Moving Average Swing Settings for MT4: How to Set Up 9/21, 20/50 and 50/200 on H1 and H4, and Only 1 of 26 H4 Settings Reached 20 Trades

Most swing trading setups start the same way: open H1 or H4, add two moving averages, trade the cross. The settings are always one of three pairs. This guide shows how to set them up in MetaTrader, then what each pair did on real data, and the one check that saves you from judging a setting on five trades.

The full test behind the numbers is in moving average strategy for swing trading.

How do you add swing moving averages in MT4?

1. Open the chart, for example EURUSD, and click H1 or H4 on the timeframe toolbar.
2. Go to Insert → Indicators → Trend → Moving Average.
3. Set Period to the fast value, for example 50. Set MA method to Exponential or Simple, Apply to Close, Shift 0. Pick a colour and click OK.
4. Repeat for the slow value, for example 200, in a second colour.
5. Press Ctrl+D to open the Data Window. Moving the mouse over a bar shows both averages on that bar, so you can see which one is on top at each close.

In MT5 the path is the same: Insert → Indicators → Trend → Moving Average, with Method set to Exponential or Simple. The formula is identical in both platforms.

Save it as a template (right click → Template → Save Template) so the pair comes back on every chart. If you are unsure whether to pick EMA or SMA, I measured that separately in EMA vs SMA; in this test neither type was consistently better.

How much history does each pair need?

A 200-period average draws nothing until 200 bars have closed. On a live chart you never see this, because MetaTrader loads history behind it. In a backtest, or on a new symbol with short history, it eats your sample.

Trading days, 24 bars a day on H1 and 6 on H4. In my 12 weeks of EURUSD, the H4 50/200 had only 144 of 345 bars left to trade. On gold, 91 of 292.

Then count the crosses. In MetaTrader, go to Tools → Options → Charts and make sure Max bars in chart is large enough, then scroll back and count, or use the tester. At the rate I saw on EURUSD H1, the 50/200 crossed 8 times in 1,216 tradeable bars. Twenty crosses would take about 3,000 bars, roughly six months of H1 history.

What did each setting do on H1?

Data: EURUSD M5 from June 3 to August 26, 2026 (16,926 bars) and gold M5 from June 16 to August 26 (13,736 bars), rebuilt into 1,417 and 1,146 H1 bars. Two exits: always-in, which reverses on the opposite cross, and a fixed exit with a 1.5 ATR stop, 3 ATR target and 48 bars at most. Cost 1 pip on EURUSD, $0.30 an ounce on gold.

Profit per trade after cost for the better of the two exits, pips on EURUSD and dollars an ounce on gold. “Too few” means under 20 trades.

Even picking the better exit after the fact, every EURUSD H1 line lost. On gold the 9/21 pairs and SMA 20/50 made money, in a period when gold rose from $4,351 to $4,675. The best of them, SMA 9/21 always-in at +$14.23, sat just under the 95th percentile of random entries held for the same stretches, +$14.43. The pullback to the 20 EMA, with the averages stacked 20 above 50 above 200, lost on both: -3.51 pips and -$7.78 a trade.

And on H4?

Only SMA 9/21 on EURUSD reached 20 trades, and it lost 5.56 pips each with the always-in exit. The single 50/200 cross won on both markets, +153 pips and +$488 an ounce. A single trade like that is what makes a setting look brilliant in a screenshot.

Does the best setting from the past keep working?

I split the data on July 15 and ranked the judged H1 settings on the first half only, the way you would pick a setting from history.

• EURUSD: the leader was EMA 20/50 with the fixed exit, +1.25 pips a trade. In the second half it lost 6.62, last of 9.
• Gold: the leader was SMA 9/21 with the fixed exit, +$11.76. In the second half +$1.39, 6th of 9.

Neither leader stayed on top. I saw the same with the fast pairs in moving average settings for MT4 and with RSI in RSI swing trading in MT4.

A checklist before you trade a swing average

• Count the crosses first. Under 20, you have no result, only a story. On H4, the 50/200 needs years of history for 20.
• Check the result before cost. 8 of 9 judged EURUSD H1 lines lost even before the spread. A cheaper spread on higher timeframes does not rescue that.
• Compare with the market’s own move. Gold rose 7.4% in this sample, and random entries held for the same periods did as well as the best average.
• Split your history. Pick the setting on the first half, check it on the second. On this data the leader dropped to last or near it.
• Know the costs. Spread and swap for holding several days are covered in spread and swap costs in MT4.

You can get almost the same signal without switching charts: a 50/200 on H1 matched a 600/2400 on M5 on 99.8% of hours, as shown in swing vs scalping moving averages.

Frequently asked questions

What moving average settings are best for swing trading in MT4?

No setting passed on this data. On EURUSD H1 all 9 judged lines lost; on gold H1 the 9/21 pairs made money but did not beat random entries.

Should I use EMA or SMA for swing trading?

Neither won consistently. SMA 9/21 was the best gold H1 line and EMA 9/21 the least bad EURUSD one.

How many bars does a 200 moving average need in MT4?

200 closed bars of the chart’s timeframe: about 8 trading days on H1 and 33 on H4.

Is H4 better than H1 for a moving average crossover?

H4 gave too few trades to tell. Only 1 of 26 H4 settings reached 20 trades in 12 weeks, and it lost.

How do I see where two moving averages crossed in MT4?

Open the Data Window with Ctrl+D and move over the bars: the cross is the first close where the fast value moves above or below the slow one.