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Comprehensive guide to MetaTrader 4 for beginners

MetaTrader 4 is one of the best-known Forex trading platforms in the market. Created in 2005, this trading platform has forever changed the way people trade Forex. MT4 was created by a famous software development company called MetaQuotes.

MT4 was created specifically for Forex trading, which makes it a great platform for this market. There are numerous Forex trading indicators that this platform offers to traders, which makes it a lot easier to trade Forex.

In our beginner’s guide to MetaTrader 4, we are going to discuss everything that you should know before you start using it. So, if you are still not sure which trading platform is better for you, follow our guide and see how MT4 really works.

MT4 chart

MetaTrader 4 – A quick background

MetaTrader 4 was created in 2005 by a famous company called MetaQuotes. The main idea behind creating MetaTrader 4 was to make Forex trading more accessible for everyone. MetaTrader 4 was a huge step for the Forex trading market, and it has set a totally new bar for trading platforms around the world.

There are numerous trading tools and indicators that MetaTrader offers to its users, making trading easier and more accessible for everyone. MT4 heavily focuses on Forex trading, unlike other platforms created by MetaQuotes. For example, MetaTrader 5 offers traders access to numerous assets, such as stocks, indices, commodities, and many others.

MetaTrader 4 guide – How does it work?

MetaTrader 4 is a very user-friendly trading platform. In most cases, brokers offer their own versions of MetaTrader 4 with minor changes. No matter which broker you are using, the general interface, as well as controls of the platform, should be the same.

As we have already noted, MetaTrader 4 was created specifically for Forex trading. Although it is also capable of offering traders access to CFDs, MT4 is mostly used by Forex traders. The design of the trading platform is very simplistic and offers traders a great experience.

There are numerous trading indicators available on MetaTrader 4. The trading platform features the programming language MQL4. Thanks to this coding language, you can even create trading indicators of your own if you have enough skills.

If not, there are numerous sources and websites you can use to download additional indicators. While the majority of the indicators available online come as free downloads, there also are paid versions of MetaTrader 4 indicators for Forex trading.

Trading Forex using MetaTrader 4 is very easy. After opening the trading platform, you can log in using your credentials. After doing so, you should be able to start opening and closing positions, researching, charting, analyzing, and so on.

To be able to start trading Forex using MetaTrader 4, there are several steps that you might have to take.

Steps to start trading using MT4 Forex trader

There are several steps that traders might have to take to use MetaTrader 4. First of all, you will need to find a Forex broker that offers you access to the MetaTrader 4 trading platform. After you do so, you can download the trading platform from the website of the broker you are using.

There are several ways you can start using MetaTrader 4. You can start trading with your own money, or try to increase your experience by trading with either a demo account or trading simulator.

This is a great way to gain experience in the market. Both demo accounts and trading simulators offer you the ability to trade Forex without having to risk any of your real-life funds. Although you can’t make profits trading like this, you can gain a lot of experience and grow as a trader.

Once you gain enough experience in the market, you can slowly start moving onto trading using your real money.

MT4 login

Forex trading charts of MT4

Once you get used to navigating through the MetaTrader 4, it is time for you to move on to using the trading charts offered by the trading platform. There are many different types of charts available at MetaTrader 4, and they can be very useful for your technical analysis.

Among the types of charts that are available on MT4, you can find:

You can also download other types of charts if you want to and add them to your MetaTrader 4. All of these charts that are offered by the broker can be very useful for traders. They all display different types of information.

For example, if you want to see simply how the market is moving, you would use line charts. On the other hand, for more comprehensive analysis you would most likely go with candlestick charts, as it offers you different types of information about the price movements, including open, close, as well as highs and lows of the trading day.

On the other hand, if you want to know more about the trends in the market by just looking at the chart, you would go with Heiken Ashi, which is one of the most important charts that traders use to see how the prices are moving in the market.

Forex indicators on MetaTrader 4

MetaTrader 4 offers traders access to numerous Forex trading indicators. These indicators are created to make Forex trading much easier and accessible for traders around the world. Among the most popular indicators for MT4 are:

All of these indicators are very helpful for traders as they offer a great deal of information about the market. These indicators can be used to better understand the possible price movements in the market.

Forex indicators on MT4

Technical analysis represents a very important thing in the Forex trading market. For example, Bollinger Bands is a very famous indicator that measures volatility and identifies overbought and oversold conditions in the market. The information that you get from technical indicators can help you better plan your trades.

Around the world, many traders are using technical indicators in conjunction with fundamental analysis. This can be very helpful for you to trade Forex better.

How to use MT4 indicators

Adding indicators to the MetaTrader 4 is very easy. There are numerous Forex trading indicators available in the market that you can download and add to your chart in just a few clicks. There are numerous sources you can download MetaTrader 4 indicators from. One of the best places to download indicators for MetaTrader is the official website of MQL.

The majority of indicators are available on this website for free. You can download them and add them to your MetaTrader 4 in just a few clicks. To add the indicators to your charts, you should go to the controls on the left side of the screen. Then, you click on the indicators, and depending on the indicator you want to add to your chart, you choose either the developer or the type of the indicator.

To add the indicators to your charts, all you have to do is to double-click the indicator, set the settings according to your preferences, and that’s it, the indicator will be applied to your charts automatically.

MetaTrader 4 timeframes

There are many things that make this Forex trading platform unique. One of those things is the time frames available on the platform. There is a large selection of time frames available on the platform, starting from one 1minute and going up to 1 month.

This can help you analyze the market depending on the needs that you have. The main reason why traders need different types of timeframes is that the same timeframe might not work for every trader.

For example, if you are a long-term trader, the timeframes that work for short-term traders might not be as useful for you. You can change the time frames very easily by right-clicking on the chart.

Web and mobile trading using MetaTrader 4

There are numerous different versions of MetaTrader 4 offered by brokers around the world. These different versions of the trading platform can make trading even more accessible for people globally.

Many Forex brokers offer traders access to the Web Trader that was created according to the MetaTrader 4. In addition, there also is a version of MT4 available for mobile phones. Users of both Android and iOS have the ability to download MetaTrader 4 on their phones and trade Forex without having to sit in front of their computers all the time.

Thanks to mobile trading, Forex trading is becoming more accessible for everyone around the world.

What makes MetaTrader 4 unique?

MetaTrader 4 stands out from the rest of the trading platforms because of many reasons. First of all, it is one of the first trading platforms to offer traders comprehensive services for Forex trading.

Thanks to this trading platform, you can chart, analyze, and trade at the same place, without having to switch between different applications. The best thing about this trading platform is that it is very easy to use and can work really well for experienced as well as beginner Forex traders.