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How to Set Up Hotkeys for Faster Trading

A hotkey is a key that does what a menu click would do, and MetaTrader has two kinds: built-in keys such as F9 that open a window where a click is still needed, and keys of your own bound to a script in the Navigator that run at once. This paper shows you hotkeys in five lines; the idea as speed dial on a telephone; the built-in keys in a small table; the Set hotkey dialog with a CloseAll script bound to Ctrl+Shift+C; and the two paths on your platform, one that stops at a window and one that does not.

Difficulty
Advanced
Reading time
5 min
Pages
8
Reviewed by
Saman Rahbar

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Hotkeys, in five lines

A hotkey in MetaTrader is a key or two keys together that do what a menu click would do. The built-in ones open windows: F9 the order window, F8 the chart properties, Ctrl+T the Terminal, Ctrl+I the indicators list. Your own are set in the Navigator by right-clicking a script or an indicator and choosing Set hotkey. The line to see is that a hotkey which opens a window still needs a click to trade, while a script bound to a key runs at once. Tools, Options, Trade holds the confirmation setting a script can skip, and that is where the care goes.

Speed dial

Picture a telephone with speed dial. One key has a whole number saved behind it, and a single press rings it; the other keys still dial digit by digit. Speed dial does not change who answers, only how many presses it takes to ring them. A hotkey is speed dial for the platform: F9 rings the order window in one press instead of four clicks through the menu, and a key bound to a script rings the script. What answers is the same either way.

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