Tutorials | Forex Simulator

1. I lost my activation code.

2. I have reached the limit of activations.

We understand that Metatrader accounts may expire with time or you may just want to change accounts.

If you ever reach the limit of activations, you can reset activations here or contact us.

3. I can't download MT4. Every time I try, I get MT5 instead.

It looks like you have tried to download MT4 from official Metaquotes website. Unfortunately, Metaquotes does not offer MT4 downloads on their website any longer. Even when you click 'Download Metatrader 4', all you get is Metatrader 5. In this way they try to force everyone to move to MT5.

However, you can download MT4 from a Forex broker of your choice. Most Forex brokers offer MT4 downloads. You may need to register and open a demo account with selected broker in order to download it. Creating a demo account is free and usually takes only a few minutes. There are hundreds of brokers who offer MT4. We can't advertise any of them, but here is a short list: IC Markets, Alpari, Oanda, FxPro, FXCM, Forex.com, Plus500, Pepperstone, ...

4. I can't download the program. I can't open the file.

You do not actually need to open it. All you need to do is to save the file to your disk. Then, please follow installation instructions. Do not be scared that the file has EX4 extension and it is not recognized by your operating system. It is perfectly fine. It is a Metatrader add-on, not a Windows executable file (EXE).

Do not worry about the icon of the file, neither. It is only a visual representation displayed by your operating system. It doesn't mean much.

Make sure that you know the location of the file on your disk so that you can find it. If you are not sure where your web browser stores the file, you can find it using Ctrl + J shortcut in the browser and choosing Show in Folder or Open Downloads Folder.

If there are any problems with downloading the file, you can try with a different browser (e.g. Chrome, Firefox, Edge, IE, Safari, Opera) or ask us to send you the file by e-mail.

5. I can't run it on Mac.

Forex Simulator requires Windows. The only way to run the simulator on Mac or Linux is to use a virtual machine. Remember that you can test if it works for free using the simulator in demo mode.

6. I see error: [You are not connected to MT4 account!]

You have to be logged in to broker's account to start the simulator. Please check the connection status in bottom right corner of Metatrader. The status should show in green/blue. If it shows in red, it means that you are not connected.

If you have already established an account with a broker, please right-click on Accounts in Navigator window in Metatrader and choose Login to Trade Account. Fill in your account details and password and click Login. Then, check the connection status again and make sure that it turns to green/blue.

If you do not have an account with any broker, you will have to create at least a demo account. The broker will provide you with login and password which you can use to log in to Metatrader.

7. I see error: [Could not start the simulator!]

You can find more information about the problem on Experts tab in Terminal window (Ctrl + T or View -> Terminal). Please send us a screenshot or a photo of this tab and we will try to help (how to take a screenshot).

Nevertheless, usually the Experts tab shows that there is an error when the simulator is trying to create Forex Simulator.exe file.

This problem is often caused by antivirus or other security software that actively blocks Forex Simulator. You can check it quickly by disabling or turning off your antivirus for a short while. When you already know that your antivirus or security software causes the problem, you can try to reconfigure it (e.g. add an exception) to avoid turning it off completely.

Another solution is to place Forex Simulator.exe file manually in the right folder. We have shared this file on Google Drive. You can download it here. Choose the right folder according to your version, go into that folder and download only the .exe file. Do not download the whole folder. Then, copy the file to MQL4\Files folder. So, go to File -> Open Data Folder in Metatrader's main menu, navigate to MQL4 and then to Files. Put the file in that folder, possibly overwriting the existing file. Hopefully, it will solve the problem.

8. I have problems with downloading data in Data Center.

Make sure that you are using the latest version of the simulator. You can download the latest version from our download page.
Problem may be caused by antivirus or other security software that actively blocks Forex Simulator. You can check it quickly by disabling or turning off your antivirus for a short while. When you already know that your antivirus or security software causes the problem, you can try to reconfigure it (e.g. add an exception) to avoid turning it off completely.
Sometimes it helps to choose a different folder for storing data. We recommend to choose a simple path, like C:\MyData. This will help when the issue is caused by the lack of access rights.
If you own a license for Forex Simulator, you can also download historical data manually.
You can try to restart the router if you have it.

If you are testing the software in demo mode, the amount of available data will be limited to sample 2 years. It is normal that you won't be able to download more data. Also, it is normal that you won't have the most recent data. Sample 2 years doesn't mean last 2 years.

