MT4 in 2026: why it refuses to die
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences years ago, nudging brokers toward MT5. But most retail forex traders kept using MT4. The reason is straightforward: MT4 has twenty years of muscle memory behind it. A huge library of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts only work with MT4. Switching to MT5 means rebuilding that entire library, and most traders 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 adds a few extras like more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the charting is about the same. For most retail strategies, MT4 is more than enough.
MT4 setup: what the manual doesn't tell you
Installation takes a few minutes. The part that trips people up is configuration. Out of the box, MT4 shows four charts squeezed onto one window. Shut them all and start fresh with the pairs you actually trade.
Templates are worth setting up early. Set up your go-to indicators once, then right-click and save as template. From there you can apply it to any new chart instantly. Minor detail, but over months it makes a difference.
One setting worth changing: open Tools > Options > Charts and enable "Show ask line." The default view is the bid price by default, which can make your entries look off until you realise the ask price is hidden.
MT4 strategy tester: honest expectations
MT4 comes with a backtester that gives you the ability to run Expert Advisors against historical data. But here's the thing: the quality of those results hinges on your tick data. Standard history data from MetaQuotes is modelled, meaning the tester fills gaps with made-up prices. For anything that needs accuracy, you need third-party tick data.
The "modelling quality" percentage is more important than the bottom-line PnL. If it's under 90% suggests the results are probably misleading. People occasionally post backtest results with 25% modelling quality and can't figure out why live trading looks different.
The strategy tester is one of MT4's stronger features, but only if you feed it decent data.
MT4 indicators beyond the defaults
MT4 ships with 30 standard technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. That said, the platform's actual strength comes from community-made indicators written in MQL4. You can find a massive library, covering everything from tweaked versions of standard tools to complex multi-timeframe dashboards.
Adding a custom indicator is simple: copy the .ex4 or .mq4 file into the MQL4/Indicators folder, refresh MT4, and you'll find it in the Navigator panel. The catch is quality. Community indicators range from excellent to broken. Some are well coded and maintained. Some 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 people in the forums mention bugs. A broken indicator doesn't only show wrong data — it can freeze MT4.
Risk management settings most MT4 traders ignore
There are several built-in risk management options that a lot of people don't bother with. Probably the most practical one is maximum deviation in the new order panel. It sets the amount of slippage you'll accept on market orders. Leave it at zero and the broker can fill you at whatever price is available.
Stop losses go without saying, but MT4's trailing stop feature is overlooked. Right-click an open trade, select Trailing Stop, and define the pip amount. The stop moves automatically as price moves your way. Doesn't work well in choppy markets, but for trend-following it reduces the temptation to sit and watch.
You can configure all of this in under five minutes and they remove a lot of the emotional decision-making.
Expert Advisors — before you trust a robot with your money
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 lose money over any meaningful time period. Those marketed using flawless equity curves are often fitted to past data — they worked on historical data and stop working once the market does something different.
None of this means all EAs are useless. Some traders code personal EAs for well-defined entry rules: opening trades at session opens, calculating lot sizes, or closing trades at predetermined levels. These smaller, focused scripts are more reliable because they execute mechanical tasks where you don't need discretion.
Before running any EA with real money, run them on a demo account for at least a few months. Running it forward in real time tells you more than historical results ever will.
MT4 beyond the desktop
MT4 is a Windows application at heart. Running it on Mac deal with friction. The old method was Wine or PlayOnMac, which was functional but introduced display glitches and the odd crash. Certain brokers now offer Mac-specific builds using Wine under the hood, which is an improvement but remain wrappers at the end of the day.
On mobile, on both iPhone and Android, are surprisingly capable for keeping an eye on positions and tweaking stops. Doing proper analysis on a mobile device doesn't really work, but managing exits more articles on the go has saved plenty of traders.
It's worth confirming if your broker provides real Mac support or a compatibility layer — the difference in stability is noticeable.