more informative than any backtest.
Using MT4 outside Windows
The platform was designed for Windows. Running it on Mac deal with friction. The traditional approach was emulation, which did the job but had display glitches and occasional crashes. Certain brokers now offer native Mac apps wrapped around Wine under the hood, which is an improvement but remain wrappers at the end of the day.
MT4 mobile, on both iOS and Android, are surprisingly capable for monitoring open trades and managing trades on the move. Serious charting work on a 5-inch screen doesn't really work, but managing exits on the go is worth having.
It's worth confirming if your broker provides real Mac support or a compatibility layer — the experience varies a lot between the two.