MetaTrader 5 Shortcut Keys List: The Ultimate Guide for Windows Traders

You’re in the middle of analyzing a chart, and you need to pull up the order window—fast. Your mouse is somewhere across the desk, and digging through menus feels like a distraction you can’t afford. Or maybe you’re flipping between several open charts and manually clicking each tab is eating up precious seconds.

These little frictions add up, especially when you're scanning multiple instruments or reacting to sudden market moves. For traders who spend hours in MetaTrader 5, relying solely on a mouse is like trading with one hand tied behind your back. The real efficiency lies in the keyboard.

A well-mastered set of MT5 shortcut keys transforms the platform from a collection of windows into an extension of your decision-making process. Instead of hunting for buttons, your hands stay on the keyboard, executing commands instantly. The goal is to make the platform disappear, so you can focus entirely on the markets.

This guide covers the most essential MT5 keyboard shortcuts for Windows, organized by function, so you can start navigating, analyzing, and trading with significantly more speed and precision.

The Fundamental MT5 Navigation Shortcuts

Before you place a trade or analyze a chart, you need to manage the workspace. These shortcuts let you instantly open, close, or switch between the core windows of MT5. Memorizing these is the first step to a truly fluid workflow.

• Ctrl+M – Toggle the Market Watch window on and off. This is your quick view of live prices and symbols .
• Ctrl+N – Toggle the Navigator window. Here you can access your accounts, indicators, Expert Advisors (EAs), and scripts .
• Ctrl+T – Toggle the Toolbox window. This is where you’ll find your trading activity, account history, and alerts .
• Ctrl+D – Toggle the Data Window. It shows detailed price and indicator values for the selected chart point, essential for precise analysis .
• Ctrl+W or Ctrl+F4 – Close the current chart window. Great for cleaning up your workspace quickly .

Chart Management and View Shortcuts

Analyzing price action is the core of trading, and MT5 offers shortcuts to adjust how you see the markets. These keys help you tailor the visual layout to your preference without ever touching a menu.

• Alt+1 – Display the chart as a Bar chart .
• Alt+2 – Display the chart as a Candlestick chart, the most popular format for identifying patterns .
• Alt+3 – Display the chart as a Line chart, useful for seeing the broader trend .
• Ctrl+G – Show or hide the grid on the chart .
• Ctrl+H – Show or hide the OHLC (Open, High, Low, Close) data in the top-left corner .
• F11 – Toggle Full Screen mode for the active chart window .

Chart Navigation Shortcuts

Moving through time on a chart is fundamental for backtesting or analyzing recent price action. These shortcuts let you navigate historical data with precision.

• F12 – Move the chart forward one bar at a time. This is invaluable for step-by-step analysis .
• Shift+F12 – Move the chart back one bar .
• Home – Jump to the beginning of the chart's available data .
• End – Jump to the most recent bar on the chart .
• Page Up / Page Down – Scroll quickly to the left or right across the chart .
• + (Plus) – Zoom in on the chart.
• - (Minus) – Zoom out on the chart .

The Order and Trading Shortcuts

When you’re ready to act, speed and accuracy are everything. These are the most important shortcuts for placing and managing trades.

• F9 – Open the New Order window. This is arguably the most important shortcut in MT5, allowing you to quickly enter the trade setup screen .
• Ctrl+E – Enable or disable AutoTrading for Expert Advisors .
• F6 – Open the Tester window to backtest an Expert Advisor on the current chart .
• F10 – Open the Quotes window .

Streamlining Your Trading Workflow with Camovia Tray

While keyboard shortcuts masterfully handle navigating within the MT5 platform, they don't address a common friction point: the platform itself being open on your screen.

For many traders, MT5 is a powerful but visually cluttered application. It sits in your taskbar, takes up valuable screen real estate, and when you’re quickly switching between tasks, it's always there—a potential distraction or privacy concern.

After you've minimized MT5 using a shortcut, you still need to open it again to check a price or see how a position is doing. You might even prefer not to have the full platform window visible at all times.

This is where Camovia Tray fits into your optimized workflow. It effectively turns your MT5 into a lightweight tray tool . Instead of restoring the entire MT5 window every time you need a quick market check, you can simply hover your mouse over the Camovia Tray icon in your system tray. This action pops up a live quote for your chosen symbols, giving you the information you need without reopening the terminal .

Beyond just viewing prices, it provides instant access to position management. A floating order window displays your open positions—complete with symbol, direction, volume, open price, and current profit or loss . This allows you to monitor your portfolio at a glance.

When you need to act, you can close a position directly from this window with a two-step confirmation (click "Close" → click "Confirm") . For MT5, this works without any additional setup.

Furthermore, Camovia Tray lets you hide the MT5 main window entirely—removing it not just from your screen but from your taskbar and Alt+Tab switcher . This creates a clean, focused workspace. For moments when you need to step away, you can also enable a tray icon disguise, making it look like a cloud drive or system tool, or lock the entire tray functionality to protect your privacy .

Crucially, all of this functionality is local. Camovia Tray reads your quotes and positions directly from your terminal, and the data never leaves your computer .

By combining the internal navigation power of MT5's native shortcuts with Camovia Tray's external workspace management, you create a complete ecosystem of efficiency. You spend less time managing the platform and more time acting on the markets.

Conclusion

Mastering keyboard shortcuts in MetaTrader 5 is a game-changer for your trading speed and focus. Start by integrating a few of these into your routine and you’ll soon find that navigating the platform becomes second nature.

Once the platform navigation is effortless, you can take your efficiency a step further by managing when and how you interact with MT5 itself. A tool like Camovia Tray can complement your shortcut knowledge by removing the need to always have MT5 open on your screen, allowing for a more streamlined and secure trading experience. You can keep your full terminal hidden in the background while still having instant, private access to the data that matters most.