# TWS hotkeys for day trading: a setup that actually works

> Set up TWS hotkeys for day trading: where IBKR hotkeys live, the presets they need, a five-key scalping set with exact settings, and a printable cheat sheet.

Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-hotkeys-day-trading
By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-08-04, last changed 2026-10-15. 11 min read.

**In short:**

TWS hotkeys live in **Global Configuration > Hotkeys** (open it from the **File** menu in Mosaic or the **Edit** menu in Classic TWS). Pick an action such as **Buy**, click **Create Shortcut**, record a key, then use the **Customize** tab to set a limit order priced off the ask plus a few cents and tick **Transmit the order instantaneously**. Put your default size, time in force and the outside regular hours box in **Presets > Stock**, select the stock's row before you press, and test every key in a paper account first.

Most traders who give up on TWS hotkeys set them up halfway: the key is recorded, but the order waits for a click, prices off the wrong side of the book, sits until 09:30 because the outside regular hours box was never ticked, or goes to whichever stock was selected last. This guide is the full setup for a fast, long-only scalper: the settings each key depends on, a five-key set with exact options, the precautions that keep a fat finger from hurting you, and a cheat sheet to print.

Everything here was checked against IBKR's own [TWS hot keys guide](https://www.ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/hot-keys.htm) and IBKR Campus lessons on October 15, 2026. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers.

## Where TWS hotkeys live

Hotkeys and the order presets they lean on are both in Global Configuration. [Mosaic and Classic](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#tws) are two layouts of the same TWS, and only the menu that opens it differs:

| Layout | Path |
| --- | --- |
| Mosaic | **File > Global Configuration > Hotkeys** |
| Classic TWS | **Edit > Global Configuration > Hotkeys** |

The Hotkeys page has the list of **Possible Actions** at the top and your **Configured Shortcuts** at the bottom. Some actions are hidden until you tick **Show Hidden Actions** in the top right, and the search box finds an action by name. IBKR groups them into categories such as Create Orders, Modify/Transmit Orders and Cancel Orders ([IBKR Campus: Configuring TWS Hotkeys](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/campus/trading-lessons/configuring-tws-hotkeys/)).

A hotkey works the moment you click **Apply** and **OK**. There is no restart.

## Set your order presets first

A Buy or Sell hotkey whose size is set to **Default** takes its size from your order presets, and the presets also decide the time in force and whether the order may fill outside regular hours. Set them before you record a single key.

Open **Global Configuration > Presets** and click **Stock**. Click **All Possible Fields** at the top if a field below is missing ([IBKR Campus: Configuring TWS Presets](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/campus/trading-lessons/configuring-tws-presets/)).

| Section | Setting | Scalper's value | Why |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Timing | Time in Force | DAY | An entry that did not fill today should not wake up tomorrow |
| Timing | Allow order to be activated, triggered, or filled outside of regular trading hours | Ticked | Without it, a pre-market order waits until 09:30 ET |
| Size | Quantity | Your standard clip, for example 500, unit Shares | This is what a key set to Default size buys |
| Primary Order | Order type | Limit | US exchanges take only limit orders outside regular hours |
| Precautionary Settings | Share and dollar limits | A little above your largest normal order | A typo triggers a warning; your routine orders do not |

Leave the price itself to each hotkey's Customize tab (below), so the buy key prices off the ask and the sell key off the bid. Presets can also be set per ticker: click **Ticker** at the bottom left of the Stock page and enter the symbol. A per-ticker preset beats the general one for that stock only.

![A diagram of the order a Ctrl+B buy hotkey sends: type, price, size and transmit come from the hotkey's Customize tab, and quantity, time in force and outside regular hours come from the stock presets](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/tws-hotkeys-day-trading/order-sources.webp)

*The key sets the order type, the price and whether it sends. With Size on Default, the 500 shares, DAY and the outside regular hours box all come from your stock presets, so set those first.*

**Note: Precautionary settings are your fat-finger net.**

If an order breaks a precautionary limit, TWS shows a warning in the order confirmation and waits for **Override and Transmit**. Entering zero turns a check off. Do not zero them to make the popup go away; raise them to just above your real maximum instead, so the warning only appears when something is wrong.

## Create a hotkey in TWS, step by step

### 1. Open the Hotkeys page

**File > Global Configuration** in Mosaic, or **Edit > Global Configuration** in Classic, then **Hotkeys** in the left pane.

### 2. Pick the action and click Create Shortcut

Select **Buy** under Create Orders and click **Create Shortcut**. A dialog opens with a **Shortcuts** tab and a **Customize** tab.

### 3. Record the key

On the Shortcuts tab, click **Record** and press the combination. TWS accepts any single key, or `Ctrl` or `Shift` with one of the 26 letters. `Alt` is reserved and is rejected with an error.

### 4. Customize the order

On the Customize tab, set **Order Type** to LMT, the limit price to **Ask** with an offset of 0.05, and **Size** to **Default**. Size also offers **Absolute** (a fixed share count typed here) and **Available** (the size currently shown on the ask or bid).

### 5. Decide on instant transmit

At the bottom of the Customize tab, **Transmit the order instantaneously** sends the order the moment you press the key. Unticked, the key only builds the order and leaves it for you to transmit. A key that transmits instantly shows an asterisk next to its name. Leave it unticked for your first paper sessions, then tick it once the key does exactly what you expect.

### 6. Apply, then test on paper

Click **Apply** and **OK**. The key is live at once and appears in Configured Shortcuts. IBKR has no hotkey test mode, so press it in a paper trading login on a liquid stock and read the order that comes out.

## The actions a scalper needs

These are the TWS hotkey actions that matter for a long-only scalper, with IBKR's own descriptions ([TWS hotkey actions](https://www.interactivebrokers.com.hk/php/webhelp/Setting_User_Preferences/hotkey.htm)):

| Action | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Buy** | Creates a buy order for the selected stock, with the order type, price, size and transmit option from Customize |
| **Sell** | The same on the sell side |
| **Close Position** | Creates an opposite-side order for the whole position in the selected stock. Manual transmit by default; can be set to transmit instantly in Customize |
| **Close Portion of Positions** | Opens a pane to close a percentage of your positions, filtered by asset class and long or short |
| **Cancel All Orders** | Cancels every working order in TWS |
| **Cancel Contract's Orders** | Cancels the working orders for one stock |
| **Increase / Decrease price or size** | Nudges the limit price or size of the selected order by a number of ticks: handy to chase or pull a resting limit |
| **Transmit Order** | Sends the selected order you built but did not transmit, for keys left on manual transmit |

## A TWS hotkey set for scalping

Five keys cover a long-only scalp: in, out half, out all, everything out, and cancel. The keys below are suggestions chosen to avoid common copy and paste combinations. If one already does something in your layout, record another.

| Key | Action | Customize | Transmit instantly |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `Ctrl`+`B` | **Buy** | LMT, Ask + 0.05, Size Default (500), TIF DAY | Ticked |
| `Ctrl`+`D` | **Sell** (half) | LMT, Bid - 0.05, Size Absolute 250, TIF DAY | Ticked |
| `Ctrl`+`E` | **Close Position** (all) | Check on paper which order type and price it sends in your build | Ticked |
| `Ctrl`+`F` | **Close Portion of Positions** (flatten) | 100%, all positions; pick the order type in the pane | Opens a pane and asks you to confirm |
| `Ctrl`+`K` | **Cancel All Orders** | None | Acts at once |

![A key map of the five-key scalping set: Ctrl+B buy, Ctrl+D sell half, Ctrl+E close position, Ctrl+F flatten and Ctrl+K cancel all, with what each sends](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/tws-hotkeys-day-trading/key-map.webp)

*The five keys from the table above. Four send or act at once; the flatten key opens a pane and waits for you to confirm.*

Some notes on why it is set up this way:

- **Ask plus 5 cents is a [marketable limit](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#marketable-limit).** It reaches across to the offers, so it usually fills at once like a market order, but it never pays more than 5 cents over the ask you saw. A buy priced at the bid, the last or the midpoint is a resting order, and in a move it gets left behind.
- **"Sell half" is a fixed size, not a percentage.** TWS's percentage tool, Close Portion of Positions, opens a pane and a confirmation, so it is not one keypress. With a fixed 500 share buy, a 250 share sell is half. Change both together.
- **Flatten is a panic button with brakes.** Close Portion of Positions at 100% asks you to confirm and warns that precautionary checks are skipped. Slower than one key, but it closes everything from one place.

