A day order expires at the end of the trading session if unfilled; a GTC (good-till-canceled) order stays active across days until it fills or you cancel it. It’s the duration setting on your order.

Day orders

A day order is valid only for the current session — if it doesn’t fill by the close, it’s automatically canceled. This is the sensible default for scalping: your setups are intraday, so an unfilled scalp order shouldn’t linger to fire tomorrow on stale logic. Most 0DTE orders are day orders by nature (the option expires today anyway).

GTC orders

A GTC order persists day after day until filled or canceled (brokers usually cap it, e.g. 60–90 days). It’s useful for longer-term resting orders — a limit to buy a stock on a dip weeks away. The danger for active traders: a forgotten GTC can fire unexpectedly on a day you didn’t intend to trade, so use it deliberately.

Day orders die at the bell; GTC orders wait for days. For intraday scalping, you almost always want the order gone when the session ends.

The takeaway

For scalping, use day orders — intraday intent, no lingering surprises. Reserve GTC for genuine multi-day resting orders, and don’t forget them. On 0DTE it’s moot for the option itself (it expires today), but it matters for any working entry/exit orders you place.