Good-Till-Cancelled (GTC)

What does good-till-cancelled mean?

Good-till-cancelled (GTC) is a “time-in-force” setting applied to a pending order, meaning the order stays live indefinitely — through market closes, weekends, and multiple trading days — until either the price is reached and the order fills, or the trader cancels it manually. This is the opposite of a day order, which automatically expires at the end of the current trading session if it hasn’t been filled.

How it works in practice

When placing a limit order or stop order, most trading platforms ask you to choose an expiry setting. Selecting GTC removes the need to re-enter the same order every day if your target price hasn’t been reached yet — useful for a trader who has identified a level they want to trade at but doesn’t know exactly when the market will get there.

Worked example

Suppose a trader analyzes gold (XAU/USD) and decides they want to buy if price pulls back to 2,350.00, a level that might not be reached for several days. Placing a buy-limit order with GTC means the order remains active across that whole period without needing to be replaced each morning — it will fill the moment price touches 2,350.00, whenever that happens, until the trader cancels it.

Why it matters

GTC orders are convenient for swing and position traders who plan entries around longer-term chart levels rather than intraday moves. The trade-off is that a GTC order can be easy to forget about: market conditions can change significantly between when the order is set and when it eventually fills, so it’s good practice to review open GTC orders periodically rather than leaving them untouched indefinitely. Brokers differ in how they label and cap this setting as part of their overall order execution rules, so it’s worth checking the specific platform’s default before relying on it.

Trading carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors.