MetaEditor (MT5)

Downloading and installing MetaEditor 5

It comes with MetaTrader 5 — there is no separate installer

There is no standalone MetaEditor 5 download. MetaEditor ships inside the MetaTrader 5 terminal: install MT5 from the official MetaQuotes download page or from your broker, and metaeditor64.exe is installed into the same folder as terminal64.exe. It's free, there's no separate licence, and if you already run MT5 you already have MetaEditor 5 — press F4 to open it.

Install on Windows

  1. Download the MT5 installer — either mt5setup.exe from the MetaQuotes download page, or your broker's branded build from their site.
  2. Run it and accept the default install path unless you have a reason to change it.
  3. Launch MetaTrader 5 when it finishes and log in to a demo or live account.
  4. Press F4. MetaEditor opens. That's the whole install.

Prefer your broker's installer if you already have an account — it ships with their trading servers preloaded, and the bundled MetaEditor is identical to the MetaQuotes one.

Install on macOS and Linux

MetaEditor has no native macOS or Linux build. Both platforms run the Windows binaries through a compatibility layer, and MetaEditor comes along with the terminal either way:

  • macOS — the same download page offers a .pkg that installs MT5 with its compatibility layer bundled. MetaEditor is inside it; F4 works as usual once MT5 is running.
  • Linux — MetaQuotes publishes an installation script that sets up Wine and installs the platform. Again, metaeditor64.exe lands next to terminal64.exe.

Expect the odd cosmetic quirk on these setups, and note that function keys can be swallowed by the window manager — the menu route in how to open MetaEditor in MT5 is more reliable there.

Confirm you have it, and check your build

  • Find the file. Right-click your MT5 shortcut, choose Open file location, and look for metaeditor64.exe alongside terminal64.exe. Typical path: C:\Program Files\MetaTrader 5\metaeditor64.exe.
  • Check the build. In MetaEditor, Help → About shows the build number. Quote that number whenever you report a compiler problem — MQL5 language behaviour changes between builds.

Modern MT5 is 64-bit only, so the executable is metaeditor64.exe. If you see a plain metaeditor.exe, you're either looking at a very old install or at a MetaTrader 4 folder.

Updating

You don't update MetaEditor separately. The terminal checks for a new build against your broker's server at launch and updates itself and MetaEditor together. If MT5 offers an update, take it — running an old compiler against new MQL5 code is a common source of errors that look like code faults but aren't.

MetaEditor 5 vs the MetaEditor in MT4

They are different programs with the same name and are not interchangeable:

MetaEditor 5MetaEditor (MT4)
Ships withMetaTrader 5MetaTrader 4
Executablemetaeditor64.exemetaeditor.exe
LanguageMQL5MQL4
Source files.mq5 → .ex5.mq4 → .ex4

MQL5 code will not compile in the MT4 editor, and installing MT5 does not affect an existing MT4 install — the two platforms live in separate folders and separate data folders.

Common questions

  • Is MetaEditor free? Yes. It's part of the free MetaTrader 5 platform; no account upgrade unlocks it.
  • Can I download MetaEditor on its own? No. MetaQuotes doesn't publish a standalone package. Install the terminal.
  • Do broker builds include it? Yes, every MT5 build includes MetaEditor.
  • Can I run two installs side by side? Yes — install to different folders. Each install has its own data folder, so keep track of which one holds the MQL5 tree you're editing.
  • Do I need a live account? No. A demo account is enough to write, compile, backtest and run code.

Next steps