Why traders still pick MT4 over newer platforms
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences a while back, steering brokers toward MT5. Yet most retail forex traders kept using MT4. The reason is not complicated: MT4 works, and people trust what works. A huge library of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts run on MT4. Switching to MT5 means porting that entire library, and the majority of users can't justify the effort.
After testing both platforms side by side, and the gap is less dramatic than the marketing suggests. MT5 adds a few extras such as more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the charting is nearly identical. If you're weighing up the two, there's no compelling reason to switch.
Setting up MT4 without the usual headaches
The install process is quick. What actually causes problems is configuration. On first launch, MT4 shows four charts tiled across one window. Shut them all and start fresh with the markets you care about.
Chart templates save time. Configure your go-to indicators on one chart, then save it as a template. Then you can load it onto other charts without redoing the work. Sounds trivial, but over weeks it saves hours.
A quick tweak that helps: go to Tools > Options > Charts and check "Show ask line." By default MT4 displays the bid price by default, which makes entries appear wrong until you realise the ask price is hidden.
MT4 strategy this page tester: honest expectations
MT4's built-in strategy tester gives you the ability to run Expert Advisors against historical data. That said: the reliability of those results comes down to your tick data. Built-in history data is not real tick data, meaning the tester fills gaps mathematically. If you're testing something more precise than a quick look, download proper historical data.
That quality percentage in the results is more important than the headline profit number. If it's under 90% suggests the results aren't trustworthy. Traders sometimes share screenshots with 25% modelling quality and ask why their live results don't match.
Backtesting is where MT4 earns its reputation, but it's only as good as the data you give it.
Building your own MT4 indicators
MT4 comes with 30 standard technical indicators. The average trader uses maybe a handful. But where MT4 gets interesting comes from community-made indicators coded in MQL4. You can find a massive library, spanning basic modifications to elaborate signal panels.
The install process is painless: drop the .ex4 or .mq4 file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, restart MT4, and it appears in the Navigator panel. The risk is quality. Free indicators range from excellent to broken. Some are well coded and maintained. Some haven't been updated since 2015 and will crash your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, verify how recently it was maintained and if other traders report issues. A poorly written indicator won't just give wrong signals — it can freeze the whole terminal.
The MT4 risk controls you're probably not using
You'll find several built-in risk management features that a lot of people skip over. Probably the most practical one is maximum deviation in the order window. It sets the amount of slippage is acceptable on market orders. Leave it at zero and you'll get whatever price is available.
Stop losses are obvious, but trailing stops is underused. Right-click an open trade, select Trailing Stop, and define your preferred distance. Your stop loss moves with price moves your way. Not perfect for every strategy, but if you're riding trends it takes away the need to stare at the screen.
These settings take a minute to configure and they take some of the guesswork out of trade management.
EAs on MT4: what to realistically expect
EAs attract traders for obvious reasons: set rules, let the code trade, walk away. In practice, a huge percentage of them lose money over any extended time period. Those sold with incredible historical results tend to be curve-fitted — they worked on the specific data they were tested on and stop working when market conditions change.
This isn't to say all EAs are useless. Certain traders code their own EAs for one particular setup: entering at a specific time, calculating lot sizes, or closing trades at set levels. These smaller, focused scripts tend to work because they execute defined operations that don't require judgment.
When looking at Expert Advisors, use a demo account for a minimum of a few months. Live demo testing tells you more than any backtest.
Using MT4 outside Windows
MT4 was built for Windows. If you're on macOS face friction. Previously was Wine or PlayOnMac, which was functional but introduced visual bugs and stability problems. Some brokers now offer native Mac apps built on Crossover or similar wrappers, which work more smoothly but still aren't built from scratch for Mac.
MT4 mobile, on both iPhone and Android, are surprisingly capable for monitoring positions and making quick adjustments. Serious charting work on a mobile device doesn't really work, but adjusting a stop loss on the go has saved plenty of traders.
Look into whether your broker has a native Mac build or just a wrapper — it makes a real difference day to day.