MT4 to MT5 migration checklist for brokers: every item

How should you use this MT4 to MT5 migration checklist?

Use it as a running document: give every item an owner and a date, and do not start the cutover until each line in phases one to eight is either done or deliberately dropped. The phases overlap in time, but the order matters. Mapping groups before you have audited them, or telling clients before you know their new login process, creates rework.

The table shows who usually owns each phase and what it should produce. In a small brokerage one person may own four of them. That is fine, as long as the output exists in writing. If you would like the checklist mapped to your own setup, message us on WhatsApp with your account numbers and we will send back a phased plan.

Why migrate from MT4 to MT5 now if MT4 still runs?

Because the timetable is increasingly set by others. MetaQuotes no longer sells MT4 licences and says new conceptual development goes to MetaTrader 5. In 2026 KCM Trade announced the end of its MT4 service after market close on 30 October 2026, and OANDA Japan stopped new MT4 orders on 25 September 2026 ahead of ending the service on 27 November 2026. If you run on someone else’s MT4 server, that someone may announce a date for you.

Migrating on your own schedule is cheaper than migrating on a host’s. You choose the weekend, you prepare clients properly and you move IBs before a competitor approaches them. There are also gains on the other side: MT5 removes MT4’s limit of 512 account groups and 1,024 symbols, adds more pending order types and supports markets beyond forex. Our MT4 vs MT5 white label guide covers the comparison in detail.

Phase 1: what should you audit on MT4 before migrating?

Audit everything that has a setting, a rule or a client attached to it. The audit is the baseline for every later phase and the reference for reconciliation after cutover. Export it from the MT4 Manager and Administrator rather than relying on memory or old spreadsheets; settings drift over years.

• Accounts: total, active in the last 90 days, funded, with open positions, with credit or bonus, dormant.
• Groups: every group with its leverage, margin call and stop out levels, commission, currency and the IB or region it serves.
• Symbols: names including suffixes, contract size, digits, trading sessions, swap rates, spread or markup and margin settings.
• Plug-ins and server-side tools: bridges, risk tools, bonus or rebate plug-ins, copy trading or MAM tools and their configuration.
• Integrations: CRM, client portal, payment flows, KYC, reporting, data feeds and anything else using the MT4 Manager API.
• EA usage: clients running Expert Advisors, custom indicators or scripts, ideally with the names of the most used programs.
• Contracts: notice periods with your MT4 host, liquidity provider and vendors, and any terms on data export.

Phase 2: how do you map MT4 account groups to MT5?

Map each MT4 group to an MT5 group with the same economic terms, and choose hedging accounting for forex clients who are used to MT4. MT5 offers netting and hedging position accounting; MetaQuotes added hedging in 2016 so that a client can hold several positions on the same symbol, including opposite ones, as on MT4. Moving MT4 clients into netting groups changes how their positions behave and generates complaints you do not need.

Use the move to clean up. MT4’s 512-group limit pushed many brokers into compromises, such as sharing groups between IBs or account types. MT5 has no such cap, so you can give each IB or region its own group if that makes reporting simpler. Just keep a strict naming convention, because hundreds of groups with ad hoc names become their own problem.

• Group name and naming convention agreed before configuration starts.
• Position accounting: hedging for MT4-style forex clients; netting only where clients expect it.
• Leverage, margin call and stop out levels identical to MT4 unless you are deliberately changing them.
• Deposit currency, commission model and swap settings per group.
• Permissions: Expert Advisors allowed, trailing stops, any symbol restrictions.
• Which groups receive which symbols, matching the MT4 setup unless intentionally changed.

Phase 3: what needs checking when you rebuild symbols on MT5?

Every symbol needs the same name, size, sessions and cost on MT5 as on MT4, or a deliberate, communicated change. Symbol mismatches are the most common cause of client complaints after a migration, because they affect every trade: a different contract size changes position value, a different session changes when trading opens, a different swap changes overnight cost.

Pay particular attention to suffixes. If MT4 used “EURUSD.m” for one account type and “EURUSD” for another, decide whether MT5 keeps the suffixes or moves to one symbol per group. Keeping names reduces EA breakage and client confusion; changing them is cleaner long term. Whichever you choose, update the liquidity provider’s symbol mapping in the bridge on the same day.

