A good TWS day trading setup is one Mosaic layout, with every window for the stock you trade linked to one color group: order entry, a Level 2 window (BookTrader or Market Depth), Time & Sales, a 1-minute and a 5-minute chart with VWAP and EMAs, a scanner, and your positions. Unlock the layout to arrange it, lock it again, and save it with File, Layout Settings, Save Settings. Then set your stock order preset to allow outside-RTH fills and turn off the confirmations you no longer need.
TWS can do almost anything, which is why a new IBKR day trader's screen often ends up as a pile of unlinked windows. This post is a precise, menu-by-menu build of a layout for scalping US stocks: what to open, how to link it, which chart and tape settings to use, how to save it, how to spread it over more than one monitor, and which defaults to change for speed. Every path below was checked against IBKR's own documentation. Labels can shift between TWS versions, so if one does not match, search IBKR Guides for the window name.
Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers.
The TWS day trading setup at a glance
Window
Open it from
What it is for
Order Entry
In the default Mosaic layout
Ticker, size, price and the buy and sell buttons
BookTrader
New Window, then BookTrader
Price ladder with depth: click to place orders at a price
Market Depth
New Window, then Market Depth
Level II table, one row per venue per price
Time & Sales
New Window, then Time & Sales
Every print: time, price, size, venue
Chart (x2)
New Window, then a chart
1-minute for entries, 5-minute for context
Scanner
New Window, then a market scanner
Finding the stocks that are moving
Portfolio and Activity
In the default Mosaic layout
Positions, open orders and fills
You do not need both BookTrader and Market Depth. BookTrader is quicker for clicking orders, and Market Depth is easier to read. Both need a depth subscription. IBKR Level 2 covers which feeds to buy and the cap on how many books you can stream at once (3 on a new account).
Build the Mosaic layout
01
Unlock the layout
In Mosaic, open the File menu and choose Unlock Layout (Edit Mode) under Layout. While the layout is locked you cannot add, remove or resize the docked windows.
02
Clear what you will not use
The default Mosaic has a watchlist, news and other tools you may not want on a trading screen. Close anything you will not look at during a trade. Every extra window is one more place your eyes can go.
03
Open the trading windows
Click New Window in the top left and open BookTrader (or Market Depth), Time & Sales, two charts and a scanner. They open as their own windows. Drag each one into the Mosaic frame and drop it where you want it docked.
04
Place them around the order entry
A layout that works for most scalpers: Level 2 and Time & Sales side by side in the center, the 1-minute chart to their right, order entry under the Level 2, and the 5-minute chart, scanner and positions on the edges. Your eyes should move between book, tape and 1-minute chart without turning your head.
05
Link the windows to one color group
Set every window that should follow the traded stock to the same color group (next section).
06
Lock and save
Lock the layout again from the File menu, then save it with Save Settings (below).
Link windows by color group so one ticker drives all
Linking is what turns a pile of windows into a layout. Click the chain-link icon in the top right of a window's title bar and pick a colored number from the list. Give every window you want in the group the same number. When you change the symbol in one window, every linked window follows (IBKR Guides: color grouping).
One group for the stock you trade. Order entry, BookTrader, Market Depth, Time & Sales and both charts in group 1. Type a ticker in any of them and the whole station loads it.
The scanner. If the scanner is in group 1, selecting a row loads that stock everywhere. That is fast, but it also means a stray click changes the stock under your order entry. Many traders leave the scanner unlinked and type the ticker on purpose.
A second station. To watch a second stock, give its own chart, tape and book group 2. Keep in mind each extra symbol in a depth window counts toward your depth cap.
A window belongs to one group at a time. Hover over the group icon to see whether a window sends symbols, receives them, or both.
Show data outside of regular trading hours matters most for pre-market traders. Without it, the chart starts at 09:30 ET and hides the pre-market high, the level everyone is watching.
To add studies, open the Studies tab in Chart Parameters, expand the group on the left (EMAs are under the moving averages), select the study and click Add. For VWAP, use the intraday version that resets each session, not a multi-day volume average. The 9 and 20 EMA are common choices for short-term trend, not magic numbers. Keep the studies identical on both charts, so a line means the same thing wherever you see it.
Time and sales settings
Open New Window, then Time & Sales, and link it to group 1. The default columns are Time, Last, Size, Exchange and Condition (IBKR Guides: Time & Sales).
