How to install an Expert Advisor in MetaTrader 4 in 6 steps

Any beginning trader eventually discovers automated trading, and the resources are overflowing with free and paid trading Expert Advisors that you want to try and test or even start trading with them. That's why in this article we are going to discuss How to install a robot on a trading account in MT4.

After reading (or sometimes simply missing) the description of the Expert Advisor, the novice trader downloads it, installs it in the terminal, attaches it to his trading account and... sees no changes. Doesn't work robot? Maybe. Or maybe the trader just installs it wrong and thus deprives himself or herself of the opportunity to evaluate a promising and profitable Expert Advisor.

That's why let's consider a step by step instruction on how to install an Expert Advisor in MetaTrader 4. For an illustrative example let's take a popular scalping trading robot "Barabashka".

Step 1: Downloading the Expert Advisor

First of all, you should remember that the Expert Advisor - it is not magic, bringing its owner the money, but the program, which includes an algorithm for trading in certain conditions, expressed in one or more files.

A trading robot is a file with the extension .mq4 or .ex4. For the average trader there is no difference: .mq4 is a file with open code, which the terminal compiles into an Expert Advisor, .ex4 is an already compiled Expert Advisor.

The Expert Advisor can come with:

• additional (author's) indicators - files with the extension .mq4 or .ex4;
• libraries - files with the extension .dll;
• Setup files (sets) - files with the extension .set.

The downloaded archive may also contain a file with the extension .exe. Its function is to install the Expert Advisor files into the correct folders by yourself. We will show you how to do it yourself.

Step 2. Install the Expert Advisor files in the folders of the MetaTrader 4 terminal

Now you need to install each file in the appropriate directory of our MetaTrader 4 terminal.

• Copy the Expert Advisor file (.ex4 or mq4) or move it to the directory C:\Program Files\ MetaTrader 4\ MQL4\ Experts
• Archive with additional indicators unzip(!) to the directory C:\Program Files\ MetaTrader 4\ MQL4\ Indicators
• Copy (transfer) the library file to the directory C:\Program Files\ MetaTrader 4\ MQL4\ Libraries
• Copy (transfer) the settings file to the folder C:\Program Files\ MetaTrader 4\ MQL4\ Presets

Step 3. Installing the trading Expert Advisor on the chart

Start or restart if it was previously running, MetaTrader 4 terminal.

Before installing the Expert Advisor on the chart, we need to configure the terminal to work with trading robots. To do this press Ctrl + O or on the terminal panel go to the tabs "Tools" - "Settings".

In the settings window that appears, go to the "Expert Advisors" tab and configure the terminal.

Step 4: Installing the trading advisor on the chart

On the terminal panel, click the "Navigator" button, on the left panel, go to the tab "Expert Advisors", find our expert and drag it with the mouse on the chart of the currency pair we want.

Important!

• The Expert Advisor icon in the "Navigator" tab can be not only colored, but also gray, as shown in the picture. Don't let it scare you that advisor turned out to be unworkable. The Expert Advisor is functional, and the gray color of the icon means that only the .ex4 file is used, without the .mq open-source file
• It is possible to install several different trading robots on the same currency pair, but for each advisor must open a separate chart, and in their settings should not coincide the value of the parameter MagicNumber, so that advisors work only with their transactions.

Step 5: Setting up the Expert Advisor

Once you have dragged the robot onto a currency pair chart, the Expert Advisor settings window appears.

Now we need to configure our Expert Advisor for work. To do this, go to the "General" tab and check all the boxes.

If your Expert Advisor comes with settings files (.set), to install them, go to the "Input parameters" tab, click the "Load" button, find the desired file in the window that appears and click "Open".

After installing the settings from the Expert Advisor file, click "Ok"

Important!

• The settings of the trading robot can be changed at any time. To do this, right-click on the price chart, find the "Expert Advisors" tab in the drop-down menu, click on it and click on "Properties".

Step 6: Starting to trade with an Expert Advisor

After pressing the "Ok" button, the Expert Advisor settings window disappears, and in the upper right corner of the chart the name of the Expert Advisor and a smiling face are displayed.

If you see a sour face instead of a smile, check the "Auto-trade" button on the terminal panel. If it is red - press it, it will turn green and the Expert Advisor's face will smile, letting you know that the Expert Advisor you set is working.

Important!

• Don't expect the robot to start trading immediately after installation. It is a program. It will open a trade only when the conditions laid down in its algorithm arise.
• Also, there is no need to think that the Expert Advisor should only trade on the plus side. A losing trade is not a reason to immediately jump in and change the settings of the Expert Advisor. Losses when trading with the Expert Advisor are inevitable. The main thing is that the profit on open trades should exceed the loss and the deposit should grow steadily.
• When using an Expert Advisor you can trade the same currency pair manually, the Expert Advisor will ignore your open orders. However, we do not recommend to manually close trades that were opened by a robot - some Expert Advisors may reopen orders that you closed.
• The Expert Advisor will trade only when the terminal is on. If you can't keep your computer turned on all the time, use VPS-servers.

So, as you can see, install the advisor in the MetaTrader 4 terminal you can literally do it in a matter of minutes. With the right amount of experience - much faster. If you are serious about trading robots, bookmark this page, it will come in handy at first.

This article is featured in the 96th issue of ForTrader.org magazine

To the beginner about MT4

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