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 kept using MT4. 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. Moving to MT5 means porting that entire library, and few people can't justify the effort.
I spent time testing MT4 and MT5 side by side, and the differences are smaller than you'd expect. MT5 adds a few extras like more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the charting feels very similar. Unless you need MT5-specific features, there's no compelling reason to switch.
MT4 setup: what the manual doesn't tell you
Installation takes a few minutes. The part that trips people up is configuration. Out of the box, MT4 loads with four charts squeezed onto one window. Close all of them and open just the markets you actually trade.
Save yourself repeating the same setup by using templates. Set up your usual indicators on one chart, then save it as a template. From there you can apply it to any new chart instantly. Small thing, but over weeks it adds up.
Something most people miss: open Tools > Options > Charts and check "Show ask line." MT4 only shows the bid price by default, which makes entries appear wrong by the spread amount.
How reliable is MT4 backtesting?
MT4's built-in strategy tester lets you run Expert Advisors against historical data. Worth noting though: the quality of those results comes down to your tick data. Standard history data from MetaQuotes is interpolated, meaning the tester fills gaps using algorithms. If you're testing something beyond a rough sanity check, you need third-party tick data.
The "modelling quality" percentage tells you more than the bottom-line PnL. Anything below 90% suggests the results aren't trustworthy. People occasionally share screenshots with 25% modelling quality and wonder why the EA fails in real conditions.
Backtesting is where MT4 earns its reputation, but only if you feed it decent data.
MT4 indicators beyond the defaults
MT4 ships with 30 default technical indicators. Few people use more than five or six. However where MT4 gets interesting is in custom indicators written in MQL4. You can find thousands available, spanning basic modifications to complex multi-timeframe dashboards.
Installing them is straightforward: copy the .ex4 or .mq4 file into the MQL4/Indicators folder, refresh MT4, and the indicator shows up in the Navigator panel. The catch is quality. Publicly shared indicators are hit-and-miss. Some are well coded and maintained. Many stopped working years ago and will crash your terminal.
When adding third-party indicators, look at when it was last updated and whether users mention bugs. A broken indicator won't just give wrong signals — it can freeze MT4.
Managing risk properly inside MT4
There are a few native risk management features that a lot of people don't bother with. The most useful is maximum deviation in the trade execution window. It sets the amount of slippage is acceptable on market orders. If you don't set it and you'll get whatever price the broker gives you.
Stop losses go without saying, but trailing stops is overlooked. Click on an open trade, pick Trailing Stop, and define the pip amount. Your stop loss adjusts when price moves in your favour. Doesn't work well in choppy markets, but for trend-following it removes the urge to sit and watch.
These settings take a minute to configure and the difference in discipline is noticeable over time.
Expert Advisors — before you trust a robot with your money
EAs have obvious appeal: set rules, let the code trade, walk away. The reality is, a huge percentage of them lose money over any meaningful time period. EAs marketed using incredible historical results are usually over-optimised — they worked on past prices and fall apart when market conditions change.
None of this means all EAs are useless. A few people build personal EAs to handle one particular setup: opening trades at session opens, managing position sizing, or closing trades at set levels. That kind of automation are more reliable because they execute defined operations that don't require judgment.
Before running any EA with real money, use a demo account for at least source a few months. Running it forward in real time reveals more than historical results ever will.
MT4 on Mac and mobile: what actually works
MT4 is a Windows application at heart. If you're on macOS deal with friction. Previously was emulation, which did the job but introduced rendering issues and the odd crash. Some brokers now offer macOS versions wrapped around Crossover or similar wrappers, which are better but remain wrappers at the end of the day.
The mobile apps, available for both Apple and Android devices, are genuinely useful for keeping an eye on positions and managing trades on the move. Doing proper analysis on a phone screen is pushing it, but closing a trade from your phone is worth having.
Check whether your broker offers real Mac support or a compatibility layer — the experience varies a lot between the two.