Keep Exchange and Condition. Exchange tells you whether a print hit a lit venue or printed off-exchange. Condition flags odd lots and out-of-sequence prints. Hover over a size or price to decode a condition.
Use the Block filter. Right-click a column and set a block size so large prints stand out. On a $5 small cap, 5,000 to 10,000 shares is a reasonable starting point. Adjust it to the stock.
Columns live under the Configure wheel in the top right of the window, then Settings.
Live vs history. A light gray icon means the tape is streaming. A dark gray icon means you have paged back into history and the window is frozen. Get back to live before you trade from it.
What the tape is telling you, and how to read it alongside the book, is covered in reading time and sales.
Save and lock the layout
TWS saves your settings when you exit, but do not rely on that alone:
Lock the layout. Use the File menu's layout lock (the same item you used to unlock it), so a stray drag cannot undock a window mid-trade.
Save Settings.File, Application Settings, Layout Settings, Save Settings writes your layout, defaults and menu choices to disk.
Save Settings As. Save a named copy, for example day-trading-layout, somewhere you back up. If TWS ever loads a blank layout, you can restore it.
Layout Settings Recovery. In the same menu, this restores a layout from a previous day. It is the fix when an update or crash scrambles your windows.
A multi-monitor TWS layout
TWS windows can live outside the Mosaic frame, and New Window Group in the File menu creates a second blank frame you can drag to another screen.
Screen
Two monitors
Three monitors
Center (straight ahead)
Level 2, Time & Sales, 1-minute chart, order entry
Level 2, Time & Sales, 1-minute chart, order entry
Second
5-minute chart, scanner, positions and activity
5-minute and daily charts, news
Third
(none)
Scanner, positions and activity, account window
Put the window you act from straight in front of you, and never on the far edge of a screen. Keep everything that follows the traded stock in group 1, whichever monitor it is on.
Settings to change for speed
TWS ships with safety prompts aimed at investors. A scalper should change some of them, carefully.
Default order preset. Open Global Configuration (from the File menu, or the wrench icon on most windows), then Presets, then Stock (IBKR Guides: order presets):
In the timing section, tick Allow order to be activated, triggered, or filled outside of regular trading hours. Without it, a pre-market order rests until 09:30 ET. Set Time in Force to DAY.
Set the default size to the share count you actually trade, so order entry and BookTrader start there.
Precautionary Settings. In the same preset are Size Limit, Total Value Limit, Percentage and Number of Ticks. If they are below your normal size, every order stops for a warning. Raise them to just above your largest normal order instead of setting them to zero. That way they still catch a fat-fingered extra zero.
Confirmations. Most order dialogs have a Don't display this message again box. You can re-enable any of them later in Global Configuration, then Messages. In BookTrader, you can turn off the confirmation on the first order so clicks transmit immediately. Only do this after you have practiced in a paper account, because a misclick then becomes a live order.
Everything above can be done in TWS, and TWS is the better choice if you also trade options or futures, or want free-floating windows across several monitors. The cost is the linking, saving and checking you just did.
Scalpel takes the opposite approach: one window, built for long-only scalping of US stocks, where each stock gets a desk. A desk is a whole station for one stock: a DAS-style Level 2 montage with the tape beside it, a chart with the order bar, and orders and positions. Nothing to link, because each desk is one stock. You can run up to six desks side by side. Scanner rows carry a small square in each desk's color, and clicking one loads that stock onto that desk.
