MetaTrader 5 has keyboard shortcuts for the terminal itself — F9 opens the New Order window, Alt+1, 2 and 3 switch between bar, candle and line charts, plus and minus zoom — and it lets you attach a key to a script in the Navigator. What it does not have out of the box is a key that buys at a lot you have already set, closes a group of trades, or moves a stop.
For that, an Expert Advisor listens for keys on the chart and runs the action itself. Because it acts on the chart that has focus and does not stop to ask, the useful questions are which trades each key reaches and which keys are safe to use.
What MT5 already has
The terminal's own shortcuts cover windows and charts: opening an order ticket, changing chart type, zooming, scrolling. The script route is the usual workaround for trading — write or download one script per job, then give each a key in the Navigator. It works, but every action is a separate program, and a script runs once and stops, so it cannot show you what it is about to do or keep any setting between presses.
What can you bind a key to?
ApeX Trading Console offers 68 actions, grouped in the same five tabs you see in its Hotkeys window.
| Tab | Actions | For example |
|---|---|---|
| Trade | 20 | Open a trade at market in either direction; sketch a long or short plan on the chart, switch it between market and pending, and send it; close all, winners, losers, buys or sells; cancel pending orders by type or all at once. |
| Zone | 6 | Step to the next or previous trade plan, even across pages; switch break-even or trailing on or off for the selected one; flip its stops between server and virtual. |
| Panel | 9 | Show, hide or minimise the panel; jump straight to one of its tabs; show or hide the market-session boxes; switch the profit display between a badge and plain text. |
| View | 17 | Zoom in, out or to one of six preset levels; return to the latest price; free chart panning; place a price-alert line; hide the panel or the plans for a clean view; take a screenshot of this timeframe or of several at once; change theme. |
| Popup | 16 | Open any of the console's windows — the economic calendar, notifications, the settings of the selected plan such as break-even or OCO, the order manager, currency strength. Pressing the key again closes it. |
A handful come with a key already set, mostly for drafting and sending a plan, stepping through plans, the panel, zoom and chart panning. The rest start empty for you to fill.
How do you set a key?
- In the panel's Settings tab, press Setup under Hotkeys.
- Each row has the action, a modifier drop-down, the key, and a tick to switch that row on or off. Hover the action's name to read what it does.
- Click the key box, then press the key you want. Delete clears it. Esc cannot be used, because it already cancels things like placing an alert line.
- If the same key and modifier already belong to another action, it is refused and you are told which one has it.
A Master switch at the top turns every hotkey off at once, and Reset puts the original keys back. The keys are stored for the whole terminal, so every chart running the console uses the same set.
Which key combinations should you avoid?
Some combinations are already taken before an EA ever sees them, so the drop-down only offers six: none, Ctrl, Shift, Ctrl+Shift, Ctrl+Alt and Ctrl+Shift+Alt.
- Alt on its own — Windows uses it to open the menu bar.
- Shift+Alt — collides with MetaTrader's own shortcuts.
- Alt plus a number — changes the chart type. That is why the keys that jump between panel tabs default to Ctrl+Shift+1 to 5 instead.
A single letter with no modifier is the fastest to press and the easiest to press by accident. For anything that opens or closes a trade, a modifier is worth the extra finger.
What happens when you press it
- No confirmation. A key runs its action straight away. That is the point of a hotkey, and the reason to choose trade keys carefully.
- Market orders use the panel's lot. Buy and sell at market use the market lot set on the panel’s Trade tab, and still go through Prop Guard: if it has locked trading or the trade would break its limits, nothing opens.
- Close and cancel keys stay in their lane. They only touch this EA's own trades and orders, on the symbol of the chart you pressed them on. Manual trades and other EAs are left alone — for a wider close, use the Close tab.
- Plan keys need a plan selected. Break-even, trailing, virtual and the plan windows act on the selected trade plan. With none selected you get a notice asking you to pick one, rather than a guess.
What hotkeys will not do
- They only hear the chart in front of you. MetaTrader passes a key to the chart that has focus. If you are typing in another window, or have just clicked the Toolbox, the chart never receives it.
- No undo. A trade opened or closed by a key is a real trade. If a key might be hit by accident, give it a modifier or switch its row off.
- Esc is not available. It is kept for cancelling what you are in the middle of.
- It needs MetaTrader open with Algo Trading on. The keys live inside the EA; trade keys do nothing if the terminal is not allowed to trade. Hedging accounts only.
Questions
Does MT5 have a hotkey to buy or sell?
Not one that trades straight away. F9 opens the New Order window, where you still set the lot and press a button. To buy or sell with one key at a preset lot you need a script bound to a key in the Navigator, or an EA that listens for keys.
Can I close all trades with one key?
Yes — bind Close All, or Close Profit, Close Loss, Close Buys or Close Sells. They close this EA's trades on the chart's symbol. To include manual trades or every symbol, use the Close tab instead.
Why does my hotkey do nothing?
Check, in order: the chart has focus (click on it once); the Master switch and that row's tick are on; the action needs a selected plan and none is selected; Algo Trading is on for trade keys; and the combination is not one Windows or MetaTrader takes first, such as Alt on its own.
Are the keys the same on every chart?
Yes. They are saved for the terminal, so every chart running the console shares them. What a key acts on still depends on the chart you press it on — its symbol and its plans.
Can a hotkey open a trade without asking?
Yes, by design. Buy and sell at market fire the moment you press them, using the market lot set on the panel. Prop Guard limits still apply. If you would rather not risk it, leave those rows empty or switched off, or give them a modifier.
Where this sits in the console
Hotkeys are a shortcut into things the panel already does — ordering, closing, break-even, trailing, screenshots and the rest — not a separate feature with its own rules. The demo edition runs on demo accounts, which is where to bind your keys and learn them before they touch real money.