MT4 in 2026: why it refuses to die
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences some time ago, pushing brokers toward MT5. Yet most retail forex traders kept using MT4. The reason is simple: MT4 works, and people trust what works. Thousands of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts run on MT4. Switching to MT5 means rewriting that entire library, and most traders would rather keep trading than recoding.
I spent time testing both platforms side by side, and the gap is smaller than you'd expect. MT5 has a few extras such as more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but chart functionality feels very similar. For most retail strategies, MT4 still holds its own.
MT4 setup: what the manual doesn't tell you
Downloading and installing MT4 is the easy part. Where people waste time is getting everything configured correctly. By default, MT4 shows four charts squeezed onto a single workspace. Close all of them and start fresh with the instruments you actually trade.
Save yourself repeating the same setup by using templates. Configure your usual indicators once, then right-click and save as template. From there you can apply it to any new chart in two clicks. Minor detail, but over weeks it saves hours.
One setting worth changing: open Tools > Options > Charts and enable "Show ask line." MT4 only shows the bid price by default, which can make your entries look off by the spread amount.
How reliable is MT4 backtesting?
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. Standard history data from MetaQuotes is interpolated, meaning the tester fills gaps using algorithms. For anything beyond a rough sanity check, you need real tick data from a provider like Dukascopy.
Modelling quality tells you more than the profit figure. If it's under 90% means the results shouldn't be taken seriously. People occasionally show off backtests with 25% modelling quality and can't figure out why their live results don't match.
Backtesting is where MT4 earns its reputation, but only if you feed it decent data.
Custom indicators on MT4: worth the effort?
MT4 ships with 30 standard technical indicators. Most traders never touch them all. That said, the platform's actual strength is in custom indicators written in MQL4. You can find over 2,000 options, ranging from tweaked versions of standard tools to elaborate signal panels.
The install process is painless: copy 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. Free indicators are hit-and-miss. A few are genuinely useful. Many are abandoned projects and may crash your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, verify when it was last updated and whether users report issues. Bad code won't just give wrong signals — it can lag MT4.
Managing risk properly inside MT4
MT4 has a few native risk management tools that most traders don't bother with. The most useful is maximum deviation in the order window. This controls the amount of slippage is acceptable on market orders. Without this configured and the broker can fill you at whatever price is available.
Stop losses go without saying, but trailing stops is overlooked. Right-click an open trade, choose Trailing Stop, and set the pip amount. The stop moves with the trade goes your way. 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.
Expert Advisors — before you trust a robot with your money
Automated trading through Expert Advisors sounds appealing: set rules, let the code trade, walk away. The reality is, a huge percentage of them lose money over any extended time period. The ones sold with incredible historical results are usually curve-fitted — they worked on past prices and stop working once market conditions change.
That doesn't mean all EAs are useless. A few people develop personal EAs to handle well-defined entry rules: time-based entries, automating position size calculations, or taking profit at predetermined levels. These utility-type EAs tend to work because they handle defined operations where you don't need interpretation.
Before running any EA with real money, test on demo first for at least several weeks in different conditions. Running it forward in real time is more informative than historical results ever will.
MT4 on Mac and mobile: what actually works
MT4 was built website for Windows. Mac users has always been friction. Previously was emulation, which was functional but came with visual bugs and occasional crashes. A few brokers now offer Mac-specific builds using Crossover or similar wrappers, which work more smoothly but remain wrappers at the end of the day.
On mobile, on both Apple and Android devices, are genuinely useful for keeping an eye on your account and managing trades on the move. Serious charting work on a phone screen is pushing it, but adjusting a stop loss while away from your desk is worth having.
Check whether your broker offers a native Mac build or just a wrapper — the difference in stability is noticeable.