SCALPELIBKR Scalping Cockpit
VIEWTrade
MODESIM
09:41:07 ETRegular hours
ACCOUNTSIM
NET LIQ$25,312.40
MARGIN USED$2,200.008.7%
DAILY P&L$312.40
UNREAL P&L$80.00
Flatten All EscSettingsSystem
D1TRADERABCDRTHHide
FDA 4mAbcd Receives FDA Approval for Lead Candidate
Can diluteShelf on file (S-3)
Hard to shortFew shares left to borrow
LEVEL 2
-Tick+
ABCDAbcd Therapeutics Inc+0.42 +7.95%5.70
O5.21H5.84L5.12VWAP5.47VOL12.4M
BID VOL9,381
BEST BID5.69
SPREAD0.02 (0.35%)
BEST ASK5.71
ASK VOL7,345
IMBALANCE+34%DELTA10s +8501m +4.2K5m +18K
Hidden seller refilling at the offer
LONG 400@ 5.50+$80.00
MMIDSIZEPRICE
NSDQ1,2005.69
IEX6005.69
EDGX4005.69
MEMX2315.68
ARCA9005.68
BATS1,5005.67
NYSE3005.67
IEX8005.66
ARCA2,0005.65
NSDQ5005.65
EDGX7005.64
BYX2505.63
PRICESIZEMMID
5.71100DRCTEDGE
5.71145IEX
5.72700NSDQ
5.72300MEMX
5.732,000ARCA
5.74450EDGX
5.74600BATS
5.75200NYSE
5.76900IEX
5.771,100NSDQ
5.78350ARCA
5.79500MEMX
PRICESIZE
5.712,500
5.71400
5.70300
5.711,200
5.69800
5.71100
5.713,600
5.69200
5.70500
5.71900
5.691,500
5.71600
5.71300
5.68400
5.711,000
5.70200
CHART
10s1m5m1h1d
Above VWAP, EMAs upBroke the range high
BuyShares v$571100 sh$1.4k250 sh$2.9k500 sh$5.7k1000 sh
SellFull1/21/41/2 Ask1/2 MidB/ETrailCancel
ORDERS & POSITIONS
PositionsOrdersNET P&L +$121.20
OPEN
SYMBOLQTYAVGNOTIONALFEEUNREAL (R)
ABCD4005.50$2.2K1.40+80.00 (+1.7R)
D2TRADEREFGHRTHHide
Selling 21hSelling stock off its shelf (424B5)
Deal 2hEfgh Signs $40 Million Supply Agreement
LEVEL 2
-Tick+
EFGHEfgh Energy Corp+0.61 +23.70%3.18
O2.71H3.34L2.66VWAP3.02VOL28.1M
BID VOL13,200
BEST BID3.17
SPREAD0.01 (0.31%)
BEST ASK3.18
ASK VOL42,600
IMBALANCE-41%DELTA10s -2.1K1m -9.8K5m +6K
Ask-heavy book: offers tend to cap price
MMIDSIZEPRICE
EDGX3,0003.17
NSDQ1,1003.17
ARCA2,5003.16
IEX4003.15
MEMX9003.15
BATS1,8003.14
NYSE6003.13
EDGX1,2003.12
NSDQ3003.11
ARCA7003.10
BYX5003.10
IEX2003.09
PRICESIZEMMID
3.184,200NSDQ
3.196,100ARCA
3.195,300EDGX
3.202,400IEX
3.203,800MEMX
3.217,000BATS
3.221,500NYSE
3.232,600NSDQ
3.244,100ARCA
3.25900EDGX
3.253,000IEX
3.261,700MEMX
PRICESIZE
3.175,000
3.18800
3.171,200
3.17400
3.18300
3.172,200
3.17500
3.17900
3.181,000
3.173,100
3.17600
3.18200
3.171,500
3.16700
3.18400
3.17800
CHART
10s1m5m1h1d
Above VWAP2 red bars
BuyShares v$318100 sh$795250 sh$1.6k500 sh$3.2k1000 sh
SellFull1/21/41/2 Ask1/2 MidB/ETrail
ORDERS & POSITIONS
PositionsOrdersNET P&L $0.00
OPEN
SYMBOLQTYAVGNOTIONALFEEUNREAL (R)
Flat - no open positions
D3TRADERJKLMRTHHide
LEVEL 2
-Tick+
JKLMJklm Robotics Ltd+1.16 +15.98%8.42
O7.35H8.57L7.28VWAP7.96VOL9.7M
BID VOL7,800
BEST BID8.41
SPREAD0.02 (0.24%)
BEST ASK8.43
ASK VOL7,600
IMBALANCE+12%DELTA10s +3001m +1.9K5m +7.4K
Buyers lifting
MMIDSIZEPRICE
NSDQ8008.41
ARCA5008.41
IEX3008.40
EDGX1,2008.40
MEMX4008.39
BATS9008.38
NYSE2008.37
NSDQ1,5008.36
ARCA6008.35
EDGX3008.34
IEX7008.33
BYX4008.32
PRICESIZEMMID
8.43300ARCA
8.44600NSDQ
8.44200EDGX
8.45900IEX
8.46400MEMX
8.471,100BATS
8.48300NYSE
8.49700NSDQ
8.501,600ARCA
8.51500EDGX
8.52200IEX
8.53800MEMX
PRICESIZE
8.43600
8.431,500
8.41300
8.42200
8.43900
8.43400
8.41500
8.432,200
8.42100
8.41700
8.43300
8.43800
8.41200
8.431,100
8.42300
8.43500
CHART
10s1m5m1h1d
Above VWAP, EMAs up3 green bars
BuyShares v$843100 sh$2.1k250 sh$4.2k500 sh$8.4k1000 sh
