How to install an indicator in mt4 (MetaTrader4) ?

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Every trader, sooner or later, comes to the idea of how to install an indicator in mt4, because he categorically lacks a standard set of indicators. Internet resources provide a lot of additional indicators and scripts designed to help trader to make profit on the currency market. However, in the comments to these indicators and scripts you can almost always find "I installed it and it doesn't work". In this article we will show how to make "I installed it and it works".

Step-by-step instructions for installing an indicator in MT4

Step 1

Usually, indicators and custom scripts downloaded from the network are located in archives that need to be unpacked. The resulting file or several files will have an extension *.ex4 or *.mq4.

Fig. 1. The downloaded archive with the indicator.

Fig. 2. Unpacked indicator files from the archive.

Step 2

To install an indicator in mt4 or a script, copy or move unpacked files to the appropriate folder of the MetaTrader 4 trading platform. There are two ways to do this:

Method 1: (outdated method, for old versions of terminals and Windows)

For mt4 indicator it will be the folder C:\Program Files\MetaTrader \MQL4\Indicators

For the mt4 script is the folder C:\Program Files\MetaTrader \MQL4\scripts

Fig. 3. Indicator files copied into the trading terminal folder.

Method 2: (new installation method)

In the terminal, open the "File" tab - "Open Data Catalog".

Fig. 4. Adding indicators through the terminal.

Copy the files to the appropriate folder, similar to the first method.

The second way to install the indicator in mt4 will be more convenient for those who have several terminals installed at different brokers, as well as for those who have the operating system windows 7 and above.

Step 3

After the necessary files are placed in the appropriate folders, the MetaTrader 4 terminal must be restarted if it has been turned on, or just turned on.

Step 4

The indicator can be set in the trading terminal in two ways:

- open the sidebar through the "Navigator" button. Open the "Custom Indicators" tab, find the installed indicator and drag it to the chart of the currency pair you want.

Fig. 4. Setting the indicator through the "Navigator" panel. — Fig. 5. Setting the indicator through the "Navigator" panel.

- In the "Insert" tab, go to the "Indicators", "Custom" tabs, find the desired indicator and click on it.

Fig. 5. Setting the indicator through the "Insert" tab. — Fig. 6. Setting the indicator through the "Insert" tab.

Whether you use the first or the second method - there is absolutely no difference.

Step 5

After the operations described in the previous paragraph, the settings window will appear, in which you must check the "Allow DLL import" checkbox, and you can change the indicator parameters, setting it to your liking.

Fig. 6. Indicator settings window. — Fig. 8. Indicator settings window.

Step 6

As a result, we get an indicator that works on the chart of the currency pair.

Fig. 7. The indicator installed on the chart of the currency pair. — Fig. 9. The indicator installed on the chart of the currency pair.

Step 7

To delete an installed indicator, right-click on the chart or go to the "Charts" tab, find the installed indicator in the "List of Indicators" and delete it.

Fig. 8. Deleting the set indicator. — Fig. 10. Deleting the installed indicator.

For installing and removing scripts all operations are similar.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that, despite the abundance of all sorts of indicators and scripts, they should not get carried away, because they only play a role of aides in trading - the decision-making remains the prerogative of the trader.

Figure 9. How not to do. — Figure 11. How not to do.