How to speed up your MetaTrader 4 terminal in 5 minutes?

5 521

Every trader knows that the MetaTrader 4 trading platform is periodically updated. Undoubtedly there are positive moments in it, but today let's talk about the disadvantages of such updates.

With each new version MetatTrader 4 becomes "heavier" and more demanding to computer resources. And if a trader uses the built-in strategy tester to test indicators and trading experts, the "weight" of MT4 can reach ten or more gigabytes.

High demand for PC resources creates a problem for traders who use VPS servers for testing EAs, reducing the number of terminals available for installation on the server.

All these problems lead to the fact that the trading terminal often freezes and slows down, taking up unacceptably much space on the hard drive.

How do you deal with it? How to speed up MetaTrader 4? Here are some simple tips on how to clean your MetaTrader 4 terminal to speed up its operation.

Quickly and automatically unload unnecessary MT4

1. Remove all unnecessary characters

First of all, it is necessary to optimize the operation of the terminal itself. To begin with, let's remove all the symbols that we don't use. The fact is that each symbol is updated in real time on every tick, which causes increased traffic and load on the PC.

To do this, right-click in the "Market Watch" window and choose "Hide All Symbols" from the drop-down menu.

In the "Market Watch" window there will be only those currency pairs whose charts are open in the terminal.

Turn off the news in the MT4 terminal

The next step is to disable news in the terminal. To do this, go to the settings and in the tab "Server" uncheck the "Allow news".

3. Reducing the history of quotes

To reduce the load on the terminal, we reduce the quotes history (if your Expert Advisor does not use it). To do this, go to the "Charts" tab in the terminal settings and set the required number of bars of history.

It is desirable to restart the terminal after all last procedures.

Clearing the terminal from unnecessary information by hand

Now let's move on to manual cleaning of the terminal. You can find various utilities on the resources that do it yourself, but you need to understand the very essence of the process, not to mention that an unfamiliar utility can clean the terminal "to a pulp".

The MetaTrader 4 trading terminal is designed so that it constantly accumulates a variety of data: tests, quotes, logs, and more.

An important point: always use different terminals for trading and for testing EAs and indicators. Residuals of tests of previous EAs can cause incorrect work of the current EA or change global variables.

Clean the terminal MetaTrader 4 can be done in two ways.

The first way: complete removal and reinstallation. With this method, you must save the profiles, templates, indicators, scripts and advisors that you use to transfer them to the newly installed terminal.
The second way: manually delete unnecessary data from the folders of the terminal. To do this, enter the "File" tab in the terminal and open the data directory.

In the window that appears, you will see all the folders of your MetaTrader 4 terminal.

4. Remove emails from mailboxes and unnecessary charts

Go to the folder history, find the folders mailbox (this is where the mailbox and all incoming information in the form of email messages is stored) and deleted (this is where the history of all charts opened and subsequently deleted by the trader is stored), and delete all files from them.

Clearing the Deleted and Mailbox folders

Next, open the logs folder. This is where the logs of the terminal for each day are stored. Delete them.

The next step is to open the MQL4 folder. There we delete files from the Logs folder (the history of log messages of Expert Advisors, indicators and scripts) and from the Files folder (sometimes saved statments are accumulated there, and some Expert Advisors may put their reports or charts screenshots there).

Delete unnecessary logs and files in the MQL4 folder

In the end, open the folder tester. In it, we also delete all files and folders history (messages as the history of the strategy tester Metatrader 4) and logs (this folder stores the logs of the strategy tester).

Delete history and logs in the Strategy Tester

As you can see, all manipulations will not take even five minutes, but after that you will simply do not recognize your terminal and will enjoy its performance. And if you perform these operations periodically, you will forget about braking and freezing of your favorite MetaTrader 4 and speed up its work significantly.

You will also be interested in