{"id":229633,"date":"2025-08-26T11:07:05","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T15:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/?post_type=trading-lessons&p=229633"},"modified":"2025-10-02T11:22:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T15:22:40","slug":"how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account","status":"publish","type":"trading-lessons","link":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/trading-lessons\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Open an IBKR Paper Trading Account"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An IBKR paper trading account is a great place to start If you’re new to trading or want to test strategies without putting your actual funds at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To get started, it\u2019s important to note that IBKR only allows access to its paper trading account after opening an actual, funded account. If you need any help applying for one, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

you can get more details in our \u2018Getting Started at IBKR<\/em><\/a>\u2019 course on Traders\u2019 Academy, or visit our website to complete an application<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, you don\u2019t need to fund your live account straight away, but it must be approved before paper trading is made available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Once your live account is approved, or if you\u2019re already an IBKR client with a live account, you\u2019re just a few clicks away from accessing paper trading. Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Log into IBKR\u2019s Client Portal<\/a>, then, from the side menu, select Settings, then Paper Trading Account – listed under the Account Configuration selections; once there,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Establish unique credentials for the Paper Trading Account – a username and password, which you’ll use to log into the separate, simulated trading environment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Once completed, your Paper Trading Account will be made available with its own account number.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    And that\u2019s it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Notice that when you log in, your account will come pre-funded with US $1 million in simulated buying power. That means you can begin placing trades, experimenting with tools, and testing strategies\u2014all in a safe, simulated, and financially risk-free trading environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    In our next lesson, we\u2019ll dive into some of the platforms, features, and configurations available with your paper trading account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Learn More<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Traders\u2019 Academy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Traders\u2019 Academy (US Campus<\/a>) (EU Campus<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    New IBKR Institutional Account: Requesting a Paper Trading Account<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Getting Started for Financial Advisors: Signing-up for a Paper Trading Account<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How to Open an Account, Deposit, and Withdraw Funds<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    IBKR Guides<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Paper Trading Account<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    IBKR Website<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Start a Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Guide to Choosing the Right Account<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What You Need for the Application<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    If you’re new to trading or want to test a strategy without putting your actual funds at risk, a paper trading account is a great place to start. In this lesson, we\u2019ll walk through how to open and access an IBKR paper trading account.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1134,"featured_media":229747,"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"contributors-categories":[13576],"traders-academy":[13125,13128,13132],"class_list":{"0":"post-229633","1":"trading-lessons","2":"type-trading-lessons","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"contributors-categories-interactive-brokers","7":"traders-academy-beginner-trading","8":"traders-academy-level","9":"traders-academy-trading-lesson"},"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nArchives | Traders' Academy | IBKR Campus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you're new to trading or want to test a strategy without putting your actual funds at risk, a paper trading account is a great place to start. In...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trading-lessons\/229633\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Open an IBKR Paper Trading Account | IBKR Campus US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you're new to trading or want to test a strategy without putting your actual funds at risk, a paper trading account is a great place to start. In this lesson, we\u2019ll walk through how to open and access an IBKR paper trading account.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/trading-lessons\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IBKR Campus US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-02T15:22:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account-thumbnail.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t \"@graph\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/trading-lessons\\\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/trading-lessons\\\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"How to Open an IBKR Paper Trading Account | IBKR Campus US\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/trading-lessons\\\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/trading-lessons\\\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.interactivebrokers.com\\\/campus\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account-thumbnail.jpg\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2025-08-26T15:07:05+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2025-10-02T15:22:40+00:00\",\n\t \"description\": \"If you're new to trading or want to test a strategy without putting your actual funds at risk, a paper trading account is a great place to start. In this lesson, we\u2019ll walk through how to open and access an IBKR paper trading account.\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/trading-lessons\\\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/trading-lessons\\\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\\\/\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/trading-lessons\\\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.interactivebrokers.com\\\/campus\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account-thumbnail.jpg\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.interactivebrokers.com\\\/campus\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account-thumbnail.jpg\",\n\t \"width\": 1920,\n\t \"height\": 1080\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/trading-lessons\\\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Academy Lessons\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/trading-lessons\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"How to Open an IBKR Paper Trading Account\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"IBKR Campus US\",\n\t \"description\": \"Financial Education from Interactive Brokers\",\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/#organization\",\n\t \"name\": \"Interactive Brokers\",\n\t \"alternateName\": \"IBKR\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/\",\n\t \"logo\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.interactivebrokers.com\\\/campus\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/ibkr-campus-logo.jpg\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.interactivebrokers.com\\\/campus\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/ibkr-campus-logo.jpg\",\n\t \"width\": 669,\n\t \"height\": 669,\n\t \"caption\": \"Interactive Brokers\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"publishingPrinciples\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.interactivebrokers.com\\\/campus\\\/about-ibkr-campus\\\/\",\n\t \"ethicsPolicy\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.interactivebrokers.com\\\/campus\\\/cyber-security-notice\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Archives | Traders' Academy | IBKR Campus","description":"If you're new to trading or want to test a strategy without putting your actual funds at risk, a paper trading account is a great place to start. In...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trading-lessons\/229633\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Open an IBKR Paper Trading Account | IBKR Campus US","og_description":"If you're new to trading or want to test a strategy without putting your actual funds at risk, a paper trading account is a great place to start. In this lesson, we\u2019ll walk through how to open and access an IBKR paper trading account.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/trading-lessons\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\/","og_site_name":"IBKR Campus US","article_modified_time":"2025-10-02T15:22:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account-thumbnail.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/trading-lessons\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\/","url":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/trading-lessons\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\/","name":"How to Open an IBKR Paper Trading Account | IBKR Campus US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/trading-lessons\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/trading-lessons\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account-thumbnail.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-26T15:07:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-02T15:22:40+00:00","description":"If you're new to trading or want to test a strategy without putting your actual funds at risk, a paper trading account is a great place to start. In this lesson, we\u2019ll walk through how to open and access an IBKR paper trading account.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/trading-lessons\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/trading-lessons\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/trading-lessons\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account-thumbnail.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account-thumbnail.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/trading-lessons\/how-to-open-an-ibkr-paper-trading-account\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Academy Lessons","item":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/trading-lessons\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Open an IBKR Paper Trading Account"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/","name":"IBKR Campus US","description":"Financial Education from Interactive Brokers","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/#organization","name":"Interactive Brokers","alternateName":"IBKR","url":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/05\/ibkr-campus-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/05\/ibkr-campus-logo.jpg","width":669,"height":669,"caption":"Interactive Brokers"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/about-ibkr-campus\/","ethicsPolicy":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/cyber-security-notice\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trading-lessons\/229633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trading-lessons"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/trading-lessons"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1134"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trading-lessons\/229633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"contributors-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributors-categories?post=229633"},{"taxonomy":"traders-academy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/traders-academy?post=229633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}