Product
How it works
Three steps from install to your first backtest. No data to import, no files to change, no programming.
Install
Download the installer and run it. It asks you, item by item: whether you agree to the terms of use and the privacy and permissions notice; whether it may look for MT4 copies on this computer; whether mttick may be switched on automatically when MT4 opens. Every other optional item is unticked by default.
When it finishes, the mttick window opens and lists the MT4 copies it found.
Open MT4 and tick the box
Open the tester (Ctrl+R). The first line of the Settings page now has a tick box, "Use mttick real ticks", with an "Open mttick" button beside it.
Tick it and the settings page becomes simpler: only the EA, symbol, timeframe and dates remain, and mttick sets the rest.
Press Start
mttick checks the dates and the data. Whatever is not prepared yet is downloaded and prepared automatically, with progress shown in the text beside the tick box; when it is ready, that text shows the range, such as "Prepared 01-13~01-17".
Then the backtest runs as usual. Data that is already prepared needs no waiting when you press Start again.
Where this line is in the tester
How long the first time takes
It depends on the length of the window and your network speed. Two months of EURUSD data is only a few MB and usually takes a few seconds to a dozen or so.
Data that is already prepared is ready almost at once when you press Start again.
Which source the data comes from
"Data source" in the backtest settings is "Automatic" by default, which is the Exness Standard account. To use Dukascopy or another Exness account type, choose it there.
The spreads of the two sources differ, so the same EA gives different results. How to choose is on Choosing a data source.
The first time, it also reads the trading conditions once: lot limits, leverage and stop-out level. For that mttick briefly runs an MT4 copy with no account, for about 15 seconds, and deletes it afterwards; account values it cannot read are pointed out to you.
Comparing several at once
In the mttick window, an MT4's menu has "Run in parallel…": choose several parameter files, EAs or symbols and press Start once, and they run at the same time on this computer. Each is an ordinary backtest, and the results go into the run records, where you can compare them side by side.
The trial is 14 days, with the same features as a subscription.
What it changes in my MT4
It does not change MT4's program or the history files your broker saved. It puts a few small files with mttick in their names into MT4's tester\history folder and, when you agree, changes one Windows setting so that mttick is switched on when MT4 opens.
The full list is in What mttick does on your computer.
Supported MT4 versions: build 1491, build 1492. When a new build is released we adapt to it as soon as we can. Until then MT4 runs as usual, the tick box in the tester says "This MT4 version is not supported yet", and the backtest uses MT4's own data.
Next
First check that your computer and MT4 meet the requirements, then follow the quick start for your first backtest.