Keyboard Shortcuts

TestMax provides keyboard shortcuts for fast, efficient trading. Experienced traders know that speed matters — even in a simulator, building the muscle memory for quick execution pays off when you move to live trading.

Tip

Press ? at any time while on the trading dashboard to toggle the keyboard shortcuts help overlay.

Trading shortcuts

These shortcuts execute trading actions instantly. They work whenever the trading dashboard is active and the chart area is focused.

Key	Action	Description
B	Buy Market	Places a market buy order for the configured quantity. Executes immediately at the current ask price.
S	Sell Market	Places a market sell order for the configured quantity. Executes immediately at the current bid price.
F	Flatten All	Closes all open positions at market price. If you have multiple positions, all are flattened simultaneously.

Caution

Trading shortcuts execute immediately with no confirmation dialog. Make sure your quantity is set correctly in the order panel before pressing B or S. Double-check your position before pressing F if you only want to close a specific position.

How market shortcuts work

When you press B or S, TestMax places a market order using the quantity currently configured in the order entry panel. The default quantity is 1 contract. If you want to trade multiple contracts, adjust the quantity in the order panel first, then use the keyboard shortcut.

The order fills against the historical bid/ask prices at the current replay timestamp. You will see the fill reflected immediately in:

• The positions panel — showing your new or updated position
• The chart — with an entry marker on the price bar
• The account bar — with updated equity and margin values

Flatten behavior

Pressing F sends market orders to close every open position. If you are long 2 NQ contracts, pressing F sells 2 NQ at market. If you are short 1 ES contract, pressing F buys 1 ES at market. If you have positions in multiple instruments, all are closed.

This is the equivalent of a “panic button” — use it when you want to get completely flat immediately.

Playback shortcuts

These shortcuts control the market replay playback. They work on the trading dashboard when replay is active.

Key	Action	Description
Space	Play / Pause	Toggles the market replay between playing and paused states.
→ (Right Arrow)	Step Forward	Advances the replay by exactly one bar (based on your current timeframe). Only works when the replay is paused.

Stepping through price action

The step-forward shortcut (→) is one of the most powerful tools for deliberate practice. Here is how to use it effectively:

1. Pause the replay with Space
2. Analyze the current chart — look at the price structure, key levels, and your indicators
3. Form a hypothesis — decide what you expect to happen next and what trade you would take
4. Step forward one bar with → to see what actually happened
5. Repeat — this builds pattern recognition faster than watching price action play out at speed

Note

When you step forward, the step size matches your chart timeframe. On a 5-minute chart, each press of → advances 5 minutes. On a 1-minute chart, each press advances 1 minute. Switch to a lower timeframe for finer granularity.

Help shortcut

Key	Action	Description
?	Toggle Help	Shows or hides the keyboard shortcuts reference overlay on the trading dashboard.

The help overlay displays all available shortcuts in a floating panel on the dashboard. It stays visible until you press ? again or click the close button. You can continue trading with the overlay visible — it does not block interaction with the chart or order panel.

Shortcut context and focus

Keyboard shortcuts are active when the trading dashboard is in focus. They will not trigger in the following situations:

• Text input is focused — When you are typing in the order price field, journal notes, strategy editor, or any other text input, keyboard shortcuts are disabled to prevent accidental trades while typing.
• Modal dialogs are open — When a modal (such as session configuration or account settings) is displayed, shortcuts are disabled until the modal is closed.
• Non-dashboard pages — Shortcuts are specific to the trading dashboard. They do not work on the Analytics page, Algo Playground, or other sections.

If a shortcut does not seem to be working, click on the chart area to ensure the dashboard has focus, and make sure no text input or modal is active.

Quick reference card

Trading

Key	Action
B	Buy market
S	Sell market
F	Flatten all

Playback

Key	Action
Space	Play / Pause
→	Step forward one bar

Help

Key	Action
?	Toggle shortcuts overlay

Tips for effective use

Build muscle memory

Practice using keyboard shortcuts from day one, even if you are just exploring the platform. The combination of Space (pause), → (step), and B / S (trade) is the core loop for deliberate practice. The faster these become automatic, the more you can focus on reading price action instead of operating the interface.

Combine shortcuts with the order panel

Keyboard shortcuts cover the most common actions — market orders, flatten, and playback control. For more complex order types (limit orders, stop orders, bracket orders with custom SL/TP levels), use the order entry panel. A typical workflow looks like this:

1. Use Space and → to study price action
2. When you see a setup, set your limit price and bracket levels in the order panel
3. Click to place the order
4. Use Space to resume playback
5. Press F to flatten if the trade goes against you

Speed up your session reviews

When reviewing a past session, use playback shortcuts to control the pace. Run at high speed through uneventful periods, then slow down or step through the bars where you traded. This lets you review hours of market data in minutes while still paying close attention to the moments that matter.