How to Download and Install MetaTrader 4 on PC (2026)

This is the boring half of trading and it is where a surprising number of people quit. Not because the install is hard — it is genuinely four clicks — but because nothing tells you which of the six MetaTrader downloads you found is the right one, or why your login fails on the first try. So here is the whole path, in order, with the two places people actually get stuck marked.

Where should you download MT4 from?

From your broker’s own website, on their “platforms” or “downloads” page. There is no meaningful difference in the software, but there is one in the setup: a broker build arrives with their trade servers already listed, so at login you pick a server from a menu instead of typing one you have to find in an email.

Two things worth knowing before you click.

• MetaQuotes no longer distributes a generic MT4 installer publicly. New MT4 downloads come through brokers. If a site offers you a standalone “MT4 setup” and is not a regulated broker, close the tab.
• MT4 is 32-bit and that is fine. It runs on 64-bit Windows without any compatibility setting. The “32-bit” label in the file properties is not a sign you downloaded the wrong thing.

If you are still deciding between the two platforms, I measured that argument rather than argued it: my MT4 against MT5 test ran one rule across both platforms’ timeframes on identical data. Short version: install MT4 if you use custom MQL4 indicators, MT5 if you are starting clean.

How do you install MT4 on a PC, step by step?

1. Run the installer. Double-click the downloaded .exe. Windows SmartScreen may warn you about an unrecognised publisher on a broker-branded build; check the publisher name matches your broker before continuing, and cancel if it does not.
2. Accept and choose the folder. The default is C:Program Files (x86)<Broker> MT4. Take the default unless you deliberately want two brokers’ terminals side by side, in which case give each its own folder — this is the one install decision that is annoying to reverse.
3. Wait about two minutes. The terminal opens by itself and immediately shows an account-opening dialog.
4. Open a demo account. Pick your broker’s demo server, fill in name and email, choose a deposit of 10,000 and 1:100 leverage to match the examples in most tutorials, and accept. Write down the login number, password and investor password on the confirmation screen — that screen does not come back.

That is the install finished. The terminal is now connected, and the bottom-right corner shows a data rate in kb/s. If it says “No connection”, the problem is the server choice or your firewall, never the install.

Where does MT4 keep its files?

This is the question that turns into a support ticket, because MT4 does not keep your indicators in Program Files. It keeps them in a per-user data folder with a long random name.

To find it, use the terminal, not Windows Explorer: File → Open Data Folder. That opens the correct folder every time, whatever it is called on your machine. Inside it:

• MQL4Indicators — custom indicators (.ex4 and .mq4) go here
• MQL4Experts — expert advisors
• MQL4Files — anything an indicator reads or writes
• templates — saved chart layouts, including the default one

Drop a file in, restart the terminal or right-click Navigator and choose Refresh, and it appears. The full click path is in my guide to installing an MT4 indicator, which covers what to do when the indicator shows up in the list but not on the chart.

What goes wrong, and what it actually means

Notice that four of the five are not install problems at all. That is the pattern: MT4 installs cleanly and then behaves in ways nobody warned you about.

What to do in the first hour

Resist opening a trade. The first hour is worth spending on three things that decide whether the platform is useful to you.

• Pick a timeframe and stay on it. This matters more than any setting. In my platform test, the same mechanical rule ranged from -0.33 to +1.48 pips per trade purely on the timeframe it was run on, with M15 and M30 the only two that survived spread.
• Check your spread. Right-click Market Watch, enable Spread, and look at EURUSD. Every result you will ever read online is quoted gross, and a 1 pip spread was enough to turn most of the profitable rows in my tests negative.
• Add one indicator, not six. The built-ins are enough to start, and the moving average settings that actually matter are two fields out of four.

Frequently asked questions

Is MetaTrader 4 free to download?

Yes. The terminal is free from every broker that offers it, and a demo account inside it is free and unlimited. What costs money is trading on a live account, and the cost arrives as spread rather than as a platform fee.

Can I install MT4 on Windows 11?

Yes. MT4 is a 32-bit application and runs on Windows 10 and 11 without a compatibility mode. If SmartScreen blocks the installer, that is a signature warning on the broker’s build, not an incompatibility — verify the publisher name and continue.

Do I need a broker account before installing MT4?

No. Install first, then open a demo from inside the terminal in about a minute. You only need a broker account when you want real money on the platform, and the demo uses the same servers and the same price feed until then.

Should I install MT4 or MT5 in 2026?

MT4 if you own or plan to use custom MQL4 indicators, since they will not run on MT5. MT5 if you are starting fresh or you build EAs. On measured results the platforms were indistinguishable — the extra MT5 timeframes did not beat MT4’s, which is the whole finding of my MT4 against MT5 comparison.

Where are MT4 indicators stored on a PC?

In the terminal’s data folder, under MQL4Indicators, not in Program Files. Reach it through File → Open Data Folder inside MT4. Putting the file in the Program Files directory is the single most common reason a freshly downloaded indicator never appears in the Navigator list.