Why traders still pick MT4 over newer platforms
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences years ago, nudging brokers toward MT5. But most retail forex traders stayed put. The reason is not complicated: MT4 does one thing well. A huge library of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts only work with MT4. Migrating to MT5 means rebuilding that entire library, and few people can't justify the effort.
I spent time testing both platforms side by side, and the gap is less dramatic than the marketing suggests. 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.
Getting MT4 configured properly the first time
Installation takes a few minutes. What actually causes problems is getting everything configured correctly. By default, MT4 opens with four charts squeezed onto the screen. Clear the lot and open just the pairs you follow.
Templates are worth setting up early. Configure your go-to indicators once, then save it as a template. After that you can apply it to any new chart without redoing the work. Small thing, but over time it makes a difference.
A quick tweak that helps: open Tools > Options > Charts and enable "Show ask line." MT4 only shows the bid price on the chart, which can make your entries look off until you realise the ask price is hidden.
Backtesting on MT4: what the results actually mean
The strategy other info tester in MT4 allows you to run Expert Advisors against historical data. Worth noting though: the quality of those results comes down to your tick data. The default history data is interpolated, meaning it fills in missing ticks using algorithms. If you're testing something that needs accuracy, you need real tick data from a provider like Dukascopy.
Modelling quality tells you more than the bottom-line PnL. Below 90% means the results shouldn't be taken seriously. I've seen people share screenshots with 25% modelling quality and wonder why live trading looks different.
This is one area where MT4 genuinely outperforms most web-based platforms, but only if you feed it decent data.
MT4 indicators beyond the defaults
MT4 ships with 30 built-in technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. That said, where MT4 gets interesting is in community-made indicators coded in MQL4. There are a massive library, spanning tweaked versions of standard tools to complex multi-timeframe dashboards.
Installing them is straightforward: copy the .ex4 or .mq4 file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, restart MT4, and you'll find it in the Navigator panel. One thing to watch is reliability. Community indicators are hit-and-miss. Some are genuinely useful. Others haven't been updated since 2015 and can freeze your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, verify how recently it was maintained and whether people in the forums mention bugs. Bad code won't just give wrong signals — it can freeze your entire platform.
Managing risk properly inside MT4
There are some risk management tools that most traders skip over. Probably the most practical one is the maximum deviation setting in the new order panel. This controls the amount of slippage you'll accept on market orders. Without this configured and you'll get whatever price comes through.
Everyone knows about stop losses, but MT4's trailing stop feature are underused. Click on an open trade, choose Trailing Stop, and define a distance. Your stop loss adjusts when the trade goes into profit. Not perfect for every strategy, but for trend-following it takes away the temptation to sit and watch.
None of this is complicated to set up and the difference in discipline is noticeable over time.
EAs on MT4: what to realistically expect
Expert Advisors on MT4 have obvious appeal: define your rules and let the machine execute. In practice, a huge percentage of them fail to deliver over any meaningful time period. The ones marketed using flawless equity curves tend to be fitted to past data — they performed well on past prices and stop working when market conditions change.
That doesn't mean all EAs are useless. A few people build custom EAs to handle one particular setup: opening trades at session opens, calculating lot sizes, or taking profit at fixed levels. That kind of automation work because they execute defined operations where you don't need discretion.
When looking at Expert Advisors, test on demo first for at least two to three months. Live demo testing tells you more than any backtest.
MT4 beyond the desktop
MT4 is a Windows application at heart. If you're on macOS has always been a workaround. Previously was emulation, which was functional but introduced display glitches and stability problems. Some brokers now offer macOS versions using compatibility layers, which work more smoothly but still aren't built from scratch for Mac.
On mobile, available for both iOS and Android, are surprisingly capable for keeping an eye on your account and tweaking stops. Doing proper analysis on a mobile device isn't realistic, but closing a trade on the go is genuinely handy.
Look into whether your broker has a proper macOS version or just Wine under the hood — the difference in stability is noticeable.