MT4 after twenty years: an honest take on the platform
MT4 in 2026: why it refuses to die
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences years ago, nudging brokers toward MT5. Still, most retail forex traders stayed put. The reason is not complicated: MT4 does one thing well. A huge library of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts were built for MT4. Switching to MT5 means rewriting that entire library, and most traders would rather keep trading than recoding.
After testing both platforms side by side, and the gap is smaller than you'd expect. MT5 has a few extras such as more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but chart functionality is about the same. If you're weighing up the two, there's no compelling reason to switch.
MT4 setup: what the manual doesn't tell you
Downloading and installing MT4 is the easy part. The part that trips people up is configuration. By default, MT4 opens with four charts tiled across a single workspace. Shut them all and start fresh with the pairs you actually trade.
Templates are worth setting up early. Set up your usual indicators on one chart, then save it as a template. After that you can apply it to any new chart without redoing the work. Small thing, but over weeks it adds up.
Something most people miss: open Tools > Options > Charts and enable "Show ask line." MT4 only shows the bid price by default, which can make buy entries seem misaligned by the spread amount.
How reliable is MT4 backtesting?
MT4's built-in strategy tester lets you run Expert Advisors against historical data. But here's the thing: the accuracy of those results hinges on your tick data. Standard history data is modelled, meaning it fills in missing ticks using algorithms. For anything more precise than a quick look, download third-party tick data.
Modelling quality tells you more than the headline profit number. Below 90% suggests the results are probably misleading. People occasionally post backtest results with 25% modelling quality and wonder why live trading looks different.
This is one area where MT4 genuinely outperforms most web-based platforms, but only if you feed it decent data.
Building your own MT4 indicators
MT4 comes with 30 default technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. However where MT4 gets interesting lives in user-built indicators written in MQL4. The MQL5 marketplace alone has thousands available, ranging from tweaked versions of standard tools to elaborate signal panels.
The install process is painless: copy the .ex4 or .mq4 file into the MQL4/Indicators folder, reboot MT4, and the indicator shows up in the Navigator panel. The risk is reliability. Publicly shared indicators vary wildly. A few are solid tools. Many stopped working years ago and will crash your terminal.
Before installing anything, verify the last update date and whether users mention bugs. A broken indicator doesn't only show wrong data — it can slow down the whole terminal.
The MT4 risk controls you're probably not using
You'll find several built-in risk management options that most traders skip over. First worth mentioning is maximum deviation in the trade execution window. This defines the amount of slippage you're willing to tolerate on market orders. Without this configured and you'll get whatever price is available.
Stop losses are obvious, but trailing stops are worth exploring. Click on an open trade, choose Trailing Stop, and define the pip amount. the full details It moves automatically as price moves into profit. Doesn't work well in choppy markets, but if you're riding trends it takes away the need to stare at the screen.
None of this is complicated to set up and the difference in discipline is noticeable over time.
Expert Advisors — before you trust a robot with your money
EAs attract traders for obvious reasons: set rules, let the code trade, walk away. The reality is, the majority of Expert Advisors fail to deliver over any decent time period. Those marketed using incredible historical results are often over-optimised — they performed well on past prices and fall apart when the market does something different.
That doesn't mean all EAs are a waste of time. A few people develop personal EAs to handle one particular setup: opening trades at session opens, automating position size calculations, or taking profit at predetermined levels. These utility-type EAs tend to work because they handle repetitive actions without needing judgment.
When looking at Expert Advisors, use a demo account for no less than two to three months. Forward testing tells you more than any backtest.
MT4 on Mac and mobile: what actually works
MT4 is a Windows application at heart. Running it on Mac deal with compromises. The old method was emulation, which mostly worked but had rendering issues and stability problems. A few brokers now offer native Mac apps built on compatibility layers, which are better but remain wrappers at the end of the day.
MT4 mobile, on both Apple and Android devices, work well for monitoring your account and making quick adjustments. Doing proper analysis on a mobile device isn't realistic, but managing exits from your phone has saved plenty of traders.
It's worth confirming if your broker provides a proper macOS version or just Wine under the hood — it makes a real difference day to day.