On a scan desk, click Add panel in the desk header to add a scan panel, pick its scan from the dropdown in the panel's title, drag the gap between panels to resize them, and drag a title onto another panel to swap them. Each title bar has LIVE or LOG, a bell to mute alerts, a cog for that scan's settings and an X to remove the panel. Click a row to load the stock onto a free desk, or click a coloured square to pick the desk.
A scan desk is a stack of scan panels you can shape to the way you trade: one big IBKR scanner list, or a tall Setups panel with a small High of day momentum strip under it. This guide covers every control on the desk and on each panel, with the details that are easy to miss, such as which settings are shared between panels.
A scan desk: Add panel in the desk header 1, the scan dropdown in each panel's title 2, and the gap you drag to resize two panels 3. Demo data.
Every panel's title bar carries the same controls:
High of day momentum 2LIVE
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The title bar: the scan dropdown 1, the row count 2, LIVE or LOG 3, the bell 4, the cog 5 and the close button 6.
Arrange the panels
01
Add a panel
Click Add panel in the scan desk's header. The new panel appears at the bottom, split from the lowest panel, and shows the first scan not already on the desk. On the default desk, that is Setups.
02
Choose its scan
Click the scan name in the panel's title and pick IBKR scanner, High of day momentum, Running up or Setups. Guide 8.2 explains what each one finds.
Running up IBKR scannerHigh of day momentumRunning upSetups1LIVE
Drag the gap between two panels up or down. Give the panel you read most the most rows: each row is 21 pixels, and a panel scrolls when it has more rows than fit.
04
Reorder panels
Drag a panel by its title bar and drop it on another panel: the two swap places.
05
Remove a panel
Click the X at the right of the title bar. A scan desk always keeps at least one panel, so the last one has no X. To switch the whole desk back to trading, click SCAN in the desk header. Hide in the desk header closes the desk altogether (when more than one desk is open).
Scalpel saves the layout as you change it, per desk, so it is the same next time.
LIVE and LOG views
Click LIVE (green) to switch the panel to LOG (blue), and click again to go back.
LIVE shows the stocks on the scan right now, in rank order or your chosen sort.
LOG is the scan's alert history, newest first, up to 200 entries: every time a stock entered the scan this session, with a TIME column (now, 40s ago, 3m ago, 2h ago).
5m agoTUVW3.98+39.1%Trial data 4m6344.0x9.1M11% 2.2d$36.2M17.9M
High of day momentum in LOG view: the newest alert flashing blue, older rows fading over a few minutes, and a red dot on the row where each stock first appeared. Demo data.
In LOG view a fresh entry flashes blue for a couple of seconds, rows fade as they age so the newest read brightest, and the row where a stock appeared for the first time keeps a red dot, so you can see at a glance that ABCD's latest break, 40 seconds ago, was its second.
Clear (LOG view only) empties the log. It also resets the scan's memory of which stocks it has seen, so the next appearance of each one counts as new again and alerts again.
Mute a scan
Click the bell. A crossed-out bell means that scan is muted: no toast, no sound and no voice for it, though the rows and the log still update. It is the same switch as Alert on new entry in the cog. By default IBKR scanner, High of day momentum and Setups are armed and Running up is muted.
The cog: a scan's settings
Click the cog for that scan's settings. They apply as you change them; close the window with the X. What is in it depends on the scan:
IBKR scanner: Alert on new entry, and a note that its filters are in Settings under Connection (guide 8.1).
High of day momentum and Setups: Alert on new entry only. They show every listed stock that triggers.
Running up: Alert on new entry plus its own price, gap, relative volume, shares out, volume and market cap filters (guide 8.2).
Every cog ends with the same Global block, shared by all panels:
IBKR scanner settings
Alert on new entryThis panel is the IBKR scanner's own list. Its filters are in Settings under Connection.
GlobalRequire news catalystNews gating applies to the Running up scan; High of day and Setups run over the IBKR scanner's list without gates. Headlines come from the news providers on your IBKR account.Setup chipsThe lettered setup tag beside each symbol. The Setups scan always shows it.Intel columnThe dilution, catalyst and borrow chips on every scan panel. The desk strips and chart lines stay on either way.
The IBKR scanner's cog, with the Global block outlined.
Global switch
Default
What it does
Require news catalyst
Off
Running up shows only stocks with a headline in the last 24 hours
Setup chips
On
The coloured setup letters beside symbols. The Setups panel always shows them
Intel column
On
The dilution, catalyst and borrow chips on every scan panel. The desk strips and chart lines stay on either way
Turning off Intel column gives the other columns more room on a narrow scan desk.
Sort a panel
Click a column header to sort by it, biggest first; click it again to flip the order. The arrow beside the header shows the active sort. SYM, PRICE, CHG%, SQZ, RVOL, SHS OUT, SHORT, MKT CAP and VOL sort; RANK, VWAP and INTEL do not. The sort is saved per scan. Sorting the IBKR scanner by CHG%, biggest first, matches its live rank order.
Send a row to a desk
Click a row to load the stock onto a trader desk: an empty desk first, otherwise one with no open position. If the stock is already on a desk, that desk takes focus instead. If every trader desk holds a position, the toast No free desk: every trader desk holds a position says so; if every desk is a scan desk, No trader desk open: click SCAN on a desk to switch it to TRADER tells you what to do.
Click a coloured square in the DESK column to load the stock onto that desk. There is one square per open trader desk, in the desk's colour, which is what the scan desk's header hint means by "Click a desk color to load".
PQRS1.87+26.4%
XYZA0.62+18.9%
The DESK squares up close: PQRS is on the green desk, so its square is filled; XYZA is on none.
A filled square means that desk already holds the stock. Clicking a filled square empties that desk. A desk holding a position never changes symbol: you get "D2 holds a position: close it before changing the symbol" instead, so a click on the scanner can never orphan an open trade.
Scan alert toasts work the same way: click one to load its stock. Guide 2.1 covers loading symbols in general.
What can go wrong
Clicking a row does nothing visible. The stock is already on a desk and that desk just took focus, or no trader desk is free (check for the toast).
The LOG view emptied itself. Someone pressed Clear, or Scalpel restarted: the log lives for the session.
A panel shows fewer rows than the count. The panel is shorter than its list. Scroll it, or drag the gap to give it more height.
Questions
Can I put the same scan on two panels?
Yes, but both panels share that scan's rows, sort, LIVE or LOG view and bell, so it is mostly useful across two scan desks on different screens.
How many scan panels can a desk hold?
As many as fit. Each Add panel splits the lowest panel in two, so in practice three or four panels per desk stay readable.
Do scan panels use market data lines?
Not by themselves. The IBKR scanner's list uses one line per listed stock whether or not any panel is open, and the other scans read the same quotes.
Does Clear stop alerts?
No, the opposite. Clear resets which stocks the scan has seen, so each one alerts again the next time it appears. Mute the bell to stop alerts.
Why do the rows have alternating shading?
That is the zebra striping for readability. Turn it off in Settings > Appearance > Zebra stripes.