**This can cost you money: A fixed-size sell key can open a short.**

In a margin account, a Sell key with an Absolute size does not know what you hold. Press `Ctrl`+`D` twice on a 250 share position, or once when a partial fill left you holding fewer than 250, and the extra shares sold can open a short position. Use **Close Position** for the last shares, and watch your position before you press a second time.

## Focus: which stock a TWS hotkey trades

TWS hotkeys act on the selected stock, not on the one you are looking at. IBKR's own descriptions say "the selected asset" and "the selected contract" for a reason. Before every press:

1. **Click the stock's row** in the watchlist, or the stock in the order entry panel. Close Position needs the position's row selected in your portfolio.
2. **Mind the chart.** Traders on IBKR Campus report that after a click elsewhere, chart hotkeys stop working until they click the ticker again. IBKR has said a fix is on its roadmap.
3. **Know the special panels.** Standard hotkeys do not work inside the Rapid Order Entry panel. Hotkeys made for a tool such as ChartTrader or BookTrader (from the tool drop-down on the Hotkeys page, then **Go**) only work inside that tool.
4. **Link your windows.** In Mosaic, put the watchlist, chart and order entry in the same color link group, so one click selects the stock everywhere.

Our [TWS day trading layout](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-day-trading-layout) shows a Mosaic layout built around this, with one selected stock driving every panel.

## Order confirmations and precautions

With instant transmit ticked, a hotkey should send without a dialog. Two things can still stop it:

- **The order confirmation.** When a confirmation appears, tick **Don't display this message again** at the bottom left. You can turn any hidden message back on in **Global Configuration > Messages**. Some traders report the confirmation keeps appearing for hotkeys anyway; IBKR points them to its FAQ on [disabling the order preview](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/faq?id=34483582) and a support ticket.
- **Precautionary warnings.** An order over your precautionary limits always stops for **Override and Transmit**. That is the point. Set the limits just above your real maximum.

If a key does nothing at all, our checklist for [IBKR hotkeys not working](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-hotkeys-not-working) goes through every cause one by one.

## Hotkeys in the pre-market

Outside regular trading hours, US exchanges accept limit orders only, so every key that trades before 09:30 ET must send a limit with a price ([pre-market](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#pre-market)). Check three things:

1. **The outside regular hours box** in Presets > Stock > Timing is ticked. You can confirm it on any order: the order confirmation shows **Outside Regular Trading Hours: True**, and the Time in Force drop-down shows **Fill Outside RTH** ticked ([IBKR Campus: Trading Outside RTH](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/campus/trading-lessons/trading-outside-regular-trading-hours-rth/)).
2. **Every order type is LMT.** A market order or a plain stop will not trade pre-market.
3. **Your offsets are wide enough.** Pre-market books are thin and spreads wide. An offset that fills at 10:00 can sit unfilled at 07:30.

The one thing no setting fixes: a stop order attached in TWS does not trigger outside regular hours on US stocks, so your pre-market trade has no automatic protection. More on that in [why your stop did not trigger in the pre-market](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/premarket-stop-loss-ibkr).

## Printable TWS hotkey cheat sheet

Print it, with your own keys filled in.

| Key | Action | Sends | Before you press |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `Ctrl`+`B` | Buy | LMT at ask + 0.05, preset size, outside RTH | Stock row selected |
| `Ctrl`+`D` | Sell half | LMT at bid - 0.05, 250 shares | You hold at least 250 |
| `Ctrl`+`E` | Close position | Whole position in the selected stock | Position row selected |
| `Ctrl`+`F` | Flatten | Closes 100% of positions after you confirm | Expect a pane and a warning |
| `Ctrl`+`K` | Cancel all | Cancels every working order | Also cancels other stocks' orders |
| `Ctrl`+`H` | Hotkey list | Shows your keys (reported in recent builds) | None |

## What TWS hotkeys cannot do

TWS hotkeys are good at turning one key into one order. A scalper usually wants more from that keypress:

- **Size by risk at the instant you press.** Size can be your preset, a fixed count, or whatever shows on the ask. There is no option for "risk $100 to a stop 30 cents under my fill", so you work out the shares in your head, under pressure, every trade.
- **A stop that protects you pre-market.** A hotkey can attach a simple bracket (a limit and a stop priced off the bid, ask or last), but the stop is a stop order at IBKR, and stop orders do not trigger outside regular hours on US stocks.
- **One-key scale-outs by percentage.** Close Portion of Positions opens a pane and asks for confirmation, so "sell half" is a fixed size that goes stale when your entry size changes.
- **Move a stop on the chart without an order change.** TWS shows your working orders on its charts and lets you adjust them, but each change is a modification to a broker order, still bound by regular-hours rules.

