MetaTrader 4 in 2026: what still works and what doesn't
Why traders still pick MT4 over newer platforms
MetaQuotes stopped issuing new MT4 licences years ago, nudging brokers toward MT5. Still, most retail forex traders haven't moved. The reason is not complicated: MT4 does one thing well. More than a decade's worth of custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and community scripts run on MT4. Moving to MT5 means porting that entire library, and most traders don't see the point.
After testing both platforms side by side, and the differences are marginal for most strategies. MT5 has a few extras including more timeframes and a built-in economic calendar, but the charting feels very similar. Unless you need MT5-specific features, MT4 still holds its own.
MT4 setup: what the manual doesn't tell you
Downloading and read full report installing MT4 is the easy part. The part that trips people up is the setup after install. By default, MT4 loads with four charts crammed into the screen. Close all of them and open just the markets you care about.
Save yourself repeating the same setup by using templates. Build your go-to indicators once, then right-click and save as template. After that you can load it onto other charts in two clicks. Minor detail, but over months it adds up.
Something most people miss: go to Tools > Options > Charts and enable "Show ask line." By default MT4 displays the bid price by default, which can make entries appear wrong by the spread amount.
MT4 strategy tester: honest expectations
MT4 comes with a backtester that allows you to run Expert Advisors against historical data. Worth noting though: the reliability of those results hinges on your tick data. The default history data is modelled, meaning it fills in missing ticks mathematically. If you're testing something more precise than a quick look, you need proper historical data.
Modelling quality is more important than the headline profit number. If it's under 90% means the results are probably misleading. Traders sometimes show off backtests with 25% modelling quality and wonder 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 default technical indicators. The average trader uses maybe a handful. However where MT4 gets interesting is in user-built indicators written in MQL4. The MQL5 marketplace alone has a massive library, ranging from simple moving average variations to elaborate signal panels.
Installing them is straightforward: copy the .ex4 or .mq4 file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, restart MT4, and the indicator shows up in the Navigator panel. The risk is quality. Publicly shared indicators are hit-and-miss. Some are well coded and maintained. Others haven't been updated since 2015 and may crash your terminal.
If you're downloading custom indicators, check how recently it was maintained and if users have flagged problems. A poorly written indicator doesn't only show wrong data — it can slow down MT4.
Risk management settings most MT4 traders ignore
There are a few native risk management options that a lot of people skip over. First worth mentioning is the maximum deviation setting in the order window. This controls how much slippage is acceptable on market orders. Without this configured and you're accepting whatever price comes through.
Stop losses are obvious, but trailing stops are overlooked. Click on an open trade, choose Trailing Stop, and define a distance. It follows when price moves your way. It won't suit every approach, but on trending pairs it takes away the temptation to micromanage the trade.
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 attract traders for obvious reasons: set rules, let the code trade, walk away. The reality is, a huge percentage of them fail to deliver over any meaningful time period. Those advertised with incredible historical results are often fitted to past data — they performed well on historical data and break down once the market does something different.
That doesn't mean all EAs are a waste of time. Some traders develop personal EAs to handle well-defined entry rules: entering at a specific time, managing position sizing, or closing trades at predetermined levels. These utility-type EAs are more reliable because they do mechanical tasks that don't require interpretation.
If you're evaluating EAs, test on demo first for a minimum of two to three months. Forward testing reveals more than backtesting alone.
MT4 on Mac and mobile: what actually works
The platform was designed for Windows. Running it on Mac has always been compromises. Previously was Wine or PlayOnMac, which mostly worked but had visual bugs and occasional crashes. Some brokers now offer native Mac apps wrapped around Wine under the hood, which is an improvement but still aren't true native apps.
On mobile, 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 isn't realistic, but closing a trade from your phone is genuinely handy.
It's worth confirming if your broker provides a native Mac build or just a wrapper — it makes a real difference day to day.