How To Do A Metatrader Sync Between Multiple Computers
Updated: January 11, 2016
Even if you only have one computer, if you have to reinstall your operating system or change a hard drive, setting up Metatrader all over again can be a pain. If you do have multiple computers, then you probably understand how much of a hassle it can be to add your custom indicators again and get your charts just right.
Yes, you can backup your install or simply save your templates. But every time you make one small change and forget to backup (which can happen a lot), you will lose your most recent settings. At least that is has been my experience, you might be better at doing backups than I am.
So in this post, I’m going to show you a really simple way of doing an automatic Metatrader sync so that you always have the most recent version of Metatrader available. Although this has obvious benefits, there are also some limitations and drawbacks to this method, so I will get into that too.
I tried several different methods of backing up my Metatrader install from manually backing up template files, to writing backup scripts, to manually backing up my whole MT folder. This method works best for me.
How to Automatically Metatrader Sync
Saving and syncing all of your Metatrader installation information is actually really simple. First, you have to install Dropbox. If you have never used Dropbox before, it makes is really easy to sync information between your computer and their servers.
Simply go to the Dropbox website and download it. The best part is that it is free and works on Windows, Mac and Linux. Installing Dropbox on Linux is a little tricky, so be sure to readthis tutorial first.
After you install it, you will have a Dropbox folder on your computer. Anything that you put into this folder will be automatically synced with Dropbox.
Now go to your broker’s website and download their latest version of Metatrader. During the installation process, instead of installing Metatrader to the default location, install it to your Dropbox folder.
If you already have a Dropbox account, simply create a new folder in your main Dropbox folder and install Metatrader there. Now you can install Dropbox on any computer, log into your account and you will be able to run Metatrader directly from that folder. Just double click on the terminal.exe file in the folder to run it.
That’s it! No more manual backups and no more time wasted on setting up charts. You even can setup Metatrader on your Windows computer and jump over to a Mac or Linux computer later. Metatrader may ask you to login to your account again, but that is the only additional step that you might have to take.
But there are some drawbacks to using this method.
Limitations of this Method
First of all, if you use this method, you can only use Metatrader on one computer at a time. If you use it on your laptop, you have to close it before you use it on your desktop.
The reason is that Dropbox will continually sync from the two computers. This will lead to multiple copies of your charts and other files. Trust me, it gets messy. So if you are going to use this method, be sure to close Metatrader on your current computer before moving to another computer.
Second, if you are using a free Dropbox account, there is not enough space to download all of the historical data for every pair. That is fine in most cases because you really don’t need all that historical data unless you are trading longer term charts or doing a ton of backtesting. If you are day trading or swing trading, you should be fine.
When I talk about historical data, I’m talking about data that goes back to the 1980s or even before. Again, most traders won’t need that much data. I found that I could download the complete history of about three or four pairs before space started to get tight in my Dropbox account.
Dropbox gives you 2GB for free, which is more than enough to run a standard installation of Metatrader. However, if you feel that you need more space because you do need more historical data, then you will have to pay to upgrade your Dropbox account, or not use this method.
Conclusion
So that is the easiest way that I have found to automatically backup and run Metatrader from multiple computers. It is super simple and free, in most cases.
If you don’t want to use this method with your primary Dropbox account, just use another email address and setup another account. I hope that this tip saves you a ton of time and frustration.
How do you backup and sync your Metatrader installation? Let us know in the comments below…
Update
There have been some questions that have come up about this process. But if you read the comments below, I think that they will answer most of your questions.
I also want to thank Trading Heroes reader Richard for submitting the following solutions:
Changing Your MT Icon
You may want to change your MT4 icon, especially if you are running multiple instances of Metatrader. Here is how you do it:
Open broker folder in cloud storage
Create shortcut of ‘terminal’ (app) (I moved mine to desktop)
Right click on above shortcut
Click Properties > Change Icon > Browse > terminal icon (found in the relevant broker’s folder in cloud) > apply/ok
You should now be able to happily pin your special broker icon to your taskbar.
BTW, Richard is using Microsoft’s OneDrive, so this works for other cloud storage as well!
Saving Metatrader Profiles
Metatrader does a weird thing where profiles do not get backed up to the cloud storage (like Dropbox). It only gets saved on the local computer, in the user profile.
So to save them to your cloud drive, do the following:
On MT4 Click File > Open Data Folder > Profiles
Delete profile you intend to update
Close/reopen platform
Copy previously updated profile from cloud.
Paste in profile folder on MT4 platform (accessed as in (1))
Close/reopen platform once more
The updated profile should now be available. Give them a try and let me know what you think!
