MT4 in 2026: why it refuses to die
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences years ago, steering brokers toward MT5. But most retail forex traders haven't moved. The reason is not complicated: MT4 does one thing well. More than a decade's worth of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts only work with MT4. Migrating to MT5 means porting that entire library, and most traders can't justify the effort.
I've tested MT4 and MT5 side by side, and the gap is smaller than you'd expect. MT5 adds a few extras including more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the core charting is nearly identical. Unless you need MT5-specific features, MT4 still holds its own.
Setting up MT4 without the usual headaches
Installation takes a few minutes. Where people waste time is the setup after install. On first launch, MT4 shows four charts crammed into the screen. Close all of them and open just the instruments you care about.
Save yourself repeating the same setup by using templates. Set up your usual indicators on one chart, then right-click and save as template. After that you can apply it to any new chart instantly. Sounds trivial, but over months it makes a difference.
One setting worth changing: open Tools > Options > Charts and check "Show ask line." The default view is the bid price by default, which can make your entries look off by the spread amount.
How reliable is MT4 backtesting?
MT4's built-in strategy tester lets you run Expert Advisors against historical data. That said: the quality of those results comes down to your tick data. The default history data from MetaQuotes is interpolated, meaning gaps between real data points are estimated mathematically. For anything beyond a rough sanity check, you need proper historical data.
The "modelling quality" percentage is more important than the bottom-line PnL. If it's under 90% suggests the results shouldn't be taken seriously. People occasionally show off backtests with 25% modelling quality and wonder why their live results don't match.
Backtesting is where MT4 earns its reputation, but it's only as good as the data you give it.
Custom indicators on MT4: worth the effort?
MT4 ships with 30 built-in technical indicators. The average trader uses maybe a handful. However the real depth lives in custom indicators coded in MQL4. There are a massive library, spanning simple moving average variations to elaborate signal panels.
Adding a custom indicator is simple: drop the .ex4 or .mq4 file into the MQL4/Indicators folder, restart MT4, and it appears in the Navigator panel. One thing to watch is quality. Publicly shared indicators are hit-and-miss. Some are genuinely useful. Some haven't been updated since 2015 and will crash your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, verify how recently it was maintained and if users have flagged problems. A poorly written indicator doesn't only show wrong data — it can freeze MT4.
Risk management settings most MT4 traders ignore
There are a few native risk management options that the majority of users don't bother with. Probably the most practical one is the maximum deviation setting in the order window. It sets the amount of slippage you're willing to tolerate on market orders. Without this configured and you'll get whatever price comes through.
Everyone knows about stop losses, but trailing stops is worth exploring. Right-click an open trade, pick Trailing Stop, and set the pip amount. The stop adjusts when the trade goes your way. Doesn't work well in choppy markets, but for trend-following it removes the temptation 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. In reality, a huge percentage of them lose money over any extended time period. The ones advertised with perfect backtest curves are usually curve-fitted — they performed well on historical data and break down when conditions shift.
This isn't to say all EAs are a waste of time. Some traders code their own EAs for specific, narrow tasks: time-based entries, automating position size calculations, or closing trades at fixed levels. These utility-type EAs work because they execute defined operations that don't require interpretation.
If you're evaluating EAs, use a demo account for a minimum of several weeks in different conditions. Running it forward in real time reveals more than any backtest.
Using MT4 outside Windows
MT4 was built for Windows. Mac users deal with friction. The traditional approach was running it through Wine, which did the job but had rendering issues and occasional crashes. Certain brokers now offer Mac-specific builds built on Wine under the hood, which are better but remain wrappers at the end of the day.
MT4 mobile, on both Apple and Android devices, are genuinely useful for keeping an eye on positions and tweaking stops. Serious charting work on a 5-inch screen doesn't really work, but take a look 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.