• Symbol names and suffixes, matched to group structure.
• Contract size, digits, minimum and maximum volume and volume step.
• Trading and quote sessions, including holiday schedules.
• Swap rates and the day of triple swap.
• Spread or markup, commission and margin requirements per group.
• Bridge and liquidity provider symbol mapping, tested with live quotes before cutover.

Phase 4: which balances and history migrate, and how?

Balances, credit and closed trade history can be migrated with scripts or tools; passwords, open positions and EAs need decisions or client action. Agree the scope in writing before cutover, because “we migrate everything” means different things to a vendor, your back office and a client looking for last year’s statement.

MT5 has more balance operation types than MT4. MetaQuotes lists balance and credit on MT4, against balance, credit, correction, charge, bonus, commission, agent and interest on MT5. That makes reconciliation cleaner after the move, but it also means deciding how historical MT4 entries are represented. Most brokers move closing balances and credit as single opening entries and keep detailed MT4 history available as a statement or archive.

Phase 5: how do you handle Expert Advisors and MQL4 to MQL5 conversion?

MQL4 Expert Advisors and indicators do not run on MT5 and must be converted to MQL5, so identify affected clients early and offer them a path. MetaQuotes’ MQL5 site says it directly: programs written in MQL4 should be converted before they can be used in MetaTrader 5. Earn’s 2025 client notice made the same point, telling clients that MT4 EAs are not compatible with MT5.

The conversion is more than a find-and-replace. MT5 separates orders, deals and positions: in MetaQuotes’ documentation, an order is an instruction to buy or sell, a deal is the actual exchange, and a position is the resulting obligation. MQL5 sends trades through OrderSend() with an MqlTradeRequest structure, built-in indicators return handles read with CopyBuffer(), and chart period constants changed, with new timeframes such as M2, M3 and H6 added. Simple indicators convert quickly; trade-management EAs need testing in the MT5 strategy tester.

• List clients using EAs, and their most common programs, from the audit.
• Check whether commercial EAs already have MT5 versions from their authors.
• Offer a conversion route for custom code: an in-house developer, a freelancer or a partner.
• Allow EA trading on the relevant MT5 groups and test common EAs on a demo before cutover.
• Tell EA users in the first notice; they need the most lead time.

Phase 6: how do you move IB structures to MT5?

Rebuild every IB’s client list, commission rules and payout schedule against MT5 accounts, and have each IB confirm the result before cutover. IBs are the group most likely to leave during a migration if something goes wrong, because a missed rebate costs them money directly.

The mechanics depend on where your IB logic lives. If commissions are calculated in your CRM from trade data, the CRM needs to read MT5 deals instead of MT4 trades and map old account numbers to new ones. If they are paid by a server plug-in on MT4, you need an MT5 equivalent or a move to CRM-based calculation. MT5’s separate commission and agent balance operation types help keep IB payouts distinct from client funds in reporting.

• Export the full IB tree: master IBs, sub-IBs and every linked client account.
• Document commission rules: per lot, per symbol, spread share, tiers and caps.
• Map old MT4 account numbers to new MT5 accounts in the CRM.
• Run a parallel commission calculation on test data and compare with MT4 results.
• Send each IB a confirmation of their client list and rates, and get a reply.
• Brief IBs before clients, with material they can forward to their own networks.

Phase 7: what about liquidity, the bridge, the CRM and front ends?

Every system connected to MT4 needs reconnecting and testing against MT5 before cutover: liquidity and bridge, CRM, payments, KYC, reporting and the client front ends. MT5 offers different integration interfaces from MT4, including the Manager API in C++, ASP.Net and PHP, the MetaTrader 5 Web API and native SQL export, so vendors may need new connectors rather than a configuration change.

This is where a branded front end pays off. If your WebTrader and apps connect through the MT5 Web API, as ours do, clients move to the new server inside the same branded app instead of downloading a different one. We cover the server side in liquidity provider integration and the back office in forex CRM software.