Thanks again Richard!
Updated: January 11, 2016
Even if you only have one computer, if you have to reinstall your operating system or change a hard drive, setting up Metatrader all over again can be a pain. If you do have multiple computers, then you probably understand how much of a hassle it can be to add your custom indicators again and get your charts just right.
Yes, you can backup your install or simply save your templates. But every time you make one small change and forget to backup (which can happen a lot), you will lose your most recent settings. At least that is has been my experience, you might be better at doing backups than I am.
So in this post, I’m going to show you a really simple way of doing an automatic Metatrader sync so that you always have the most recent version of Metatrader available. Although this has obvious benefits, there are also some limitations and drawbacks to this method, so I will get into that too.
I tried several different methods of backing up my Metatrader install from manually backing up template files, to writing backup scripts, to manually backing up my whole MT folder. This method works best for me.
How to Automatically Metatrader Sync
Saving and syncing all of your Metatrader installation information is actually really simple. First, you have to install Dropbox. If you have never used Dropbox before, it makes is really easy to sync information between your computer and their servers.
Simply go to the Dropbox website and download it. The best part is that it is free and works on Windows, Mac and Linux. Installing Dropbox on Linux is a little tricky, so be sure to readthis tutorial first.
After you install it, you will have a Dropbox folder on your computer. Anything that you put into this folder will be automatically synced with Dropbox.
Now go to your broker’s website and download their latest version of Metatrader. During the installation process, instead of installing Metatrader to the default location, install it to your Dropbox folder.
If you already have a Dropbox account, simply create a new folder in your main Dropbox folder and install Metatrader there. Now you can install Dropbox on any computer, log into your account and you will be able to run Metatrader directly from that folder. Just double click on the terminal.exe file in the folder to run it.
That’s it! No more manual backups and no more time wasted on setting up charts. You even can setup Metatrader on your Windows computer and jump over to a Mac or Linux computer later. Metatrader may ask you to login to your account again, but that is the only additional step that you might have to take.
But there are some drawbacks to using this method.
Limitations of this Method
First of all, if you use this method, you can only use Metatrader on one computer at a time. If you use it on your laptop, you have to close it before you use it on your desktop.
The reason is that Dropbox will continually sync from the two computers. This will lead to multiple copies of your charts and other files. Trust me, it gets messy. So if you are going to use this method, be sure to close Metatrader on your current computer before moving to another computer.
Second, if you are using a free Dropbox account, there is not enough space to download all of the historical data for every pair. That is fine in most cases because you really don’t need all that historical data unless you are trading longer term charts or doing a ton of backtesting. If you are day trading or swing trading, you should be fine.
When I talk about historical data, I’m talking about data that goes back to the 1980s or even before. Again, most traders won’t need that much data. I found that I could download the complete history of about three or four pairs before space started to get tight in my Dropbox account.
Dropbox gives you 2GB for free, which is more than enough to run a standard installation of Metatrader. However, if you feel that you need more space because you do need more historical data, then you will have to pay to upgrade your Dropbox account, or not use this method.
Conclusion
So that is the easiest way that I have found to automatically backup and run Metatrader from multiple computers. It is super simple and free, in most cases.
If you don’t want to use this method with your primary Dropbox account, just use another email address and setup another account. I hope that this tip saves you a ton of time and frustration.
How do you backup and sync your Metatrader installation? Let us know in the comments below…
Update
There have been some questions that have come up about this process. But if you read the comments below, I think that they will answer most of your questions.
I also want to thank Trading Heroes reader Richard for submitting the following solutions:
Changing Your MT Icon
You may want to change your MT4 icon, especially if you are running multiple instances of Metatrader. Here is how you do it:
Open broker folder in cloud storage
Create shortcut of ‘terminal’ (app) (I moved mine to desktop)
Right click on above shortcut
Click Properties > Change Icon > Browse > terminal icon (found in the relevant broker’s folder in cloud) > apply/ok
You should now be able to happily pin your special broker icon to your taskbar.
BTW, Richard is using Microsoft’s OneDrive, so this works for other cloud storage as well!
Saving Metatrader Profiles
Metatrader does a weird thing where profiles do not get backed up to the cloud storage (like Dropbox). It only gets saved on the local computer, in the user profile.
So to save them to your cloud drive, do the following:
On MT4 Click File > Open Data Folder > Profiles
Delete profile you intend to update
Close/reopen platform
Copy previously updated profile from cloud.
Paste in profile folder on MT4 platform (accessed as in (1))
Close/reopen platform once more
The updated profile should now be available. Give them a try and let me know what you think!
Thanks again Richard!
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