Migrate MT4 from Laptop to VPS — Step by Step

Q: Do I lose chart history when migrating?

No — copying the profiles folder preserves your chart layouts. The actual price history is re-downloaded automatically on first connection (a few seconds per symbol).

Q: Will my EA settings carry over?

Yes if you copy the MQL4\Presets folder. EA presets (.set files) save all input parameters and re-apply when you re-attach the EA on a chart.

Q: What if my EA was provided by my broker (not a custom one)?

Most broker-provided EAs ship as standard .ex4 files in the broker's default MQL4\Experts folder. If they're missing on the VPS, redownload them from your broker's portal.

How to Migrate MT4 from Your Laptop to a VPS (Without Losing Data)

Summary: Migrating MT4 from your laptop to a VPS takes 20-30 minutes: copy your MT4 Data Folder to the VPS via temp cloud drive, install MT4 fresh on the VPS, replace its empty Data Folder with your copy, log in to your broker, restart MT4. Your EAs, indicators, templates, and profiles all carry over.

What you are actually moving

MT4 stores everything in two places:

Installation folder (e.g. C:\Program Files\MetaTrader 4 IC Markets\) — the program itself + broker server config. Don't copy this; reinstall on the VPS instead.
Data Folder (find via MT4 menu File → Open Data Folder) — your EAs, indicators, scripts, templates, profiles, chart history, and presets. This is what you migrate.

Confusing the two is the #1 cause of broken migrations. Copy the Data Folder, never the install.

Step 1 — Find your laptop's MT4 Data Folder

On your laptop, open MT4. Click File → Open Data Folder. A Windows Explorer window opens showing the MT4 data tree. Note the path — it's typically something like C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\MetaQuotes\Terminal\\.

Step 2 — Pack up the Data Folder

You only need a subset — these are the folders that contain your work:

MQL4\Experts — your EAs (.ex4 and .mq4)
MQL4\Indicators — custom indicators
MQL4\Scripts — one-shot scripts
MQL4\Presets — EA preset (.set) files
profiles — your saved chart layouts
templates — your saved chart templates

Right-click these folders → "Send to" → "Compressed (zipped) folder" to make a single zip file. Name it mt4-migration.zip.

Step 3 — Get the zip onto the VPS

Three easy ways:

Cloud drive: upload the zip to Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive on your laptop. Open RDP into the VPS, log into the same cloud drive, download the zip.
Email it to yourself: if the zip is under 25 MB, attach to a self-email. Open the email on the VPS, download the attachment.
RDP file transfer: in your RDP client, enable "Local resources → Drives" before connecting. Your local C: drive shows up inside the VPS as a network share. Drag the zip across.

Step 4 — Install MT4 fresh on the VPS

Inside the VPS, download MT4 from your broker (same broker as on your laptop). Run the installer with default settings. After install, MT4 launches — close it without logging in.

Step 5 — Replace the VPS Data Folder with yours

Open MT4 on the VPS, click File → Open Data Folder. Note this path — call it the "VPS Data Folder". Close MT4 completely.

Unzip your mt4-migration.zip. Copy the contents — MQL4, profiles, templates folders — into the VPS Data Folder, overwriting the empty defaults.

Restart MT4 on the VPS. Your EAs appear in the Navigator panel under "Expert Advisors", indicators under "Indicators", saved chart layouts under "Profiles".

Step 6 — Log in to your broker and verify

In MT4, click File → Login to Trade Account. Enter your account number, password, server. Bottom-right status bar should show "Connected".

Open one of your saved profiles (File → Profiles → pick yours). Charts open with your saved templates and EAs already attached. Verify AutoTrading is on (green button).

Watch the Experts log for a few minutes to confirm EAs are running. Done.

Step 7 — Optional: stop MT4 on your laptop

Important — do NOT run the same EA on both your laptop AND the VPS at the same time. They will both place trades, doubling your position size and risk. Either close MT4 on the laptop or remove the EAs from charts there.

Frequently asked questions

No — copying the profiles folder preserves your chart layouts. The actual price history is re-downloaded automatically on first connection (a few seconds per symbol).

Yes if you copy the MQL4\Presets folder. EA presets (.set files) save all input parameters and re-apply when you re-attach the EA on a chart.

For a typical setup with 5-10 EAs and a few custom indicators: 20-30 minutes end-to-end including the broker login and verification step.

Yes — same process, just substitute "MQL4" with "MQL5" everywhere. The broker download and login steps are identical.

Most broker-provided EAs ship as standard .ex4 files in the broker's default MQL4\Experts folder. If they're missing on the VPS, redownload them from your broker's portal.

Yes — free guided migration is included on all 4 GB+ plans. Open a ticket post-purchase, an engineer walks you through the steps in real time. Typical migration session: 30 minutes.