Introduction
In this tutorial, we will teach you how to install multiple instances of MetaTrader 4 of the same broker account. We will also discuss the advantages of having this kind of setup especially for traders who rely heavily on the MetaTrader 4 platform.
Advantages
Why would you want to have multiple instances of a single MT4 account running at the same time?
The primary goal of this setup is to effectively distribute memory usage and optimize the performance of each MT4 instance. The MetaTrader 4 platform is a 32-bit application which means that it is unable to utilize and maximize the full extent of your hardware. If you have been trading with MT4 for quite some time you might have already noticed that its performance (particularly its speed) deteriorates as your workspace (the number of charts, scripts, indicators, and EA’s open) get bigger. This is because each MT4 instance can only process so much data regardless of how sophisticated your hardware is. Knowing this, an effective solution would be to distribute some parts of your workspace to separate MT4 instances (running on the same broker account). This tutorial teaches you exactly how to do that.
Having multiple MT4 instances running at the same time is also especially useful to traders who have multiple monitors. You can organize your workspace better if you have one MT4 instance running on each monitor. Plus, you can expand the size of your workspace even further as the processes required to run your entire workspace is distributed among different instances. How cool is that?!
So how do we do this? You don’t need to worry as this is VERY simple to do:
Step 1
Execute your MT4 installer. Before clicking Next, click Settings first.
Step 2
In the Installation folder field, add the characters ” (1)” at the end of the given path/directory. In the example below, the default path is “C:\Program Files (x86)\MetaTrader 4 Terminal.” By adding ” (1)” at its end the installation folder becomes “C:\Program Files (x86)\MetaTrader 4 Terminal (1).”
Step 3
Click Next and Finish the installation.
Step 4
We have just created our first instance of the MT4 terminal. If it opens up automatically, please close it for the meantime. Find the same MT4 installer and execute it once again. You will basically repeat Step 1. Like Step 2, after clicking settings you will need to add some extra characters at the end of the Installation folder‘s path as shown in the pictures below. For the second instance, add “ (2)” at the end of the path and proceed to click Next to Finish the installation.
After installing the second instance of your MT4 terminal, you will repeat this until you have the desired number of MT4 instances installed in your computer. Please remember to increment the number at the end of the Installation folder’s path at each iteration of the installation as shown below.
Step 5
Go to C:\Program Files (x86) (or the folder where you installed all the MT4 instances) and find the folders of the different MT4 instances you just installed. It should look like the window shown below.
Step 6
Go inside the folder of the first instance (1) and you will see the file terminal.exe (There are usually two of them. Always choose the EXECUTABLE file and not the icon file. Please see the image below to see which one.) Right-click it and select Send to > Desktop (create shortcut). Doing this will create a shortcut of this file to your desktop which makes it convenient for you to launch your first MT4 instance.
After creating the shortcut to your first instance in your desktop, repeat the process for your other instances by doing the same in their respective folders. Simply go back to C:\Program Files (x86), go inside the folder of your 2nd, 3rd, and nth instance and create a shortcut to your desktop as described above. Once you have created a shortcut for every instance your desktop would look like the image below. Each one launches its respective MT4 instance.
Step 7
Finally, execute each instance and log in to your MT4 account. You can now concurrently run multiple MT4 instances of the same broker account.
Running all instances at the same time would look like this. The example below is a screen of all 4 MT4 instances of the same broker (Oanda) demo account running at the same time. Suffice to say each one runs more smoothly than having one large workspace in a single MT4 instance. Neat!
Installing Quantum Trading indicators in each instance
Please do the steps described in the following guide for each instance of your MT4 terminal:
For MT4: https://mt4.quantumtrading.com/quantum-trading-indicators-update-transfer-reinstallation-guide-for-mt4/
For MT5: https://mt4.quantumtrading.com/quantum-trading-indicators-update-transfer-reinstallation-guide-for-mt5/
