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Version: 2.0

MetaTrader Simplified

Note​

Some features of the trading platforms MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 are summarized on this page. Given that both applications have existed for an extended period, this article will delve into only some of the details. Instead, it aims to highlight those crucial features for understanding the product portfolio described in this documentation. Please refer to the manufacturer's website or other external content for further exploration. Third-party content is recommended and listed below each section for specific topics in this article.

Views​

MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 are organized into multiple views for ease of use. Each View serves a distinct purpose and can be toggled on or off under the View menu, as depicted in the illustration below.

MetaTrader enable and disable views.png

A MetaTrader with all views enabled usually looks like that.

MetaTrader views overview.png

Certain brokers provide modified versions of the MetaTrader trading platforms. Usually, these may appear similar, but they typically maintain the same views. If you use MetaTrader, enabling only the views you require could be beneficial. For instance, if your sole purpose is to test strategies, you would only need to allow the Strategy Tester view.

Market watch

The Market Watch window in MetaTrader provides an overview of price data of financial instruments. It displays real-time quotes, price statistics, and tick charts. It also provides details of contract specifications and One-Click Trading options. You can customize the displayed data, open new charts, and place market and pending orders directly from this window. The color of the prices in the Market Watch window indicates whether the current price is higher, lower, or has not changed compared to the previous one. Please note that if a symbol is hidden in Market Watch, its data cannot be used in add-on applications and the Strategy Tester.

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Data window

The Data Window in MetaTrader is designed to display price information (open, high, low, and close), the date and time of the bar, and the indicators used. It serves an informative role and does not allow the trader to perform any actions regarding the trade or to customize the workspace. Right-clicking on the Data Window opens a context menu containing commands like Copy, Last Data, Auto Arrange, Grid, and Show. These commands allow you to copy data, show/hide the latest data column, set up the column size automatically, show/hide the grid, and select the information displayed.

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Navigator

The Navigator window in MetaTrader provides quick access to various features of the terminal. It can be opened or closed by pressing Ctrl+N, through the View - Navigator menu command, or by pressing the button on the Standard toolbar. The window displays a tree list of features including Accounts, Indicators, Expert Advisors, Custom Indicators, and Scripts. It allows you to work with files and folders inside the trading platform's /MQL4 or /MQL5 directories. You can open a file for editing, create a new file or folder, and refresh the Navigator window from the context menu.

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Terminal

The Terminal window in MetaTrader is a multifunctional window that allows access to various features such as open trades, account balance, news, trade history, alerts, and the system's daily activity report. The View can open the Terminals menu command by pressing Ctrl+T or the button on the Standard toolbar. The window contains several tabs: Trade, Exposure, Account History, News, Alerts, Mailbox, Company, Market, Signals, Code Base, Search, Expert Advisors, and Journal. Each tab provides different information and functionalities related to trading.

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Strategy tester

The Strategy Tester in MetaTrader is a powerful tool that allows you to test the efficiency of an expert advisor (EA) and detect the best input parameters before you run the EA on your real account. It operates based on historical quotes of currencies, stocks, and other assets. During testing, the EA goes through the accumulated quotes and performs virtual transactions according to its algorithm. This procedure allows an evaluation of how the EA would have traded in the past. The Strategy Tester offers several testing modes to achieve the optimal speed/quality ratio based on the trader's needs.

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Chart

The MetaTrader Chart window is a crucial feature of the platform. It displays open charts for various financial securities. You can switch between these charts by clicking on their tabs. Each tab shows the name of the security and the chart period. The window allows you to manage the arrangement of charts in your workspace. You can create a new chart window, arrange it as a tile, cascade it, or arrange it horizontally or vertically. Drag and drop the preferred symbol from the Market Watch window to open a new chart window.

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Indicators and oscillators​

In MetaTrader, indicators are mathematical calculations applied to price and volume data. They play a crucial role in opening and closing deals. Oscillators, a type of indicator, show price deviation from its average value.

They help predict the approaching correction or the direction of the price oscillation phase. Oscillators are especially useful when there is no vivid trend in the market. Some popular oscillators include the Average True Range, Bears Power, Bulls Power, MACD, and the Relative Strength Index. These tools are valuable for technical analysis in MetaTrader.

Adding an indicator in MetaTrader 4 or 5 is a straightforward process. Here are the steps you can follow:

  • Open the Navigator window, usually on the left side of your screen.
  • Look for the Indicators folder within the Navigator window.
  • Inside the Indicators folder, you will find another folder named Market. This folder contains the indicators you've already installed.
  • To add a new indicator, you can either double-click on it or drag it to the chart.

To activate the pre-installed indicators on the platform, navigate to Insert - Indicators and select the category of the indicator you are interested in. This will allow you to explore and enable them.

MetaTrader enabling of indicators.png

Once indicators and oscillators are activated on a chart view, their values are visualized. Indicators are typically displayed on the same chart as the price, while oscillators are usually shown in a separate chart subwindow. You can view all active indicators by right-clicking on your chart and selecting Indicators List. If necessary, you can also delete indicators and oscillators from this list.

MetaTrader indicator list.png

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Live and demo trading​

Most brokers typically name their accounts based on their intended use. As observed in the Navigator, live is often included in the server name for live accounts, while demo is included for demo accounts.

