Why traders still pick MT4 over newer platforms
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences years ago, pushing brokers toward MT5. Yet most retail forex traders haven't moved. 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. Moving to MT5 means porting that entire library, and few people would rather keep trading than recoding.
After testing both platforms side by side, and the gap is less dramatic than the marketing suggests. MT5 has a few extras including more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but chart functionality is very similar. For most retail strategies, there's no compelling reason to switch.
Setting up MT4 without the usual headaches
Downloading and installing MT4 is the easy part. The part that trips people up is getting everything configured correctly. By default, MT4 shows four charts tiled across a single workspace. Clear the lot and start fresh with the instruments you follow.
Save yourself repeating the same setup by using templates. Set up your usual indicators once, then save it as a template. After that you can load it onto other charts in two clicks. Small thing, but over time it adds up.
A quick tweak that helps: open Tools > Options > Charts and check "Show ask line." The default view is the bid price on the chart, which makes buy entries seem misaligned by the spread amount.
How reliable is MT4 backtesting?
The strategy tester in MT4 gives you the ability to run Expert Advisors against historical data. Worth noting though: the reliability of those results hinges on your tick data. Standard history data from MetaQuotes is not real tick data, meaning it fills in missing ticks using algorithms. For anything beyond a rough sanity check, download real tick data from a provider like Dukascopy.
That quality percentage in the results is more important than the headline profit number. Anything below 90% means the results aren't trustworthy. Traders sometimes post backtest results with 25% modelling quality and wonder why live trading looks different.
Backtesting is where MT4 earns its reputation, but only if you feed it decent data.
Custom indicators on MT4: worth the effort?
MT4 comes with 30 default technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. However where MT4 gets interesting is in user-built indicators built with MQL4. There are thousands available, ranging from basic modifications to complex multi-timeframe dashboards.
Adding a custom indicator is simple: place the .ex4 or .mq4 file into the MQL4/Indicators folder, restart MT4, and you'll find it in the Navigator panel. The catch is quality. Free indicators are hit-and-miss. Some are well coded and maintained. Many stopped working years ago and will crash your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, verify the last update date and whether users mention bugs. Bad code won't just give wrong signals — it can freeze your entire platform.
Managing risk properly inside MT4
You'll find some risk management features that the majority of users never configure. Probably the most practical one is maximum deviation in the order window. This defines how much slippage is acceptable on market orders. Leave it at zero and the broker can fill you at whatever price is available.
Everyone knows about stop losses, but MT4's trailing stop feature is underused. Click on an open trade, select Trailing Stop, and define a distance. It adjusts with price moves into profit. Not perfect for every strategy, but find out if you're riding trends it reduces the urge to sit and watch.
None of this is complicated to set up and the difference in discipline is noticeable over time.
Running Expert Advisors: practical expectations
Expert Advisors on MT4 have obvious appeal: define your rules and let the machine execute. In practice, most EAs fail to deliver over any decent time period. Those sold with perfect backtest curves are often over-optimised — they performed well on historical data and stop working the moment conditions shift.
That doesn't mean all EAs are useless. A few people code custom EAs for one particular setup: entering at a specific time, calculating lot sizes, or taking profit at fixed levels. These utility-type EAs work because they handle mechanical tasks where you don't need discretion.
If you're evaluating EAs, run them on a demo account for at least several weeks in different conditions. Running it forward in real time reveals more than historical results ever will.
MT4 on Mac and mobile: what actually works
MT4 is a Windows application at heart. Running it on Mac deal with a workaround. The traditional approach was running it through Wine, which mostly worked but introduced display glitches and the odd crash. Some brokers now offer macOS versions wrapped around compatibility layers, which is an improvement but remain wrappers at the end of the day.
On mobile, on both iOS and Android, are surprisingly capable for monitoring open trades and making quick adjustments. Doing proper analysis on a phone screen doesn't really work, but adjusting a stop loss on the go is genuinely handy.
Check whether your broker offers a native Mac build or just a wrapper — it makes a real difference day to day.