Clock infographic with text '7Eleven or 24/7', showing continuous trading with Interactive

How to configure TWS for continuous trading with a single weekly login?

 

Interactive Brokers’ Trader Workstation (TWS) is famous for its robustness — but also for its daily logoff. By default, TWS disconnects once every 24 hours, forcing many users to believe they must manually re-enter their username and password every morning. With TWS Auto Restart, this hassle disappears.

That may sound like a necessary evil… but it’s not. With just a couple of settings, you can keep TWS + Email Trader running securely for an entire week, with almost no interruption (only the 2–3 minutes of the scheduled daily restart).

The Daily Logoff: The Default Behavior

By default, TWS enforces a daily shutdown (See official IBKR Documentation). The idea is to refresh contract definitions and keep the platform clean.

But for automated setups like Email Trader, this behavior looks like a roadblock:

  • You log in once → everything works.

  • Next morning → TWS forces you to log in again.

  • Result: automation feels broken.

The Truth: Weekly Authentication Tokens

What IBKR doesn’t always make obvious is that your login creates a weekly authentication token.

  • Valid for ~7 days (until Sunday ~01:00 ET).

  • As long as the token is valid, TWS can close and restart automatically without asking credentials again.

  • You only need one manual login per week.

So the “daily manual login” isn’t a technical limitation — it’s just the default configuration.

The Fix: Auto Restart Configuration

Here’s how to unlock a full week of smooth, automated trading with Email Trader + TWS:

  1. Open the Settings menu in TWS (top-right of the main screen).

  1. Go to Lock and Exit. (see IBKR Lock and Exit page for more information)

  2. Set an Auto Restart Time during market downtime (e.g. 01:45 AM).

  3. Select Auto restart instead of Auto logoff.

  1. Click Apply, then OK.

  2. Repeat the same configuration for both Paper Trading and Live Trading, since their settings are independent.

What Happens Next

  • TWS now shuts down and restarts automatically every night at the chosen time.

  • The API is unavailable for only ~2–3 minutes.

  • As long as your weekly token is valid, TWS reconnects without asking for username/password.

  • Email Trader hooks back into the API automatically after the restart.

You’ll only need to log in manually once per week (usually on Sunday night).

Security Considerations

  • No password is stored in plain text — IBKR handles secure tokenization.

  • Auto restart uses the same security model as a manual login.

  • This solution is fully supported and does not compromise your account.

Conclusion

Think of it this way:

  • 7eleven: open daily, but you still need to show up and check in.

  • 24/7: configure once, and enjoy continuous service all week long.

With this setup, TWS + Email Trader becomes a reliable, near-24/7 trading solution, with only a tiny interruption each night.

No more morning re-logins, no more broken automations — just peace of mind.