MetaTrader navigator view.png

The main difference between demo and live trading in MetaTrader is that demo trading uses virtual money, while live trading uses real funds. In demo trading, the price you request is the price you get, but in live trading, there might be a difference between the price you expect and the price you get, commonly called slippage. Also, executions are more accessible and faster in demo accounts. However, live trading answers to real counterparts; if you want to sell a position, there must be a buyer.

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Automated trading with Expert Advisors​

MetaTrader's automated trading feature, known as Expert Advisors (EAs), allows you to engage in forex trading via automated trading. EAs are unique programs or pieces of code that are uploaded into the MetaTrader platform. They use robots with analytical abilities to trade, a unique feature of the platform.

You can purchase an EA on the MetaTrader market or create your own. To build your trading robot, you will develop, program, and compile it on the MQL MetaEditor using the MQL4 or MQL5 coding language. Using your trading experience, you can define which market conditions will result in trade opening or closing positions based on various indicators and technical analysis elements.

Before using EAs, you need to set them up first. The client terminal settings window defines the working parameters standard for all experts. This window can be opened by the Tools - Options menu command or by pressing the accelerating keys of Ctrl+O.

Upon enabling the setting AutoTrading, you can now start and use Expert Advisor, which is typically accessible via the Navigator view.

MetaTrader indicates a running expert advisor.png

Free and paid Expert Advisors are available on the Internet and in the MetaTrader Market, where you can also download a demo version of the desired EA and try it before buying or renting it.

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MetaEditor, MQL4, and MQL5​

MetaEditor is a multifunction specialized editor used for creating, editing, and compiling application programs written in MQL4 and MQL5. It's tightly linked with the MetaTrader trading platform and works with MQL program source codes, compiling them into executable files. It recognizes various language patterns, provides suggestions on using functions, and highlights different elements of the program's source code.

Every MetaTrader is installed together with the MetaQuotes Language Editor and can be opened by navigating to Tools and selecting it, shown below:

MetaTraders MetaQuotes integrated language editor.png

MQL4 (MetaQuotes Language 4) is a programming language developed by MetaQuotes for writing scripts, custom indicators, and automated trading strategies for the MetaTrader 4 trading platform. It's derived from C++, and its operations and expressions are similar to simple arithmetic. It supports various procedures, including arithmetical, assignment, relational, Boolean, bitwise, comma, and function calls.

On the other hand, MQL5 (MetaQuotes Language 5) is an upgrade to MQL4, offering more features and capabilities. It's used for creating trading robots, technical indicators, scripts, and libraries in MetaTrader 5. MQL5 underwent major updates towards MQL4, making it more straightforward to program automated orders. However, programs written in MQL5 will only function in MQL4 under certain conditions. MQL5 also provides structures for trade requests and results, making interaction with the trade server more efficient.

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Strategy tester​

The MetaTrader Strategy Tester is a powerful tool that allows you to test and optimize trading strategies before using them for live trading. It facilitates the testing of automated robot performance in trading. The Strategy Tester operates based on historical quotes of currencies, stocks, and other assets. During testing, the Expert Advisor reviews the accumulated quotes and performs virtual transactions according to its algorithm. This procedure allows an evaluation of how the EA would have traded in the past.

This feature is accessible in MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, as depicted in the illustrations below.

MetaTrader 4

MetaTrader 4 strategy tester.png

MetaTrader 5

MetaTrader 5 strategy tester.png

Although the feature appears quite similar in both versions of MetaTrader, utilizing the strategy tester in MetaTrader 5 is strongly recommended.

The Strategy Tester (MT5) offers several testing modes to achieve the optimal speed/quality ratio based on the trader's needs. Every tick is used to ensure the best testing accuracy. 1 minute OHLC is introduced for traders who want to test a strategy quickly and accurately simultaneously. Select Open prices only if you need a rapid and rough estimation based on bars' open prices. The Strategy Tester tests trading robots and solves many mathematical problems involving parameter optimization.

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Notifications​

MetaTrader's email and mobile notifications are a part of the platform's alert system. Email notifications can be enabled in your MetaTrader terminal to send an email to a specified address. This type of notification is proper when you want to notify a long text or many details. Mobile notifications, or push notifications, are messages from the MetaTrader terminal to a mobile device with the MetaTrader app installed. These notifications are short messages of up to 255 characters. They are delivered immediately and are never lost.

To set up these notifications, go to the Tools menu and Options.

MetaTrader options menu.png

In the Notifications tab, tick Enable Push Notifications and insert your MetaQuotes ID. You can find your MetaQuotes ID in your mobile terminal's Settings - Messages section.

MetaTrader notification settings for mobile.png

After setting up the options, enter one or more MetaQuotes IDs, separated by commas. You can specify up to 4 MetaQuotes IDs; the notifications will be sent to all devices simultaneously.

To utilize the email notification system, it is necessary to set up an SMTP email server.

MetaTrader notification settings for emails.png

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Mobile version​

MetaTrader's mobile version is a powerful trading platform that provides opportunities for financial trading and market analysis with popular mobile devices based on iOS and Android. It allows you to manage your trading account, view real-time price charts, and use technical indicators and analytical objects. It enables professional technical analysis through the built-in set of indicators and analytical objects.

MetaTrader mobile version.png

You can also access financial news, be notified of significant events in the account, and send messages through your MQL5 community account. The mobile application can be installed on any iOS and Android-powered smartphone or tablet.

The platform lets you quickly move the trading accounts from desktop to mobile. When you switch to download the mobile terminal from the Help menu, the list of your trade servers is remembered. Then, when you install the mobile platform on your device, a ready list of servers will be shown to you.

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