What forex traders should actually know about MetaTrader 4
What keeps MT4 relevant after two decades
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences some time ago, nudging brokers toward MT5. Still, most retail forex traders haven't moved. The reason is not complicated: MT4 works, and people trust what works. Thousands of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts run on MT4. Switching to MT5 means rebuilding that entire library, and few people would rather keep trading than recoding.
I spent time testing MT4 and MT5 side by side, and the gap is marginal for most strategies. MT5 has a few extras including more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the charting is very similar. If you're weighing up the two, there's no compelling reason to switch.
MT4 setup: what the manual doesn't tell see more you
The install process is quick. The part that trips people up is getting everything configured correctly. Out of the box, MT4 loads with four charts crammed into the screen. Shut them all and open just the pairs you actually trade.
Chart templates save time. Build your go-to indicators once, then save it as a template. From there you can load it onto other charts in two clicks. Sounds trivial, but over months it saves hours.
One setting worth changing: go to Tools > Options > Charts and enable "Show ask line." By default MT4 displays the bid price on the chart, which can make entries appear wrong until you realise the ask price is hidden.
How reliable is MT4 backtesting?
MT4's built-in strategy tester gives you the ability to run Expert Advisors against historical data. That said: the accuracy of those results depends entirely on your tick data. Standard history data is not real tick data, meaning gaps between real data points are estimated using algorithms. For anything that needs accuracy, you need proper historical data.
Modelling quality is more important than the headline profit number. Anything below 90% means the results aren't trustworthy. Traders sometimes show off backtests with 25% modelling quality and ask why live trading looks different.
This is one area where MT4 genuinely outperforms most web-based platforms, but the output is only useful with quality tick data.
Custom indicators on MT4: worth the effort?
MT4 comes with 30 built-in technical indicators. Most traders never touch them all. That said, the real depth is in community-made indicators coded in MQL4. There are thousands available, spanning tweaked versions of standard tools to full trading dashboards.
The install process is painless: place the .ex4 or .mq4 file into the MQL4/Indicators folder, reboot MT4, and you'll find it in the Navigator panel. The catch is quality control. Free indicators are hit-and-miss. A few are well coded and maintained. Others haven't been updated since 2015 and may crash your terminal.
When adding third-party indicators, look at how recently it was maintained and if users mention bugs. Bad code won't just give wrong signals — it can slow down your entire platform.
Risk management settings most MT4 traders ignore
There are a few native risk management options that most traders don't bother with. The most useful is the maximum deviation setting in the order window. This defines the amount of slippage you'll accept on market orders. If you don't set it and you're accepting whatever price comes through.
Stop losses go without saying, but trailing stops is overlooked. Right-click an open trade, choose Trailing Stop, and define a distance. The stop moves with price moves in your favour. Doesn't work well in choppy markets, but for trend-following it takes away the need to sit and watch.
None of this is complicated to set up and they remove a lot of the emotional decision-making.
EAs on MT4: what to realistically expect
EAs attract traders for obvious reasons: program your strategy and stop staring at charts. In practice, a huge percentage of them fail to deliver over any decent time period. EAs sold with perfect backtest curves tend to be curve-fitted — they worked on the specific data they were tested on and break down once market conditions change.
None of this means all EAs are useless. Some traders develop personal EAs to handle well-defined entry rules: time-based entries, managing position sizing, or taking profit at set levels. These smaller, focused scripts work because they handle defined operations that don't require interpretation.
Before running any EA with real money, use a demo account for no less than a few months. Running it forward in real time tells you more than backtesting alone.
MT4 on Mac and mobile: what actually works
MT4 was built for Windows. If you're on macOS deal with compromises. The old method was Wine or PlayOnMac, which mostly worked but introduced rendering issues and occasional crashes. A few brokers now offer macOS versions wrapped around compatibility layers, which work more smoothly but still aren't built from scratch for Mac.
MT4 mobile, available for both iOS and Android, are surprisingly capable for monitoring your account and making quick adjustments. Full analysis on a 5-inch screen is pushing it, but adjusting a stop loss while away from your desk is worth having.
Look into whether your broker has real Mac support or a compatibility layer — it makes a real difference day to day.