9. I can't scroll the chart backward.

Disable autoscroll in Metatrader's top menu. This will let you scroll the chart backward.

10. I don't see enough history on the chart. It is too short.

You can solve this problem by taking the following steps:

Step 1

Go to Tools -> Options -> Charts in Metatrader's main menu and set both Max bars in history and Max bars in chart to a very large number, for example 1000000. Restart Metatrader to apply these changes.

Step 2

Increase Initial history on charts to preferred number of days when starting the simulation.

Make sure there are enough days between the starting day of simulation and the first day of available data. If there are not enough days, you can either download more data or start the simulation from a later date.

Step 3

Increase the number of bars to maximum when creating the chart in Charts Selection window.

11. I took a few trades, but my profit/loss is always zero and my equity/balance stays unchanged.

Have you maybe changed Lot Size setting when starting the simulation to a smaller number?

When you reduce the size of one lot, it is possible that your trades will become very very small. In such case their profit/loss will be smaller than 0.01 and it will be rounded down to zero. The standard lot size for currency pairs is 100,000 units. Lot size for other instruments may be different. We recommend to keep default setting unless you know exactly how this setting works.

12. Simulation runs very slowly or even freezes.

There are a few things you can try to fix the problem:

If you work on a laptop, it is best to connect it to power supply or make sure that power-saving mode is turned off. Laptops can work much slower when they try to save energy.
Custom indicators are the main reason of slowing down the charts. You can try to add/remove them one by one to see which one is causing the problem. Unfortunately, many custom indicators are not compatible with Forex Simulator and may cause speed issues.
Check your computer resources in Windows Task Manager (Ctrl + Alt + Del). What is CPU and memory usage when starting the simulator? Which programs/processes eat the most of your memory and CPU time? Is it Forex Simulator, Metatrader or something else? In this way you can identify which program is causing the problem. It may be the simulator, but it may also be something else, for example antivirus scanning the system or Windows update running in background.

If you already know that the problem is related to indicators, you may try to limit the number of bars on chart. Many indicators will work faster on shorter charts. You can reduce the number of bars when creating the chart in Charts Selection window.

13. My custom indicators do not work on Forex Simulator.

Unfortunately, not every custom indicator will work correctly on the simulator. Some will work fine. Some may need small adjustments in the source code. Sometimes you may be able to make them work by opening charts of other timeframes. Sometimes they just won't work, no matter what. It is because the simulator creates new symbols such as !STD_EURUSD instead of EURUSD and it uses offline charts. The environment created in the simulation is a bit different from live environment. Some MQL4 functions used in custom indicators may not work in the simulation.

That being said, there are a few important notes:

All standard indicators built into Metatrader will work fine, for example: MA, MACD, RSI, Bollinger Bands, ... .
Multi-currency indicators will not work, for example currency strength indicators or correlation tables.
Some indicators require certain number of bars on the chart to work correctly. For example, SMA(200) moving average will need at least 200 bars to work. In case of lower timeframes (e.g. M1, M5, M15) this number of bars is usually available by default. However, you may need to adjust simulation settings to obtain this number of bars on higher timeframes (e.g. H4, D1, Weekly). It is explained in Step 2 in question 10.
Sometimes indicators are programmed to look at other timeframes. If you want to use such indicators on Forex Simulator, you need to create and open charts of all required timeframes, not only the one you intend to use for trading. If you do not know which timeframes are required by your indicators, you may be forced to use trial and error or to open all standard timeframes: M1, M5, M15, M30, H1, H4, Daily, Weekly and Monthly. You can keep them minimized, but they have to be there.

14. I see error: [Not enough free margin to complete this operation]

Every trade requires some margin. Each time you open a buy or sell trade a portion of money (margin) is blocked for this trade. Margin requirements depend on leverage. It is actually the inverse of leverage. For example, if you set leverage to 1:100, then 1% of the size of trade will be blocked for margin. If you set leverage to 1:10, then 10% will be blocked. The bigger the leverage, the less money you need to take trades.

This error means that you are trying to take a trade which is too big and there is not enough free money in your account to cover its margin requirements. You can try to overcome this problem in the following ways:

Take smaller trades.
Close one or more of your existing trades to free up some money.
Set bigger leverage when starting the simulation.
Set bigger balance when starting the simulation to have more money in account.