How-to cancel order Kite pending orders keyboard shortcuts AMO

How to cancel orders quickly on Kite

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Cancelling an open or pending order quickly on Kite matters most when a fast market is moving against an order you no longer want filled. Every open order lives in the Orders tab, under Open until it fills or is cancelled, and you withdraw it either by opening it and choosing Cancel, or, on the Zerodha app, with the quick cancel route that needs a confirmation within three seconds. On Kite web the O keyboard shortcut jumps straight to the order book, the fastest way to reach an order you need to pull.

This guide covers single cancellation, the app’s quick cancel feature and its three-second confirmation, how to clear several open orders when there is no single “cancel all” button, and the specific case of cancelling an after-market order before it is released to the exchange. It also explains why an order in a transitional state can briefly resist cancellation. For the faster bulk exit of holdings and positions, rather than open orders, see how to quick exit holdings and positions .

Conflict-of-interest disclosure. This guide is published by the WebNotes Editorial Team for informational purposes and is written independently. WebNotes operates a Zerodha account-opening referral programme, disclosed on the pages that carry the referral link; this guide does not carry it and earns no referral commission from the procedure described here.

Step-by-step procedure

The numbered box above gives the sequence. The detail below covers the parts traders ask about most: the app’s three-second quick cancel, the absence of a single “cancel all” action, and AMO cancellation timing.

1. Open the Orders tab

The Orders tab is the single place every order passes through. Open and pending orders sit under Open; filled and cancelled ones under Executed. On Kite web, press O to jump straight to the order book without navigating the menu, the same shortcut shown when you press the slash key or open the keyboard shortcuts list from the client ID menu. On the app, tap Orders in the bottom navigation.

2. Cancel a single order

Click or tap the open order to expand it, then choose Cancel. Kite sends the cancellation to the exchange, and the order moves from Open to the Executed list marked as cancelled. There is no charge: a cancelled order never reached a trade, so no brokerage or statutory cost attaches to it. This is the route to use when you have one or two orders to pull and want to confirm each one.

3. Use quick cancel on the Kite app

When speed matters, the app’s quick cancel feature is faster than expanding each order. Tap the pending order or GTT, tap the quick exit icon, then tap Confirm within three seconds. The three-second window is a deliberate guard against an accidental cancel: if you do not confirm within three seconds, the pending order will not be cancelled, and you start over. The same flow cancels a pending GTT , not only a regular order, so it doubles as a quick way to pull a resting trigger you no longer want.

4. Cancel orders in bulk by repeating the action

Kite does not expose a single confirmed action that cancels every open order at once. The practical route to clear several orders is to cancel each in turn: work down the Open list, cancelling each order, or use the quick exit icon on each on the app. Because there is no one-tap “cancel all”, a trader with many resting orders, for example a basket that placed several legs, should plan to cancel them individually rather than expect a single sweep. Where the orders are an entry plus an exit, cancel the entry first so an exit cannot fire against a position that no longer exists.

5. Cancel an after-market order before release

An after-market order is queued outside market hours and released to the exchange at the next session start. While it is still pending, it is cancellable like any open order: open it in the Orders tab and choose Cancel before release. Once the session opens and the AMO is pushed to the exchange as a live order, it is no longer an AMO; cancel it then as a normal open order, subject to the usual rule that a filled order cannot be cancelled. The window to cancel an AMO cleanly is therefore before the next session opens.

6. Confirm the cancellation

Check the Executed list to confirm the order now reads cancelled rather than pending. This step is not pedantry: an order you believe you cancelled that still sits under Open can still fill, and on a moving market that can be the difference between a flat book and an unwanted position. Verify the cancel landed before you step away from the screen.

The Orders tab and the order book on web

On Kite web the order book is the cancellation hub, and the O shortcut is the fastest way to reach it. The shortcuts are fixed; Zerodha states they cannot be changed or customised. The ones that matter for order management are O for the order book, B for the buy window, and S for the sell window, with the full list available by pressing the slash key or opening Keyboard shortcuts from the client ID menu. There is no dedicated single-key shortcut that cancels an order; once the order book is open, you cancel from there. Knowing the O shortcut still saves real time in a fast market, because it removes the menu navigation between you and the order you need to pull.

Quick cancel on the app versus the web order book

The app and web take different approaches to speed. The app’s quick cancel, with its quick exit icon and three-second confirmation, is built for one-handed, in-the-moment cancellation. The web order book leans on the O shortcut to surface every open order at once, which suits cancelling several orders in sequence on a keyboard. Neither offers a true “cancel all” button, so for a screen full of resting orders, the web order book with rapid clicks down the Open list is usually quicker than tapping through each order on the app. Match the tool to the situation: the app for a single urgent pull on the move, the web order book when clearing many.

Why an order can resist cancellation

Occasionally a cancel does not go through at the first attempt. The usual cause is an order in a transitional state. An order just sent to the exchange and awaiting acknowledgement, or one that is partly filled and being updated, can briefly sit in a state where a cancel is not yet accepted; the system needs the order to settle into a stable open state first. Wait a moment and retry from the Orders tab. A separate, permanent case is a fully filled order: it cannot be cancelled at all, because the trade is done. To undo a filled order you exit the resulting position, not cancel the order. This is also why a partly filled order, when cancelled, only cancels the unfilled balance and leaves the filled part as a live position.

See also

External references

References

  1. Zerodha support, How to cancel orders quickly on the Kite app (as of 21 June 2026).
  2. Zerodha support, What are keyboard shortcuts for trading on Kite? (as of 21 June 2026).
  3. Zerodha support, How do I exit my holdings and positions quickly? (as of 21 June 2026).

Related articles

Frequently asked questions

How do I cancel a pending order on the Kite app?
Open the Orders tab, tap the pending order, and choose Cancel. For a faster route, tap the pending order or GTT, tap the quick exit icon, then tap Confirm within three seconds, or the order will not be cancelled.
Is there a keyboard shortcut to cancel orders on Kite web?
Press O to open the order book, where you cancel each open order. Kite web does not expose a confirmed single shortcut that cancels all open orders at once, so you cancel them individually from the order book.
Can I cancel all my open orders at once on Kite?
There is no confirmed single ‘cancel all’ action on Kite. Cancel each open order in turn from the Orders tab, or use the quick exit icon on each order on the app, working down the Open list.
Where is the Orders tab on Kite?
The Orders tab is in the main Kite menu. Open and pending orders appear under Open; filled and cancelled ones under Executed. On Kite web, the O keyboard shortcut opens the order book directly.
Can I cancel an after-market order on Kite?
Yes. An after-market order (AMO) can be cancelled from the Orders tab while it is pending, before it is released to the exchange at the next session. Once it is released and live as a regular order, cancel it like any open order.
Does cancelling an order cost anything?
No. Cancelling an open or pending order is free. Only executed trades attract brokerage and statutory charges, so a cancelled order leaves no cost on your account.
Why can't I cancel my order?
An order in a transitional state, such as partly filled or sent to the exchange and awaiting acknowledgement, may briefly resist cancellation. Wait for it to settle into a stable open state, then cancel; a fully filled order cannot be cancelled, only the position exited.

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