What forex traders should actually know about MetaTrader 4
What keeps MT4 relevant after two decades
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences a while back, steering brokers toward MT5. But most retail forex traders stayed put. The reason is straightforward: MT4 works, and people trust what works. Thousands of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts only work continue reading with MT4. Migrating to MT5 means porting that entire library, and the majority of users can't justify the effort.
After testing MT4 and MT5 side by side, and the differences are smaller than you'd expect. MT5 has a few extras like more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but chart functionality is about the same. If you're weighing up the two, MT4 is more than enough.
Setting up MT4 without the usual headaches
Installation takes a few minutes. The part that trips people up is the setup after install. By default, MT4 loads with four charts squeezed onto a single workspace. Close all of them and open just the markets you actually trade.
Chart templates save time. Build your go-to indicators once, then save it as a template. Then you can apply it to any new chart without redoing the work. Minor detail, but over months it adds up.
Something most people miss: open Tools > Options > Charts and check "Show ask line." By default MT4 displays the bid price by default, which makes your entries look off 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 modelled, meaning it fills in missing ticks mathematically. If you're testing something more precise than a quick look, you need real tick data from a provider like Dukascopy.
The "modelling quality" percentage matters more than the bottom-line PnL. Below 90% indicates the results aren't trustworthy. People occasionally share screenshots with 25% modelling quality and ask why the EA fails in real conditions.
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 standard technical indicators. Most traders never touch them all. However the real depth is in community-made indicators coded in MQL4. You can find over 2,000 options, covering everything from simple moving average variations to elaborate signal panels.
Adding a custom indicator is simple: place the .ex4 or .mq4 file into the MQL4/Indicators folder, reboot MT4, and you'll find it in the Navigator panel. One thing to watch is quality. Free indicators are hit-and-miss. Some are solid tools. Some haven't been updated since 2015 and may crash your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, verify how recently it was maintained and if people in the forums mention bugs. A poorly written indicator doesn't only show wrong data — it can freeze the whole terminal.
Risk management settings most MT4 traders ignore
There are several built-in risk management features that most traders never configure. Probably the most practical one is the maximum deviation setting in the trade execution window. It sets the amount of slippage is acceptable on market orders. If you don't set it and you'll get whatever price is available.
Stop losses are obvious, but the trailing stop function is worth exploring. Right-click an open trade, choose Trailing Stop, and define the pip amount. The stop adjusts when price moves into profit. Not perfect for every strategy, but if you're riding trends it reduces the need to sit and watch.
None of this is complicated to set up and they take some of the guesswork out of trade management.
Running Expert Advisors: practical expectations
Expert Advisors on MT4 attract traders for obvious reasons: set rules, let the code trade, walk away. In reality, most EAs fail to deliver over any decent time period. EAs advertised with perfect backtest curves are often over-optimised — they performed well on the specific data they were tested on and stop working when the market does something different.
None of this means all EAs are useless. Certain traders code personal EAs to handle well-defined entry rules: opening trades at session opens, automating position size calculations, or exiting positions at fixed levels. That kind of automation are more reliable because they do mechanical tasks where you don't need discretion.
If you're evaluating EAs, test on demo first for no less than a few months. Forward testing tells you more than backtesting alone.
MT4 beyond the desktop
The platform was designed for Windows. If you're on macOS face compromises. The traditional approach was running it through Wine, which did the job but came with visual bugs and stability problems. Certain brokers now offer macOS versions wrapped around Wine under the hood, which is an improvement but still aren't true native apps.
MT4 mobile, on both iOS and Android, are surprisingly capable for keeping an eye on open trades and managing trades on the move. Full analysis on a 5-inch screen is pushing it, but managing exits 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.