Support Board
Date/Time: Wed, 07 Jan 2026 01:13:08 +0000
2852 - Behaviour changes re Keyboard Shortucts and Windows Sounds
View Count: 192
| [2026-01-05 05:29:49] |
| Acro - Posts: 455 |
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It seems Alt Shift M is now a windows MDI based shortcut that either cascades all charts or restores the current chart. I had it previously set to an ACS button before I updated from 2813 but I have had to change that. Is there anyway I can customise this behaviour or stop Sierra doing this cascade/restore when I press this shortcut ? I cannot find where to turn it off and it is not listed in the current Keyboard Shortcuts Also the windows background wav file is playing when I use some of my ACS shortcut buttons - I have had to disable the sound associated with the Windows Beep to stop this noise occur whenever I press those ACS buttons None of this behaviour occurred in 2813 and earlier so I am guessing it is part of the MDI change ? Date Time Of Last Edit: 2026-01-05 05:31:10
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| [2026-01-05 06:09:25] |
| Sierra_Chart Engineering - Posts: 22211 |
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Check to see how that shortcut is configured through Global Settings >> Customize Keyboard Shortcuts. Certainly Sierra Chart is not assigning it to what you say: It seems Alt Shift M is now a windows MDI based shortcut that either cascades all charts or restores the current chart.
This is definitely not the case. If it is doing what you say, we have no idea and it is definitively not not Sierra Chart. There must be something on your system doing this. Makes no sense to us at all. And we cannot provide any help with this. And no one else is going to be reporting this either. Definitively this is not from Sierra Chart: Also the windows background wav file is playing when I use some of my ACS shortcut buttons - I have had to disable the sound associated with the Windows Beep to stop this noise occur whenever I press those ACS buttons
None of this behaviour occurred in 2813 and earlier so I am guessing it is part of the MDI change ? None of what you are saying is from Sierra Chart. This is definitive fact. We have no idea, what your system is doing and why. Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy: https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service: Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing Date Time Of Last Edit: 2026-01-05 06:10:18
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| [2026-01-05 14:38:46] |
| User247273 - Posts: 44 |
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I'm typically not one to bicker with Sierra Engineering because,in 8 years of using your software, I have consistently found you to be correct - even if you can be a little blunt about it at times. However... None of what you are saying is from Sierra Chart. This is definitive fact.
Really??? Come on, guys. That's a bit much.Anyway, on to my real reason for posting. Here are some actual definitive facts. 1. For more than 5 years I have had the Numpad Minus key assigned to Tools >> Chart Values/Crosshair. It has performed that function flawlessly dozens of times a day for over a thousand days of trading. 2. I was working with no issues in v2789 yesterday. 3. Nothing changed about my PC - no windows updates, driver updates, etc. 4. I updated to the current version (v2852) 5. I launched Sierra (v2852) this morning and the Numpad Minus key was no longer working properly. Instead of getting the crosshair tool when I press that key, the chart immediately reloads with the symbol changed to the same contract month from 1 year prior (e.g. GCG26 changes to GCG25). Every time I hit that key, it cycles the symbol back another year. Conversely, if I hit the Numpad Plus key (which is assigned to Tools >> Pointer), the chart then reloads cycling the symbol to the same contract month 1 year forward. 6. I ran Install Previous Version and went back to v2781 (I mean to go back to 2789 but misremembered the number). 7. All keyboard shortcut behavior returned to normal. 8. I ran Download Current Version to go back to v2852. 9. The problem returned. 10. I ran Install Previous Version and went back to v2789 11. All keyboard shortcut behavior returned to normal. It certainly seems to me that this has something to do with Sierra Chart - at least to some extent. Paradoxically. I have a separate install of Sierra chart that I updated to v2852 and it has showed no problem with the same keyboard shortcuts at all. That install only has a couple chartbooks in it and a significantly smaller amount of chart data in the Data folder, but they are configured almost the same otherwise. I have rolled back to 2789 for now and things are working fine. Please see if you can look into this a bit further and consider that you guys may have missed something somewhere. You guys do excellent work, but I'm sure that can admit that you don't always get everything perfect. |
| [2026-01-05 18:14:33] |
| John - SC Support - Posts: 43819 |
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What you state in Step #5 makes sense, as the +/- keyboard buttons are setup for "Next File"/"Previous File" in the Chart menu. What we really need to know is if you update to v 2852 (the current Release version) and you go to the Keyboard shortcuts and look at the entry for "Chart Values/Crosshairs" and see if it is properly set to "Numpad -". If it is not, then set it for what you want and then see if everything works properly going forward. We do not see any reason why this would change, but we would need to know this information to understand what might be occurring. For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service: Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing |
| [2026-01-05 19:05:03] |
| User719512 - Posts: 384 |
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I reported busted keyboard shortcuts as part of a (private) thread on Dec 5th on v2812. For me it was ctrl-insert did a Reload/Recalculate and not just Recalculate. I changed Recalculate to ctrl-shift-r and that key combo worked to Recalculate, but ctrl-insert would also still perform the Reload/Recalculate operation when pressed; it should be unmapped and do nothing. What I did find is that if I remapped ctrl-insert to something else (like chart|goto spreadsheet which was empty), then ctrl-insert will perform the newly assigned action. It's almost as if the key binding is not getting unregistered, since ctrl-insert should do nothing if not assigned. I just now reassigned ctrl-insert back to Recalculate with v2852 and now insert and ctrl-insert work to Reload/Recalculate and Recalculate, respectively. Curious for @User247273, if they map the "busted" keyboard shortcut to an empty item, map the desired shortcut to some unused temp shortcut - do these keys work as assigned? then second, assign the real desired shortcut to the desired key (removing it from the test action)...do things operate as expected and as before. Hopefully what I wrote above is clear and makes sense... |
| [2026-01-05 23:17:29] |
| User247273 - Posts: 44 |
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What we really need to know is if you update to v 2852 (the current Release version) and you go to the Keyboard shortcuts and look at the entry for "Chart Values/Crosshairs" and see if it is properly set to "Numpad -". If it is not, then set it for what you want and then see if everything works properly going forward.
