This article is for educational purposes only. Leverage.Trading is an independent educational and analytics publisher and not a broker, exchange, or investment advisor. Trading with leverage, margin, futures, or derivatives carries a high risk of rapid or total loss. This content is not financial advice and should not be used as a substitute for independent research or professional advice.
You might need to adjust your leverage setting on MT4 at some point. This guide shows how to do it safely through your broker, not the terminal.
Leverage changes the distance between you and liquidation. Not profit potential. If the market moves against you, that distance can shrink fast.
MT4 is a trading terminal, not a broker. The leverage multiplier is set at the broker level and cannot be changed from within the MT4 terminal itself.
Some brokers won’t let you change it at all.
For example, forex broker IG has commented and said “The leverage we offer is fixed. Unfortunately it can’t be changed” as seen in the screenshot below:
Changing leverage adjusts how close the liquidation threshold sits relative to the entry price. At 1:500, a 0.20% adverse price move can trigger automatic position closure. Traders who request higher leverage are narrowing this safety margin, not improving their position. Calculate the liquidation distance for any ratio before submitting a change request.
Key takeaways
To change leverage on MT4, log in to your broker portal, navigate to account settings, and submit a leverage change request. MT4 does not control leverage. The broker does.
The steps below use Forex.com as an example. Menu labels and form requirements differ by broker, but the process follows the same pattern: log in to the broker portal, locate the leverage or margin settings, and submit a change request.
First, log in to your forex broker account.
For example, if you have an account with Forex.com, login to the account.
Navigate to the ‘My Account’ section.
The ‘My Account’ section can be found in the main menu.
Inside the ‘My Account’ section, go to live accounts.
Choose your account and click ‘Change Leverage’.
Fill in the ‘Margin Change Request Form‘ and choose the multiplier you want.
Fill in the correct account information that corresponds with the live account details.
The request document asks you to fill in the new margin requirement that you wish to use.
If the margin requirement is unclear, a leverage calculator shows the margin needed for any ratio and position size. For guidance on which ratio to request, the best leverage ratio for forex depends on strategy, position size, and acceptable risk per trade.
An optional way to change leverage on MT4 if you are a client with Forex.com is to email the customer support team and ask them to change it for you.
Forex.com’s email address is globalsupport@forex.com
Inform them of the new ratio you want to use and in the case of Forex.com, provide the new margin requirement as well.
If you are simply testing the MT4 trading terminal on the demo account and you wish to change the multiplier, do like this:
Step 1.
Inside the demo account, click the ‘Person’ icon to open the account setting.
This will open the account tab to the left of the trading chart.
Step 2.
Click the ‘Plus’.
The ‘Plus’ sign is located in the top right corner of the account setting tab.
Step 3.
Click ‘Open a demo account’.
Step 4.
Click ‘MetaQuotes-Demo’.
Step 5.
Click ‘Leverage’.
Step 6.
Select the ratio you want.
Leverage only changes how much margin supports a position. It doesn’t make a trade better or easier to control.
If $500 supports a 1:100 account, the broker is simply letting you open a large position with very little margin. That also puts liquidation extremely close.
Some brokers automatically assign a very high ratio to every new account. Reducing it can increase the distance before a forced liquidation. When account equity drops below the maintenance margin threshold, the broker triggers forced closure automatically.
This is typically anywhere from 1:200 to 1:500.
High leverage doesn’t create volatility. It just makes tiny movements enough to close your account.
At extreme settings, even a fraction of a percent against you can trigger forced exit. That’s not trading room. That’s survival pressure.
At 0.20% against the position, the account faces forced liquidation before any action is possible. For brokers that issue a margin call first, the window to respond is often seconds.
It happens because traders underestimate how narrow liquidation becomes at extreme ratios. It has nothing to do with market skill. It’s math.
There is no “optimal” ratio. The correct level depends on strategy, volatility, and the distance required to keep liquidation away from the entry.
The choice should come from calculated risk per trade, not how long someone has been trading.
When the broker does not allow leverage adjustment, calculating the exact liquidation distance before placing a trade is standard practice. Entering without that number is one of the most common ways positions are closed by mechanics rather than market direction.
At 1:500 leverage, a 0.20% adverse price move triggers forced liquidation. This is the mathematical result of extreme leverage on a standard forex position, not an edge case. The liquidation distance shrinks proportionally as the ratio rises. At 1:100, that threshold is 1%. At 1:500, it is 0.20%. Know the exact number for any ratio before the position is open.
As noted earlier, different brokers have different rules on how to change leverage on MT4. The general process follows this pattern:
The most direct way to change the leverage multiplier when trading forex is to contact the broker and submit a change request through the account portal or support team.
Changing leverage doesn’t eliminate risk. It only moves the liquidation line farther or closer. Strict sizing and stop placement remain essential regardless of the ratio in use.
This article is published under Leverage.Trading’s Risk-First Education Framework, an independent learning system built to help traders quantify and manage risk before trading.