Phase 8: how should you tell clients about an MT4 to MT5 migration?

Tell clients early, tell them more than once and tell them exactly what they need to do. A good notice sequence starts several weeks before cutover, names the weekend, says what happens to positions, balances and history, and gives clear instructions for new logins and EAs. Brief your support team first; they will receive the questions.

A first notice might read, for example: “On the weekend of [date], your trading account will move from MetaTrader 4 to MetaTrader 5. Your balance and trade history will move with it. Please close or note any pending orders before [time]. You will receive new login details by email on [date]. If you use Expert Advisors, contact us now: MT4 programs need an MT5 version.” Adapt it to your decisions on positions and history.

1. Four to six weeks beforeFirst notice by email, in the client portal and inside the trading app, with the date, what changes and what does not.
2. Three weeks beforeSeparate message to EA users and IBs with specific instructions and a support contact.
3. One week beforeReminder with the exact freeze time, the decision on open positions and pending orders and links to MT5 apps.
4. Cutover weekendStatus updates at freeze, during migration and when MT5 opens, through the same channels.
5. First week afterLogin help, FAQ, extended support hours and a follow-up to clients who have not logged in.

Phase 9: how do you run the cutover weekend and plan a rollback?

Run the cutover from a written run sheet with times, owners and a reconciliation check at each stage, and define in advance what triggers a rollback. A weekend is the usual window because markets are closed; Earn, for example, migrated in two weekend waves in September 2025 with MT4 servers unavailable during each window.

The rollback plan is the part brokers skip and later regret. If balances do not reconcile or the bridge does not price correctly by a set time on Sunday, you need to know who decides, how MT4 is reopened and what clients are told. Waves help here: moving a smaller group first, such as demo accounts and one IB’s clients, tests the process before the bulk of your book moves.

• Freeze MT4 trading at a set time and take full backups.
• Export balances, credit, history and open positions; record totals for reconciliation.
• Import into MT5, then reconcile account counts, total balances and total equity against the MT4 export.
• Test logins, quotes, order placement and closing on real accounts with small volumes.
• Confirm bridge pricing, CRM sync, deposit and withdrawal flows on MT5.
• Go or no-go decision at a fixed time, with rollback to MT4 if any check fails.
• Send new credentials and the “you are live on MT5” message.

Phase 10: what happens after go-live and when can MT4 be switched off?

After go-live, keep MT4 read-only for a reconciliation period, archive its data for your record-keeping obligations and only then decommission it. Clients will ask for old statements, auditors may ask for history and an IB may dispute a rebate weeks later. A read-only MT4, or a full archive you can query, answers those questions.

Watch the first two weeks closely. Track login rates, deposit volumes, support tickets by topic and IB activity, and follow up personally with high-value clients who have not logged in. Most migration losses happen quietly, through clients who never re-engage, rather than through visible failures.

• Keep MT4 read-only for an agreed period, for example 30 to 90 days.
• Archive MT4 data in a format you can search and produce for audits.
• Follow up with clients who have not logged in to MT5.
• Review support tickets and fix recurring issues in the FAQ and app.
• Give formal notice to the MT4 host or vendor in line with the contract.

How does FXUP run an MT4 to MT5 migration?

We run migrations as a project with a written scope, working through this checklist with your team and taking ownership of the technical phases: MT5 configuration, data migration, CRM and front-end connection and the cutover itself. The target can be an MT5 grey label, an MT5 white label or your own MT5 licence; as a consulting firm we also handle the MetaQuotes requirements and application for clients who want their own licence, for a fee. On the back office, we have our own CRM and also work with partner CRMs, and we propose whichever fits your IB rules and integrations. The MT4 to MT5 migration page explains how we scope the work; for current figures, message us with your account numbers.

If you are still on MT4 because no one could offer you MT5 on reasonable terms, or you specifically need MT4 for a period, write to us and we will check availability for your case. FXUP is an independent technology provider and is not affiliated with MetaQuotes; the MetaQuotes facts on this page are taken from its own sites and documentation.

Questions buyers ask

Not covered here? Ask us on WhatsApp, message @FXUPCK on Telegram or write to [email protected].