Using Hotkeys

Hotkeys are key stroke or mouse click combinations that can help users simplify common actions in IBKR Desktop, such as creating a buy limit order or deleting a row. Hotkey constructs might look like “control plus B” or “double click” for example.

To see and create hotkeys, open Settings and select Hotkeys. IBKR Desktop provides two categories of Hotkeys: Platform Controls and Order Entry.

Platform Controls provide keyboard shortcuts for actions like copy, paste, delete, add a row above or below, minimize or maximize window and even Show Contract Description.

For example, the user might want to quickly display the Contract Description for a company. Using the keyboard command “Control + D” when clicked on that instrument row, the user generates the Contract Description.

Order Entry shortcuts currently allow users to create buy and sell limit and market orders.

For example, I can use “Control + B” to create a buy limit order. I’ll select an instrument and try this hotkey. Watch the order as it’s created in the right-side price panel. Additionally, users can create custom hotkeys to increase the number of order entry shortcuts.

In this example the user will create a mouse click hotkey to quickly create a Buy Midprice order with a default quantity of 300 shares.

Again, access hotkeys from Settings and select Hotkeys.

The user selects the Order Entry tab and clicks New Custom Hotkey to create this new mouse click hotkey.

The setup requires the user to enter basic information into the following series of fields. The user starts by assigning a unique name to the instruction. Once the hotkey is created, the user will see this name when hovering over the area set for the hotkey.

For the type user selects mouse click and then “double left click.” User sets the location to the ask price.

Leaving the action as buy, user sets the order type to MidPrice and selects the Bid/Ask midpoint as the default price.

Next, the user may define the share quantity and in this case selects 300, and determines the time in force to GTC. The hotkey is saved simply by closing the dialog box.

When the user hovers the mouse over the “ask” price, notice the available hotkey commands. And by double clicking the user creates the order over in the right-side price panel.

Users can always make order modifications should they be required before submitting the order.

Remember, hotkeys are there to make your trading experience faster. We hope you find using and creating hotkeys helpful.

Resources

IBKR Desktop User Guide