Set a Trailing Stop Order in Tradovate
Want your winners to keep running while your risk moves up behind them, without babysitting the chart? Here's how to place a trailing stop or trailing stop-limit order in Tradovate and dial in the trail distance, step by step.
Want your winners to keep running while your risk moves up behind them, all without babysitting the chart? That's exactly what a trailing stop does. Below, I'll walk you through placing a trailing stop or trailing stop-limit order in Tradovate and dialing in the trail distance, step by step.
What Is a Trailing Stop Order?
A trailing stop is a stop order whose trigger price chases the market as it moves in your favor, then locks in place the moment the market turns against you. Tradovate gives you two flavors: a Trailing Stop, which fires a stop-market order when triggered, and a Trailing Stop Limit, which fires a stop-limit order instead. Once you submit it, the order follows price tick-for-tick while the trend runs your way and holds its level when price reverses. The payoff is simple, you keep more of an open gain without watching every single tick.
Place a Trailing Stop in Tradovate: Step-by-Step
Open the Order Ticket for Your Contract
Log in to the Tradovate web app, pick the futures contract you want to trade, and open the order-entry ticket. Double-check two things before you go further: you're on the right trading account, and you've got the active front-month contract selected. Get those wrong and everything downstream is wrong too.
Choose Trailing Stop or Trailing Stop Limit
In the order ticket's order-type selector, switch the type from Market/Limit to Trailing Stop or Trailing Stop Limit. A trailing stop that isn't tied to an ATM strategy gets submitted straight from this ticket, so you can pick either variant before you send it. Go with Trailing Stop when you want a guaranteed exit at market once it triggers. Go with Trailing Stop Limit when you want price protection and can live with the risk of not getting filled in a fast move.
Set Your Trail Distance
Now tell Tradovate how far behind the market you want the stop to trail, measured in ticks, say, 10 ticks. That's the gap the stop keeps as price moves your way. If you picked Trailing Stop Limit, you'll also set a limit offset, which decides how far past the trigger your limit price sits. Here's the trade-off worth thinking about: a tighter trail locks in profit sooner but is more likely to get tagged on ordinary noise, while a wider trail gives the trade more room to breathe.
Set Side and Quantity, Then Submit
Pick the side that closes or protects your position, Sell to trail a long, Buy to trail a short, confirm the quantity, and submit the order to your account. From there, Tradovate handles the trail automatically. You don't touch it again unless you want to.
Watch the Working Order Trail the Market
Open the Orders panel and confirm the trailing stop is actually working. As price moves in your favor, the trigger ratchets along tick-for-tick. When price pulls back, that trigger stays put, it doesn't give ground, until it either gets hit or you cancel it yourself.
Why You'd Need This
- Ride winners hands-free, let a trend run while the stop follows price for you.
- Protect open profit, the trigger never gives ground once price reverses.
- Reduce screen time, no dragging a manual stop up bar by bar.
- Enforce discipline, a pre-set trail takes the emotion out of your exits.
Automate This with PickMyTrade
Rather have your exits fire from a strategy than from manual clicks? PickMyTrade links your TradingView alerts straight to your Tradovate account, so a trailing-stop or exit signal from your chart routes to the broker automatically, no switching windows in the middle of a trade.
Automate Your Tradovate Exits
Let your strategy pull the trigger. PickMyTrade routes trailing-stop and exit signals from TradingView straight to your Tradovate account.
Start Your Free 5-Day TrialFrequently Asked Questions
A Trailing Stop triggers a market order when the trailing price is hit, so it prioritizes getting you out. A Trailing Stop Limit triggers a stop-limit order at a limit offset you set, which gives you price protection but risks not filling in a fast-moving market.
No. The Trailing Stop order type follows price tick-for-tick from the moment it's working. Auto Trail is a separate ATM-strategy feature that only starts trailing after a profit trigger is reached, and it adjusts at a set frequency. Pick whichever one matches your exit plan.
To protect a long position, place a Sell trailing stop below the market. To protect a short, place a Buy trailing stop above the market. Either way, the trail follows price in the profitable direction.
This guide is for educational and informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, or trading advice. Trading futures and other leveraged products carries a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. PickMyTrade is an independent third-party automation platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Tradovate, Inc. "Tradovate" and all related names, logos, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Platform features and steps change over time, so always confirm the current process in the official Tradovate platform and documentation before acting.