I updated to 2852 again and did confirm that my entry for Chart Values/Crosshairs was properly assigned to "Numpad -" and the entry for "Pointer" was properly assigned to "Numpad +"I also checked in the Keyboard Shortcuts settings to make sure that the entries for Prev File and Next File had no shortcut key assigned to them. However, I still had the same problem when I hit the Numpad - key or the Numpad + key. Sierra was either overriding my shortcut settings or simultaneously executing Prev File AND Chat Values/Crosshairs when I hit Numpad- (I wasn't paying close enough attention to be sure which it was. I decided to try reassigning those two entries to othe rkeys and then re-assigning them to the Numpad - and Numpad + keys. After performing thta procedure, my shortucts worked as expected. My concern is that I now need to go through and test all of my keyboard shortcuts (I have many configured) to see if there are any other situations like this. I hope this helps you guys track down what caused this. Let me know if you want me to do anything else (e.g. recreate the issue and check other things, etc.) |
| [2026-01-06 01:08:35] |
| User264623 - Posts: 31 |
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Regarding the Windows sounds, this is what I've experienced since updating to version 2852 (from 2813): All of my keyboard shortcut mapping that involved Alt + something (e.g. Alt + 3, or Alt + J) give a windows error sound now. Never had an issue with 2813 or other versions in the past 12 years of running Sierra. It appears to be specifically the 'Alt' function that is trying to select a menu item - Tools, Global Settings, Window, etc. When the Alt + "x" combination isn't one of the menu list items it produces a Window's error sound, although it will still execute the hotkey, (like selecting a drawing tool it is configured to). I've had to remap all of my keyboard combinations with adding 'CTRL' to the combination (e.g. CTRL+ALT+"x") so the system doesn't try to open one of the menu items. This has solved the issue for me. The "Alt + Shift + M" from post #1 aligns with my experience. Just different functions attached to it. |
| [2026-01-06 04:23:33] |
| Sierra_Chart Engineering - Posts: 22211 |
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Regarding post #7, that may very well make sense and that is just due to the changes but not anything that is intentional. There is no special intercepting of the Alt key to do something different with it. Our strong position is just to leave this alone because we do not want to deviate from standard operating system behavior. We do not want to engage in, "tricks" to bypass standard functionality of the OS. So we cannot see how from the first post, this can happen because the Window menu can only be opened with Alt-W: It seems Alt Shift M is now a windows MDI based shortcut that either cascades all charts or restores the current chart.
Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy: https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service: Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing Date Time Of Last Edit: 2026-01-06 04:24:14
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| [2026-01-06 05:20:13] |
| Sierra_Chart Engineering - Posts: 22211 |
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Regarding post #5, we do not see how the issue you had is from Sierra Chart. What you see configured for keyboard shortcuts in the Global Settings >> Customize Keyboard Shortcuts is exactly what you get. There cannot be any unexpected behavior. None of this information is registered at the operating system level. None of it at all. That is long gone. It is processed as you use key combinations based on your settings. Maybe there is some other program on your system interfering with the control key causing the behavior you are seeing. Also regarding this: Also the windows background wav file is playing when I use some of my ACS shortcut buttons - I have had to disable the sound associated with the Windows Beep to stop this noise occur whenever I press those ACS buttons Definitively this is not from Sierra Chart:
This is correct, being that what we are referring to is the sound not being generated by Sierra Chart. It is not. This is the fact we are referring to. But now we understand where the sound is coming from. It is the operating system generating a sound because there is an invalid selection on the Sierra Chart menu. At this point, the removal of MFC for the main window and the child windows, has caused changes with message handling that are not understood at this point in time. But in general the solution is just simply do not use the Alt key in any keyboard shortcuts. We will see if there is a solution to that but just do not use that right now. And we know some keyboard defaults use the Alt key. Regarding this, what you describe makes sense and is the correct behavior: Anyway, on to my real reason for posting.
