MT4 in 2026: why it refuses to die
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences some time ago, nudging brokers toward MT5. Yet most retail forex traders kept using MT4. The reason is simple: MT4 does one thing well. A huge library of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts only work with MT4. Switching to MT5 means rewriting that entire library, and most traders would rather keep trading than recoding.
After testing MT4 and MT5 side by side, and the gap is 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, there's no compelling reason to switch.
Getting MT4 configured properly the first time
Downloading and installing MT4 is the easy part. The part that trips people up is getting everything configured correctly. On first launch, MT4 loads with four charts crammed into the screen. Clear the lot and start fresh with the markets you follow.
Save yourself repeating the same setup by using templates. Configure your preferred indicators once, then save it as a template. Then you can apply it to any new chart in two clicks. Small thing, but over weeks it saves hours.
Something most people miss: go to Tools > Options > Charts and tick "Show ask line." MT4 only shows the bid price on the chart, which makes your entries look off until you realise the ask price is hidden.
Backtesting on MT4: what the results actually mean
The strategy tester in MT4 allows you to run Expert Advisors against historical data. That said: the quality of those results depends entirely on your tick data. Built-in history data from MetaQuotes is interpolated, meaning gaps between real data points are estimated with made-up prices. For anything that needs accuracy, grab third-party tick data.
That quality percentage in the results tells you more than the profit figure. Anything below 90% indicates the results are probably misleading. People occasionally post backtest results with 25% modelling quality and wonder why their live results don't match.
The strategy tester is one of MT4's stronger features, but it's only as good as the data you give it.
Building your own MT4 indicators
MT4 ships with 30 default technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. But the real depth lives in user-built indicators built with MQL4. You can find thousands available, ranging from simple moving average variations to complex multi-timeframe dashboards.
The install process is painless: copy the .ex4 or .mq4 file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, refresh MT4, and you'll find it in the Navigator panel. One thing to watch is quality. Community indicators vary wildly. Some are well coded and maintained. Others stopped working years ago and may crash your terminal.
Before installing anything, look at the last update date and if people in the forums report issues. A poorly written indicator doesn't only show wrong data — it can slow down your entire platform.
The MT4 risk controls you're probably not using
You'll find some risk management options that most traders skip over. Probably the most practical one is the maximum deviation setting in the trade execution window. This controls the amount of slippage you'll accept on market orders. Leave it at zero and you'll get whatever price comes through.
Stop losses go without saying, but MT4's trailing stop feature are overlooked. Right-click an open trade, choose Trailing Stop, and set your preferred distance. Your stop loss follows with price moves in your favour. Not perfect for every strategy, but on trending pairs it removes the urge to stare at the screen.
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 sounds appealing: program your strategy and stop staring at charts. The reality is, the majority of Expert Advisors lose money over any meaningful time period. The ones advertised with perfect backtest curves are often fitted to past data — they worked on past prices and fall apart the moment market conditions change.
That doesn't mean all EAs are useless. Certain traders develop their own EAs for well-defined entry rules: opening trades at session opens, automating position size calculations, or taking profit at fixed levels. That kind of automation work because they execute repetitive actions without needing discretion.
Before running any EA with real money, run them on a demo account for no less than several weeks in different conditions. Live demo testing reveals more than backtesting alone.
MT4 on Mac and mobile: what actually works
MT4 was built for Windows. Running it on the original source Mac deal with friction. The old method was running it through Wine, which did the job but came with visual bugs and stability problems. Some brokers now offer Mac-specific builds using Wine under the hood, which work more smoothly but remain wrappers at the end of the day.
The mobile apps, available for both iPhone and Android, work well for monitoring your account and managing trades on the move. Doing proper analysis on a mobile device doesn't really work, but closing a trade from your phone has saved plenty of traders.
Check whether your broker offers a proper macOS version or just Wine under the hood — the experience varies a lot between the two.