---
title: "How to Use the Rolling Feature in Options Auto Trader"
description: "Automatically roll options trades to better strikes or later expirations when conditions are met—giving your trades more room to recover."
url: https://help.optionsautotrader.com/en/articles/153-how-to-use-the-rolling-feature-in-options-auto-trader
collection: "Options Auto Trader 101"
updated: 2026-07-13
language: en
---

# How to Use the Rolling Feature in Options Auto Trader

Automatically roll options trades to better strikes or later expirations when conditions are met—giving your trades more room to recover.

**Rolling** is a powerful new feature now available in Options Auto Trader. It allows you to automatically adjust a position that’s gone against you, giving it more time or better strike placement to potentially recover and turn into a winning trade.

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## What Is Rolling?

In options trading, _rolling_ means adjusting a position by:

-   Moving the strike price to a more favorable level
    
-   Extending the expiration date to give the trade more time
    

It’s typically used when a position has moved against you, and you want to stay in the trade while adjusting the risk or outlook.

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## How to Enable Rolling in the Platform

You can configure rolling logic directly from your **bot’s settings**:

### 1\. Go to **Settings** → **Management Rules**

Scroll down to the bottom where you’ll find the new **Rolling** section.

### 2\. Choose When to Roll

You can set rolling to trigger under the following conditions:

-   **Short Strike Hit**: When the underlying price touches your sold strike
    
-   **DTE Hit**: When the trade reaches a certain number of days to expiration (e.g., roll at 21 DTE)
    
-   **Stop Loss Hit**: When the trade hits your predefined stop loss
    

Set one or more of these to define when the bot should roll a trade.

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## Customize How the Trade Rolls

After defining the trigger, you can specify how the roll should occur:

### ➤ **Strike Adjustment**

-   Move your short strike **further out of the money** by a specific dollar amount (e.g., $50)
    

### ➤ **Time Extension**

-   Extend the expiration date by a set number of **days** (e.g., 14 days to roll two weeks further out)
    

This combination lets you give your trade both **more space** and **more time** to work in your favor.

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## Set a Maximum Number of Rolls

To avoid infinite rolling loops, you can cap how many times a trade can be rolled:

-   The default is 1 roll
    
-   You can increase this to up to 10 rolls
    

> 💡 Most traders stick with **1–2 rolls per trade** to keep risk manageable.

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## Example Scenario

Let’s say you **sell a put** and the market drops, putting your trade **in the money**.  
You still believe the market might rebound, so instead of taking a loss, you roll:

-   Move your short strike down $50
    
-   Push the expiration out 14 days
    

This gives the trade time and distance to recover, potentially turning a loser into a winner.

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## Important Notes

-   Rolling is **not guaranteed to save a trade**; losses can still worsen.
    
-   Some traders prefer to close bad trades and re-enter stronger setups.
    
-   If you’re new to rolling, check out [TastyLive](https://tastylive.com) for deeper research and strategies.
    

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## Why It Matters

Options Auto Trader is one of the **first platforms to offer built-in rolling automation**. This gives you more flexibility in how you manage trades, and lets you automate rolling logic without needing to intervene manually.