SellFull1/21/41/2 Ask1/2 MidB/ETrail
ORDERS & POSITIONS
PositionsOrdersNET P&L $0.00
OPEN
SYMBOLQTYAVGNOTIONALFEEUNREAL (R)
Flat - no open positions
D4TRADERPQRSRTHHide
Can't shortShorts trapped
LEVEL 2
-Tick+
PQRSPqrs Biosciences Inc+0.39 +26.35%1.87
O1.52H2.04L1.49VWAP1.79VOL41.3M
BID VOL47,800
BEST BID1.86
SPREAD0.01 (0.53%)
BEST ASK1.87
ASK VOL56,500
IMBALANCE+8%DELTA10s +4.1K1m -1.2K5m +52K
Balanced book and flow
MMIDSIZEPRICE
NSDQ9,0001.86
EDGX4,5001.86
ARCA6,2001.85
IEX1,8001.85
MEMX3,3001.84
BATS7,6001.84
NYSE1,2001.83
NSDQ5,1001.82
ARCA2,4001.81
EDGX3,8001.80
IEX9001.80
BYX2,0001.79
PRICESIZEMMID
1.875,200ARCA
1.883,100NSDQ
1.888,400EDGX
1.892,200IEX
1.904,600MEMX
1.909,900BATS
1.911,600NYSE
1.927,300NSDQ
1.933,500ARCA
1.942,800EDGX
1.956,000IEX
1.951,900MEMX
PRICESIZE
1.8710,000
1.862,500
1.874,000
1.861,000
1.866,000
1.871,500
1.873,000
1.86800
1.8712,000
1.862,000
1.87900
1.865,000
1.872,200
1.86700
1.863,500
1.874,400
CHART
10s1m5m1h1d
Bull trapFalse break, closed back under: tends to dip in the next minute
BuyShares v$187100 sh$468250 sh$935500 sh$1.9k1000 sh
The cockpit in SIM: the header 1, a desk header 2, Level 2 and the tape 3, the chart 4, the order bar 5, orders and positions 6, the + rail for more desks 7, and the status bar 8. Demo data.
Panels inside a desk are rearranged by dragging their title bars, and Apply to all copies one desk's layout to the rest (arranging desks). The layout saves itself. On several screens, either keep Scalpel on the main screen and TWS on a side one, or stretch the window over two (multi-monitor setup). TWS or IB Gateway still has to run in the background, because Scalpel trades through your own IBKR account. The cockpit tour names every part of the screen. For the full IBKR setup, from account to data to hotkeys, start with day trading on Interactive Brokers.
Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.
Questions
What is the best TWS layout for day trading?
One Mosaic layout with order entry, BookTrader or Market Depth, Time & Sales, a 1-minute and a 5-minute chart, a scanner and positions, with every window for the traded stock in the same color group. Keep the book, tape and 1-minute chart close together in front of you.
How do I link windows in TWS Mosaic?
Click the chain-link icon in the top right of each window's title bar and pick the same colored number for every window you want linked. Changing the symbol in one then changes it in all of them.
How do I save my TWS layout?
Open the File menu, then Application Settings, Layout Settings and Save Settings. Use Save Settings As to keep a named backup, and Layout Settings Recovery to restore a previous day's layout.
How do I show pre-market data on TWS charts?
In the chart window open Edit, then Chart Parameters, and tick Show data outside of regular trading hours. Without it the chart starts at the regular open.
How do I make TWS orders fill in the pre-market by default?
In Global Configuration open Presets, then Stock, and in the timing section tick Allow order to be activated, triggered, or filled outside of regular trading hours. Use limit orders, because exchanges accept only limit orders outside regular hours.