Why traders still pick MT4 over newer platforms
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences some time ago, pushing brokers toward MT5. Yet most retail forex traders kept using MT4. The reason is straightforward: MT4 works, and people trust what works. Thousands of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts only work with MT4. Moving to MT5 means porting that entire library, and most traders can't justify the effort.
I spent time testing MT4 and MT5 side by side, and the differences are smaller than you'd expect. MT5 adds a few extras like more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the charting feels nearly identical. If you're weighing up the two, MT4 still holds its own.
Getting MT4 configured properly the first time
The install process is quick. The part that trips people up is getting everything configured correctly. Out of the box, MT4 shows four charts crammed into a single workspace. Shut them all and open just the pairs you follow.
Chart templates save time. Build your go-to indicators once, then right-click and save as template. From there you can load it onto other charts without redoing the work. Minor detail, but over weeks it adds up.
A quick tweak that helps: open Tools > Options > Charts and check "Show ask line." By default MT4 displays the bid price on the chart, which makes your entries look off by the spread amount.
Backtesting on MT4: what the results actually mean
The strategy tester in MT4 allows you to run Expert Advisors against historical data. Worth noting though: the quality of those results hinges on your tick data. The default history data is not real tick data, meaning gaps between real data points are estimated with made-up prices. If you're testing something that needs accuracy, grab real tick data from a provider like Dukascopy.
The "modelling quality" percentage is more important than the bottom-line PnL. Anything below 90% suggests the results are probably misleading. I've seen people post backtest results with 25% modelling quality and wonder why the EA fails in real conditions.
This is one area where MT4 genuinely outperforms most web-based platforms, but the output is only useful with quality tick data.
MT4 indicators beyond the defaults
MT4 ships with 30 built-in technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. That said, the real depth is in community-made indicators written in MQL4. The MQL5 marketplace alone has thousands available, covering everything from simple moving average variations to full trading dashboards.
The install process is painless: place the .ex4 or .mq4 file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, restart MT4, and it appears in the Navigator panel. The risk is quality control. Publicly shared indicators range from excellent to broken. Some are genuinely useful. Some stopped working years ago and will crash your terminal.
Before installing anything, verify the last update date and if other traders mention bugs. A poorly written indicator won't just give wrong signals — it can slow down your entire platform.
Managing risk properly inside MT4
You'll find a few native risk management options that a lot of people don't bother with. The most useful is the maximum deviation setting in the new order panel. This controls the amount of slippage you're willing to tolerate on market orders. If you don't set it and the broker can fill you at whatever price comes through.
Stop losses are obvious, but trailing stops are worth exploring. Right-click an open trade, pick Trailing Stop, and define a distance. The stop follows automatically as price moves into profit. Doesn't work well in choppy markets, but for trend-following it removes the urge to stare at the screen.
You can configure all of this in under five minutes and they remove a lot of the emotional decision-making.
Running Expert Advisors: practical expectations
EAs attract traders for obvious reasons: program your strategy and stop staring at charts. In practice, a huge percentage of them underperform over any meaningful time period. EAs advertised with incredible historical results are usually fitted to past data — they worked on historical data and break down when conditions shift.
That doesn't mean all EAs are worthless. Certain traders build custom EAs for well-defined entry rules: time-based entries, calculating lot sizes, or closing trades at fixed levels. That kind of automation work because they do mechanical tasks where you don't need discretion.
If you're evaluating EAs, use a demo account for a minimum of several weeks in different conditions. Live demo testing is more informative than backtesting alone.
MT4 on Mac and mobile: what actually works
MT4 was built for Windows. If you're on macOS face friction. Previously was emulation, which did the job but came with visual bugs and the odd crash. A few brokers now offer macOS versions using compatibility information resource layers, which is an improvement but still aren't true native apps.
On mobile, on both Apple and Android devices, work well for keeping an eye on open trades and managing trades on the move. Serious charting work on a phone screen doesn't really work, but adjusting a stop loss from your phone is worth having.
It's worth confirming if your broker provides real Mac support or a compatibility layer — it makes a real difference day to day.