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How to Enable Options Trading on the Robinhood App (2025 Update)

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 6/17/2025 5 min read

Before you can start trading options on Robinhood in 2025, you’ll need to enable options trading manually in your account settings. This extra step helps Robinhood assess your experience level, financial background, and risk tolerance — and it’s standard practice for brokers offering leveraged products.

If you’re wondering how to get approved for options trading on Robinhood or why your request was denied, this guide walks you through every step.

New to options trading? Learn more about the basics of options trading first.

How to Enable Options Trading on Robinhood in 2025: Step-by-Step Guide

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Options trading isn’t turned on automatically when you create a Robinhood account. To access the options trading feature, you’ll need to go through a quick application process and meet the platform’s options trading eligibility requirements.

Here’s how to enable options trading on Robinhood — step by step:

Step 1: Open Your Robinhood App or Log In on Desktop

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Navigate to the Account section from the home screen.

Step 2: Tap the Settings Menu

Find the Settings option in your Account menu.

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Step 3: Select “Options Trading” or “Investing”

Look for an Investing tab and click on Get Options Trading. If it’s not available, you may already be approved or may need to meet eligibility first.

Step 4: Complete the Options Trading Questionnaire

Robinhood will ask a series of questions about your trading experience, income, net worth, and investment goals. Answer honestly.

Step 5: Submit and Wait for Review

Once submitted, Robinhood will review your profile and determine whether you qualify for Level 2 or Level 3 options trading.

Read this guide to options trading on Robinhood once you’re approved.

Why Robinhood Won’t Approve You for Options Trading (And How to Fix It)

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There are several reasons why you might not be able to enable options trading on Robinhood:

  • Lack of trading experience
  • Insufficient account balance
  • Low-risk tolerance or mismatched investment goals
  • Incomplete or inaccurate application answers

Robinhood uses these factors to determine whether you’re ready for basic or advanced options trading strategies. If you’re rejected, don’t panic — you can update your financial profile and reapply.

Need to redo your options trading questionnaire? Learn how options trading works before trying again.

Robinhood Options Approval Levels Explained (2025)

Robinhood currently uses a tiered approval system for options trading. Each level unlocks different trading strategies:

Approval Level Access
Level 2 Basic strategies like long calls, long puts, and covered calls/puts. Most traders start here.
Level 3 Complex spreads, including credit/debit spreads, iron condors, and iron butterflies. Approval requires more experience and a higher account balance.

If you’re just starting out, aim for Level 2, focus on risk management, and work your way up. Trying to trade complex spreads without a foundation is a recipe for disaster — I’ve seen too many traders wipe out by overreaching.

How to Close Positions on Robinhood

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Once you’re actively trading options, it’s crucial to monitor your positions and track performance. If you run into any issues, don’t hesitate to contact customer support for assistance.

Closing a position means you’re selling an options contract to the market. Here’s how you do it on the Robinhood brokerage platform:

  1. Use the Search menu to find the stock you want to close the position on.
  2. Click on the stock to check its details.
  3. Tap the Trade menu on the stock details page.
  4. Choose Trade Option, then the Call Option button to sell your contracts.

Want to learn more about options? Sign up for my former student Mark Croock’s Evolved Trader program!


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Timothy Sykes

Tim Sykes is a penny stock trader and teacher who became a self-made millionaire by the age of 22 by trading $12,415 of bar mitzvah money. After becoming disenchanted with the hedge fund world, he established the Tim Sykes Trading Challenge to teach aspiring traders how to follow his trading strategies. He’s been featured in a variety of media outlets including CNN, Larry King, Steve Harvey, Forbes, Men’s Journal, and more. He’s also an active philanthropist and environmental activist, a co-founder of Karmagawa, and has donated millions of dollars to charity.
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* Results are not typical and will vary from person to person. Making money trading stocks takes time, dedication, and hard work. There are inherent risks involved with investing in the stock market, including the loss of your investment. Past performance in the market is not indicative of future results. Any investment is at your own risk. See Terms of Service here

The available research on day trading suggests that most active traders lose money. Fees and overtrading are major contributors to these losses.

A 2000 study called “Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors” evaluated 66,465 U.S. households that held stocks from 1991 to 1996. The households that traded most averaged an 11.4% annual return during a period where the overall market gained 17.9%. These lower returns were attributed to overconfidence.

A 2014 paper (revised 2019) titled “Learning Fast or Slow?” analyzed the complete transaction history of the Taiwan Stock Exchange between 1992 and 2006. It looked at the ongoing performance of day traders in this sample, and found that 97% of day traders can expect to lose money from trading, and more than 90% of all day trading volume can be traced to investors who predictably lose money. Additionally, it tied the behavior of gamblers and drivers who get more speeding tickets to overtrading, and cited studies showing that legalized gambling has an inverse effect on trading volume.

A 2019 research study (revised 2020) called “Day Trading for a Living?” observed 19,646 Brazilian futures contract traders who started day trading from 2013 to 2015, and recorded two years of their trading activity. The study authors found that 97% of traders with more than 300 days actively trading lost money, and only 1.1% earned more than the Brazilian minimum wage ($16 USD per day). They hypothesized that the greater returns shown in previous studies did not differentiate between frequent day traders and those who traded rarely, and that more frequent trading activity decreases the chance of profitability.

These studies show the wide variance of the available data on day trading profitability. One thing that seems clear from the research is that most day traders lose money .

Millionaire Media 66 W Flagler St. Ste. 900 Miami, FL 33130 United States (888) 878-3621 This is for information purposes only as Millionaire Media LLC nor Timothy Sykes is registered as a securities broker-dealer or an investment adviser. No information herein is intended as securities brokerage, investment, tax, accounting or legal advice, as an offer or solicitation of an offer to sell or buy, or as an endorsement, recommendation or sponsorship of any company, security or fund. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes cannot and does not assess, verify or guarantee the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of any information, the suitability or profitability of any particular investment, or the potential value of any investment or informational source. The reader bears responsibility for his/her own investment research and decisions, should seek the advice of a qualified securities professional before making any investment, and investigate and fully understand any and all risks before investing. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes in no way warrants the solvency, financial condition, or investment advisability of any of the securities mentioned in communications or websites. In addition, Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes accepts no liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this information. This information is not intended to be used as the sole basis of any investment decision, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet the investment needs of any particular investor. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future returns.

Citations for Disclaimer

Barber, Brad M. and Odean, Terrance, Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors. Available at SSRN: “Day Trading for a Living?”

Barber, Brad M. and Lee, Yi-Tsung and Liu, Yu-Jane and Odean, Terrance and Zhang, Ke, Learning Fast or Slow? (May 28, 2019). Forthcoming: Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=2535636”

Chague, Fernando and De-Losso, Rodrigo and Giovannetti, Bruno, Day Trading for a Living? (June 11, 2020). Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=3423101”

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