None of this makes TWS a bad choice. It is free with the account, it trades stocks, options and futures, it can short, and its stops rest at the broker, so they work during regular hours even if your computer is off. If those matter more to you than speed, stay with TWS.

## Where Scalpel fits

Scalpel is a keyboard-first desktop cockpit that trades your own IBKR account through TWS or IB Gateway with the API enabled. Its [hotkeys](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/hotkeys) are built for the long-only small-cap scalp, and each key fires on the focused desk (the one with the blue outline), with a spoken confirmation. Here is the TWS set above next to Scalpel's defaults:

| Job | TWS (this guide) | Scalpel default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Buy | `Ctrl`+`B`, one size from presets | `Shift`+`1` to `Shift`+`4`, four presets sized by shares, dollars or risk, at the ask plus your buy offset |
| Sell half | `Ctrl`+`D`, a fixed 250 shares | `Ctrl`+`X`, half the position rounded down, at the bid |
| Sell a quarter | Close Portion of Positions at 25%, then confirm | `Ctrl`+`C` |
| Sell half into strength | Not built in | `Ctrl`+`A` at the ask, `Ctrl`+`S` at the mid |
| Sell all | `Ctrl`+`E`, Close Position on the selected row | `Ctrl`+`Z`, the whole position at the bid |
| Flatten everything | Close Portion of Positions, then confirm | `Esc` with nothing open flattens every position on every desk |
| Cancel | `Ctrl`+`K`, every order in TWS | `Ctrl`+`Q` (`Shift`+`Q` on a Mac), the focused desk's symbol |
| Stop to breakeven | Not built in | `B` |
| Trailing stop on or off | Add Auto Trailing Stop Order on the selected order, regular hours only | `Shift`+`T` |

*Screenshot: The cheatsheet with the default keys and the default share ladder. It always shows your current bindings. Demo data.*

The difference is in what happens around the keypress. A risk preset works out the shares the moment you fire, from the live price and the stop distance ([sizing presets](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/sizing-presets)). The stop and take-profit arm themselves on the fill, and you move them by dragging the line on the chart. They are app-monitored, not resting orders: when price trades through the stop, Scalpel sends a sell limit 5 cents under the last trade with the outside regular hours flag set, which the exchange accepts in the pre-market. The trade-off is plain: they only work while Scalpel runs with a live feed, and no fill is guaranteed.

Rebinding is one click on the key and one press in **Settings > Hotkeys**. To run a whole trade without the mouse, see the [keyboard-only workflow](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/keyboard-only-workflow).

*Screenshot: Settings, Hotkeys: the thirteen rebindable actions. Esc and Enter are fixed and not listed.*

Whichever tool you use, build the keys in paper first: hotkeys make bad trades faster too. For the rest of the setup, from market data to commissions, start with [day trading on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers).

*Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.*

## Questions

**Where are hotkeys in TWS?**

In Global Configuration, under Hotkeys in the left pane. Open Global Configuration from the File menu in Mosaic or the Edit menu in Classic TWS.

**How do I make a TWS hotkey send the order without a confirmation?**

On the hotkey's Customize tab, tick Transmit the order instantaneously. If a confirmation still appears, tick Don't display this message again on it, and keep orders under your precautionary limits, which always ask before sending.

**Can TWS hotkeys trade in the pre-market?**

Yes, if the order is a limit and is allowed to fill outside regular trading hours. Tick that box in Global Configuration, Presets, Stock, Timing, and price your keys off the ask or bid with an offset.

**Can I create a TWS hotkey to sell half my position?**

Close Portion of Positions can close 50%, but it opens a pane and asks you to confirm. For one keypress, many traders use a Sell key with a fixed size equal to half their standard buy.

**Which key combinations can I use for TWS hotkeys?**

Any single key, or Ctrl or Shift with one of the 26 letters. Alt is reserved and TWS rejects it.

**Do I need to restart TWS after creating a hotkey?**

No. A hotkey works as soon as you click Apply and OK in Global Configuration.