MT4 in 2026: why it refuses to die
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences years ago, nudging brokers toward MT5. Yet most retail forex traders haven't moved. The reason is not complicated: MT4 has twenty years of muscle memory behind it. Thousands of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts were built for MT4. Migrating to MT5 means rebuilding that entire library, and most traders can't justify the effort.
I spent time testing MT4 and MT5 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 the core charting feels nearly identical. Unless you need MT5-specific features, there's no compelling reason to switch.
Setting up MT4 without the usual headaches
Downloading and installing MT4 is the easy part. What actually causes problems is configuration. On first launch, MT4 loads with four charts tiled across the screen. Clear the lot and open just the markets you care about.
Templates are worth setting up early. Build your go-to indicators on one chart, then save it as a template. After that you can apply it to any new chart instantly. Minor detail, but over months it makes a difference.
Something most people miss: go to Tools > Options > Charts and check "Show ask line." By default MT4 displays the bid price by default, which can make entries appear wrong until you realise the ask price is hidden.
MT4 strategy tester: honest expectations
MT4's built-in strategy tester lets you 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 not real tick read this data, meaning it fills in missing ticks 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. Anything below 90% suggests the results are probably misleading. Traders sometimes show off backtests with 25% modelling quality and wonder why their live results don't match.
The strategy tester is one of MT4's stronger features, but the output is only useful with quality tick data.
MT4 indicators beyond the defaults
MT4 ships with 30 built-in technical indicators. The average trader uses maybe a handful. But the real depth comes from custom indicators coded in MQL4. There are thousands available, ranging from tweaked versions of standard tools to elaborate signal panels.
The install process is painless: place the .ex4 or .mq4 file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, restart MT4, and you'll find it in the Navigator panel. One thing to watch is reliability. Community indicators range from excellent to broken. Some are genuinely useful. Many stopped working years ago and may crash your terminal.
Before installing anything, check the last update date and whether users have flagged problems. Bad code won't just give wrong signals — it can freeze your entire platform.
Risk management settings most MT4 traders ignore
You'll find a few native risk management tools that most traders don't bother with. First worth mentioning is maximum deviation in the new order panel. This controls how much slippage you'll accept on market orders. Without this configured and you're accepting whatever price comes through.
Stop losses go without saying, but trailing stops is underused. Right-click an open trade, select Trailing Stop, and define a distance. It adjusts automatically as price moves in your favour. Doesn't work well in choppy markets, but for trend-following it reduces the urge to sit and watch.
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 attract traders for obvious reasons: set rules, let the code trade, walk away. In reality, the majority of Expert Advisors fail to deliver over any decent time period. EAs sold with incredible historical results are often fitted to past data — they look great on past prices and break down when conditions shift.
None of this means all EAs are useless. Some traders build their own EAs for specific, narrow tasks: entering at a specific time, calculating lot sizes, or closing trades at fixed levels. These utility-type EAs work because they handle defined operations that don't require interpretation.
When looking at Expert Advisors, use a demo account for no less than several weeks in different conditions. Live demo testing reveals more than backtesting alone.
MT4 beyond the desktop
The platform was designed for Windows. Mac users face a workaround. Previously was emulation, which was functional but came with visual bugs and the odd crash. A few brokers now offer Mac-specific builds built on Wine under the hood, which work more smoothly but still aren't true native apps.
MT4 mobile, available for both iPhone and Android, are surprisingly capable for monitoring positions and making quick adjustments. Doing proper analysis on a 5-inch screen doesn't really work, but managing exits from your phone is genuinely handy.
Look into whether your broker has a native Mac build or just a wrapper — the experience varies a lot between the two.