These keys are hardcoded, maybe they should not be hardcoded but they have been hardcoded for more than 15+ years to perform the actions that you are currently seeing in newer versions. So you really cannot use them for keyboard shortcuts in the way that you are.
Here are some actual definitive facts. 1. For more than 5 years I have had the Numpad Minus key assigned to Tools >> Chart Values/Crosshair. It has performed that function flawlessly dozens of times a day for over a thousand days of trading. 2. I was working with no issues in v2789 yesterday. 3. Nothing changed about my PC - no windows updates, driver updates, etc. 4. I updated to the current version (v2852) 5. I launched Sierra (v2852) this morning and the Numpad Minus key was no longer working properly. Instead of getting the crosshair tool when I press that key, the chart immediately reloads with the symbol changed to the same contract month from 1 year prior (e.g. GCG26 changes to GCG25). Every time I hit that key, it cycles the symbol back another year. Conversely, if I hit the Numpad Plus key (which is assigned to Tools >> Pointer), the chart then reloads cycling the symbol to the same contract month 1 year forward. 6. I ran Install Previous Version and went back to v2781 (I mean to go back to 2789 but misremembered the number). 7. All keyboard shortcut behavior returned to normal. 8. I ran Download Current Version to go back to v2852. 9. The problem returned. 10. I ran Install Previous Version and went back to v2789 11. All keyboard shortcut behavior returned to normal. Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy: https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service: Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing Date Time Of Last Edit: 2026-01-06 05:21:49
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| [2026-01-06 13:07:17] |
| User247273 - Posts: 44 |
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These keys are hardcoded, maybe they should not be hardcoded but they have been hardcoded for more than 15+ years to perform the actions that you are currently seeing in newer versions. So you really cannot use them for keyboard shortcuts in the way that you are.
1. I understand they are hard coded, and have been for many years. I'm just saying that, if I were a software company, I'd be a bit troubled that users who've been able to assign those same keys as shortcuts have had no issues for years and suddenly, now there is an issue. Also, of all the things you might choose to hard code to a shortcut, Prev File and Next File are just about the two least useful choices for professional trading.2. Is there a list of other hard coded shortcut keys anywhere that you could provide so I can rework my shortcut keys to avoid those as well? 3. IF you have hard coded shortucts, it's a straightforward thing to implement a function that won't allow a user to assign those keys to anything else in the Keyboard Shortcuts settings along with some kind of error notifying the user that they're trying to assign a shortcut to a hard coded key. Also... In my early years of using this software (starting in 2018), I pretty much never experienced meaningful issues with the platform, but in recent years, it seems more common for pretty noticeable/disruptive bugs to be present in your software releases. It makes me wonder if you guys are getting in over your heads. I've actively recommended Sierra to other traders for years. I've defended your commitment to quality as a counterbalance to the rude arrogance you often display toward your customers. However, I'm not sure I'll be able to keep doing that for much longer. At this point, the removal of MFC for the main window and the child windows, has caused changes with message handling that are not understood at this point in time. But in general the solution is just simply do not use the Alt key in any keyboard shortcuts. We will see if there is a solution to that but just do not use that right now. And we know some keyboard defaults use the Alt key.
You guys are quick to slam the devs over at Microsoft and call them all kinds of names, but now you're starting to sound just like them. "Hey guys, we broke this simple, basic function in the software. We didn't think to tell anyone about it though. Oh, also, We don't know how to fix it yet and we're not sure when we will. Until then, it's on you to sort things out." I have dozens of keyboard shortcuts involving the Alt key that I now need to rework. I guess I'll get started on that as I watch you guys continue slowly turning your software into - well... I'll borrow one of your favorite terms - a "demonic piece of woke trash." Mayube when you're done screwing other things up, you could invite the Windows 11 team over for a pizza party to celebrate the fact that you've finally made it down to their level. |
| [2026-01-06 13:45:28] |
| MandelBro - Posts: 15 |
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Hello! I also have a lot of hotkeys linked to the 'Alt' button, and the constant sound (standard windows beep) when I press them annoys me too. As well I'm having some other, even bigger problems with the latest version 2852. I reported them to the support team in my post #4 here: List of charts from other chartbooks appearing in current workbook MDI after SC update Maybe a temporary practical solution would be to roll-back to the build 2798 released in 2025-09-25 (as you tried before and described it in your upper post #3) and wait for the engineering guys to fix everything? What do you think? Date Time Of Last Edit: 2026-01-06 16:00:00
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