Keyboard Shortcuts

In thinkorswim®, you are provided with a number of default keyboard shortcuts that enable you to navigate between components or perform tasks without using a pointing device. To make your thinkorswim experience even more convenient, you can customize the list of key combinations to be used for certain commands.

Default Keyboard Shortcuts

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General shortcuts apply throughout the platform. They are primarily used to open tabs, move between tabs and subtabs, return to the previous screen, or lock the application.

Active Trader shortcuts apply when you are working in the Active Trader interface. This category is turned off by default. To turn it on, check the Enabled checkbox next to the category on the Hot keys tab in the User Setup window. Some Active Trader commands do not have a default shortcut, but you can assign a custom key combination to them.

WatchList shortcuts apply when using the Watchlist gadget.

Chart shortcuts apply while you are working on the Charts tab. They can be used to modify charts, open chart settings, manage drawings and studies, or adjust the displayed timeframe and zoom level.

The thinkscript® Editor shortcuts apply while you are writing or editing thinkScript code in the editor. 

Custom Keyboard Shortcuts

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To customize the keyboard shortcuts:

1. Click " Setup in the top-right corner of the thinkorswim window and select Application Settings… from the menu.
2. In the User Setup window, choose the Hot keys tab.
3. In the Hot keys dialog, you will see the list of commands split up into the following categories: General, Active Trader, WatchList, Chart, and thinkScript Editor. Each of these categories shows a number of commands you can create or customize shortcuts for.
4. Click on the command you would like to customize the shortcut for. In the pane to the right, you will see the description of the command and the shortcut assigned to it (if any).
5. To add or change the shortcut, check the Custom checkbox and specify the base key(s) for the combination: Ctrl or Alt. Do not use Shift or numbers as a standalone base key. Then select an additional key from the dropdown. If the combination you specified is already assigned to another command, you will see a notification. Clicking Reassign in this notification will discard the former hot key combination and assign it to the selected command.
6. To remove the shortcut, choose None. You can also turn off all shortcuts for a category by unchecking Enabled in its title.
7. You can restore defaults for all hot keys by clicking Set all to defaults.
8. When you have finished customizing your hot key combinations, click Apply settings.

You can also view tooltips for hot keys directly in the application. Pressing any of the base keys (Ctrl, Alt, Shift) will display tooltips with additional keys next to components that are assigned a shortcut. Pressing the base key(s) with the additional one will redirect you to the corresponding component. To view the hot key tooltips, turn them on in the Hot keys tab first.