Why traders still pick MT4 over newer platforms
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences years ago, nudging 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 were built for MT4. Migrating to MT5 means rebuilding that entire library, and most traders would rather keep trading than recoding.
I've tested MT4 and MT5 side by side, and the differences are less dramatic than the marketing suggests. MT5 has a few extras like more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the core charting feels very similar. Unless you need MT5-specific features, MT4 is more than enough.
MT4 setup: what the manual doesn't tell you
Installation takes a few minutes. What actually causes problems is getting everything configured correctly. On first launch, MT4 shows four charts tiled across one window. Close all of them and start fresh with the instruments you care about.
Chart templates save time. Set up your usual indicators once, then save it as a template. After that you can apply it to any new chart instantly. Minor detail, but over months it makes a difference.
Something most people miss: open Tools > Options > Charts and check "Show ask line." The default view is the bid price on the chart, which makes your entries look off by the spread amount.
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 quality of those results depends entirely on your tick data. The default history data from MetaQuotes is interpolated, meaning the tester fills gaps using algorithms. If you're testing something more precise than a quick look, download real tick data from a provider like Dukascopy.
The "modelling quality" percentage matters more than the headline profit number. Below 90% suggests the results shouldn't be taken seriously. I've seen people show off backtests with 25% modelling quality and can't figure out why their live results don't match.
The strategy tester is one of MT4's stronger features, but only if you feed it decent data.
Custom indicators on MT4: worth the effort?
MT4 comes with 30 built-in technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. However the platform's actual strength is in user-built indicators written in MQL4. You can find a massive library, covering everything from basic modifications to complex multi-timeframe dashboards.
Installing them is straightforward: drop the .ex4 or .mq4 file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, reboot MT4, and you'll find it in the Navigator panel. The catch is reliability. Free indicators vary wildly. A few are genuinely useful. Others haven't been updated since 2015 and will crash your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, look at how recently it was maintained and if people in the forums report issues. Bad code doesn't only show wrong data — it can lag MT4.
Managing risk properly check this out inside MT4
There are some risk management options that a lot of people never configure. Probably the most practical one is maximum deviation in the order window. This defines how much slippage you're willing to tolerate on market orders. Leave it at zero and you're accepting whatever price the broker gives you.
Everyone knows about stop losses, but the trailing stop function is underused. Click on an open trade, pick Trailing Stop, and enter your preferred distance. Your stop loss adjusts automatically as price moves your way. Not perfect for every strategy, but on trending pairs it removes the need to micromanage the trade.
You can configure all of this in under five minutes and they take some of the guesswork out of trade management.
EAs on MT4: what to realistically expect
EAs have obvious appeal: set rules, let the code trade, walk away. The reality is, most EAs underperform over any meaningful time period. The ones marketed using perfect backtest curves are often fitted to past data — they performed well on the specific data they were tested on and break down the moment market conditions change.
That doesn't mean all EAs are useless. Some traders build custom EAs for well-defined entry rules: entering at a specific time, managing position sizing, or closing trades at fixed levels. These smaller, focused scripts are more reliable because they do repetitive actions that don't require judgment.
Before running any EA with real money, test on demo first for a minimum of several weeks in different conditions. Forward testing reveals more than any backtest.
MT4 beyond the desktop
The platform was designed for Windows. Mac users deal with friction. The traditional approach was emulation, which was functional but introduced display glitches and occasional crashes. Some brokers now offer macOS versions built on Wine under the hood, which are better but remain wrappers at the end of the day.
MT4 mobile, on both iOS and Android, work well for monitoring positions and tweaking stops. Doing proper analysis on a phone screen is pushing it, but closing a trade while away from your desk is worth having.
Check whether your broker offers real Mac support or a compatibility layer — the difference in stability is noticeable.