MT4 in 2026: why it refuses to die
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences some time ago, nudging brokers toward MT5. Still, most retail forex traders stayed put. The reason is straightforward: MT4 has twenty years of muscle memory behind it. A huge library of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts run on MT4. Switching to MT5 means rebuilding that entire library, and few people would rather keep trading than recoding.
After testing MT4 and MT5 side by side, and the gap is less dramatic than the marketing suggests. MT5 adds a few extras like more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but chart functionality is about the same. 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. The part that trips people up is getting everything configured correctly. On first launch, MT4 opens with four charts squeezed onto a single workspace. Close all of them and open just the markets you care about.
Chart templates save time. Build your go-to indicators on one chart, then right-click and save as template. From there you can load it onto other charts instantly. Minor detail, but over weeks it saves hours.
Something most people miss: go to Tools > Options > Charts and tick "Show ask line." The default view is the bid price on the chart, which makes buy entries seem misaligned by the spread amount.
MT4 strategy tester: honest expectations
MT4 comes with a backtester that lets you run Expert Advisors against historical data. But here's the thing: the quality of those results depends entirely on your tick data. Standard history data is modelled, meaning it fills in missing ticks with review made-up prices. If you're testing something that needs accuracy, grab third-party tick data.
The "modelling quality" percentage tells you more than the profit figure. Anything below 90% indicates the results are probably misleading. I've seen people post backtest results with 25% modelling quality and ask why their live results don't match.
This is one area where MT4 genuinely outperforms most web-based platforms, but the output is only useful with quality tick data.
Custom indicators on MT4: worth the effort?
MT4 comes with 30 standard technical indicators. The average trader uses maybe a handful. But where MT4 gets interesting lives in user-built indicators coded in MQL4. There are thousands available, spanning simple moving average variations to complex multi-timeframe dashboards.
Adding a custom indicator is simple: drop the .ex4 or .mq4 file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, refresh MT4, and you'll find it in the Navigator panel. The catch is quality control. Publicly shared indicators vary wildly. Some are solid tools. Some are abandoned projects and will crash your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, verify when it was last updated and whether users have flagged problems. A broken 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 tools that the majority of users don't bother with. The most useful is maximum deviation in the new order panel. This defines the amount of slippage is acceptable on market orders. Leave it at zero and you'll get whatever price the broker gives you.
Everyone knows about stop losses, but trailing stops is worth exploring. Right-click an open trade, choose Trailing Stop, and define the pip amount. Your stop loss moves when price moves in your favour. Doesn't work well in choppy markets, but if you're riding trends it reduces the need to micromanage the trade.
You can configure all of this in under five minutes and the difference in discipline is noticeable over time.
Running Expert Advisors: practical expectations
Expert Advisors on MT4 attract traders for obvious reasons: define your rules and let the machine execute. The reality is, most EAs fail to deliver over any decent time period. EAs sold with flawless equity curves are usually fitted to past data — they look great on historical data and fall apart the moment conditions shift.
This isn't to say all EAs are useless. A few people build personal EAs for one particular setup: entering at a specific time, automating position size calculations, or exiting positions at predetermined levels. These utility-type EAs are more reliable because they handle mechanical tasks that don't require discretion.
When looking at Expert Advisors, use a demo account for at least several weeks in different conditions. Live demo testing tells you more than any backtest.
MT4 on Mac and mobile: what actually works
The platform was designed for Windows. If you're on macOS face compromises. Previously was Wine or PlayOnMac, which was functional but introduced display glitches and stability problems. Certain brokers now offer Mac-specific builds using Wine under the hood, which are better but still aren't true native apps.
On mobile, available for both iPhone and Android, work well for watching positions and managing trades on the move. Serious charting work on a mobile device is pushing it, but adjusting a stop loss on the go is genuinely handy.
Check whether your broker offers a proper macOS version or just Wine under the hood — the difference in stability is noticeable.