MT4 in 2026: why it refuses to die
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences years ago, steering brokers toward MT5. Yet most retail forex traders stayed put. The reason is straightforward: MT4 has twenty years of muscle memory behind it. Thousands of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts only work with MT4. Migrating to MT5 means rebuilding that entire library, and most traders can't justify the effort.
After testing MT4 and MT5 side by side, and the differences are less dramatic than the marketing suggests. MT5 has a few extras such as more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the charting is nearly identical. For most retail strategies, MT4 is more than enough.
Setting up MT4 without the usual headaches
The install process is quick. The part that trips people up is configuration. Out of the box, MT4 shows four charts tiled across the screen. Shut them all and start fresh with the markets you actually trade.
Templates are worth setting up early. Configure your preferred indicators once, then right-click and save as template. Then you can apply it to any new chart instantly. Sounds trivial, but over time it saves hours.
A quick tweak that helps: go to Tools > Options > Charts and check "Show ask line." MT4 only shows the bid price by default, which makes your entries look off by the spread amount.
MT4 strategy tester: honest expectations
The strategy tester in MT4 allows you to run Expert Advisors against historical data. But here's the thing: the quality of those results hinges on your tick data. The default history data is modelled, meaning the tester fills gaps mathematically. For anything that needs accuracy, grab proper historical data.
That quality percentage in the results tells you more than the profit figure. If it's under 90% suggests the results shouldn't be taken seriously. People occasionally post backtest results with 25% modelling quality and wonder why live trading looks different.
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 comes with 30 default technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. But where MT4 gets interesting lives in community-made indicators built with MQL4. The MQL5 marketplace alone has over 2,000 options, ranging from basic modifications to full trading 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 risk is quality control. Community indicators are hit-and-miss. A few are well coded and maintained. Many stopped working years ago and can freeze your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, look at the last update date and if other traders mention bugs. 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 several built-in risk management features that most traders never configure. Probably the most practical one is maximum deviation in the order window. This controls how much slippage you're willing to tolerate on market orders. If you don't set it website and the broker can fill you at whatever price is available.
Stop losses go without saying, but MT4's trailing stop feature is underused. Right-click an open trade, select Trailing Stop, and define a distance. Your stop loss moves automatically as price moves in your favour. Doesn't work well in choppy markets, but on trending pairs it reduces the temptation to micromanage the trade.
These settings take a minute to configure and the difference in discipline is noticeable over time.
EAs on MT4: what to realistically expect
EAs attract traders for obvious reasons: set rules, let the code trade, walk away. In reality, a huge percentage of them fail to deliver over any extended time period. EAs sold with flawless equity curves are often over-optimised — they look great on historical data and fall apart the moment conditions shift.
That doesn't mean all EAs are useless. Certain traders code their own EAs to handle one particular setup: opening trades at session opens, calculating lot sizes, or taking profit at set levels. These smaller, focused scripts are more reliable because they do repetitive actions without needing judgment.
Before running any EA with real money, use a demo account for a minimum of two to three months. Forward testing tells you more than any backtest.
MT4 beyond the desktop
MT4 is a Windows application at heart. Mac users face compromises. The traditional approach was emulation, which mostly worked but introduced visual bugs and stability problems. Certain brokers now offer Mac-specific builds using Wine under the hood, which work more smoothly but remain wrappers at the end of the day.
On mobile, available for both iOS and Android, are surprisingly capable for keeping an eye on positions and making quick adjustments. Full analysis on a mobile device doesn't really work, but adjusting a stop loss from your phone has saved plenty of traders.
Check whether your broker offers a native Mac build or just a wrapper — it makes a real difference day to day.