How to use TradingView step by step: complete 2026 tutorial

To use TradingView, create a free account, open Supercharts, pick the right symbol, set up your timeframe, indicators and alerts, and practice with Paper Trading before you connect a broker from the Trading Panel. This TradingView tutorial follows the order a futures or forex trader would actually work in, including a professional workspace setup and a 10-minute pre-session routine.

Before you start: what each TradingView plan includes

If you’re new to the platform, read what TradingView is and what it’s used for first. The free plan is enough to follow this guide, although its limits shape your workspace:

Plan	Price (billed annually)	Charts per tab	Indicators per chart	Price alerts	Saved layouts
Basic	Free	1	2	3	1
Essential	$12.95/month	2	5	20	5
Plus	$29.95/month	4	10	100	10
Premium	$59.95/month	8	25	400	No published limit
Ultimate	$199.95/month	16	50	1,000	No published limit

Which plan should you get? Basic is enough to learn. If you work with two timeframes at once and more than two indicators, Essential is the reasonable minimum.

How to use TradingView step by step

Step 1: create your account and open Supercharts

Sign up at tradingview.com and open Supercharts. Along the top you’ll find the symbol, timeframe, chart type, indicators and alerts; on the left, the drawing tools; on the right, the watchlist; and at the bottom, the Trading Panel.

Step 2: pick the right symbol (futures and forex)

This is the mistake that costs beginners the most. For futures you have three options:

• Continuous contract (1!): MNQ1! stitches successive contracts into a single history and always follows the front month. According to TradingView’s help center, orders on a 1! symbol are routed to that current contract, and the platform shows which one it is in the order panel and the DOM. Only CME and EUREX 1! symbols are tradable.
• Second contract (2!): follows the next expiration. It’s for analysis only and can’t be traded.
• Specific expiration: for example, MNQZ2026 (December 2026). Useful around rollover.

Market	Symbol for analysis	Value per point or pip	Note
Micro Nasdaq-100	MNQ1!	$2 per point	The most traded contract in futures funded accounts
Micro S&P 500	MES1!	$5 per point	Less volatile than MNQ
E-mini Nasdaq-100	NQ1!	$20 per point	Ten times the risk of MNQ
Micro EUR/USD (futures)	M6E1!	$1.25 per pip	CME currency future
Spot EUR/USD	FX:EURUSD or OANDA:EURUSD	Depends on lot size	The prefix shows the price provider

In forex, each provider shows slightly different prices: analyze on a high-liquidity feed and don’t compare exact levels across providers.

Step 3: chart type and timeframe

Candlesticks are the standard. Heikin Ashi, Renko or Kagi smooth out price and their values don’t match the prices actually traded: don’t use them to set entries or stops.

To change the timeframe, type a number directly on the chart (for example, 5 and Enter for 5 minutes) or use the selector. A common intraday combo: 1 hour for context, 15 minutes for levels and 2 or 5 minutes for execution.

Step 4: drawing tools

The left toolbar groups lines, levels, rectangles, Fibonacci and the long and short position tools. The position tools show your entry, stop, target and risk/reward ratio before you trade.

Clicking a drawing with the mouse wheel deletes it, and Ctrl + Alt + H (Cmd + ⌥ + H on Mac) hides every drawing so you can see clean price.

Step 5: add indicators and save templates

Click Indicators in the top toolbar (or press /) and search by name: VWAP, moving averages, RSI, volume profile. Adjust the settings from each indicator’s gear icon. If you’re not sure where to start, check our guide to the most popular TradingView indicators.

Once you’ve settled on a combo, click the Indicator templates button and choose Save indicator template. Create one per style (for example, “Intraday futures”) and load it on any chart with one click.

Setting up TradingView for professional analysis

You only need to do these once, and they prevent misreads:

1. Time zone: set the chart to New York time (UTC-5 in winter). That way your levels line up with CME hours and economic releases.
2. Session: in the symbol settings you can switch between regular and extended hours. For futures, check which one each indicator uses: a VWAP calculated on the extended session gives different values. Exact hours are in futures market hours.
3. Appearance: neutral background and a faint grid. With several charts, “Apply to all” copies the style.
4. Multi-chart layout: a layout can hold 1 to 16 charts depending on your plan. Practical setup: 2 charts of the same symbol, a higher timeframe and an execution timeframe.
5. Drawing sync: TradingView has three modes: off, synced within the layout, or synced globally. With layout sync, a level drawn on the 15-minute chart also shows up on the 2-minute chart.
6. Autosave: leave it on. Each layout has its own URL; give it a clear name, because deleting a layout can’t be undone.

Keep in mind that watchlists and alerts aren’t saved inside the layout: they’re managed separately.

TradingView watchlists and alerts

How to build a useful watchlist

Open it from the right toolbar and add symbols with the + button. From the list name you can create new lists or sections. A structure that works: a “Trading” section (MNQ1!, MES1!), a “Context” section (DXY, 10-year Treasury yield, VIX) and a “Forex” section (EUR/USD, USD/JPY). Remember that on the Basic plan the max is one list of 30 symbols.

How to create alerts in TradingView

1. Press Alt + A (⌥ + A on Mac), click the Alert button in the top toolbar or the + next to the price on the scale.
2. Set the condition: price crossing a level, an indicator or a drawing.
3. Choose the frequency (once only or repeating) and the expiration date.
4. Write a clear name and message, for example “MNQ tags yesterday’s high”.
5. Turn on notifications: mobile app, pop-up, email, sound or webhook.

Watch out for one detail: if you change an indicator’s settings after creating the alert, the alert keeps using the old settings. Delete it and create it again.

How to trade on TradingView: Paper Trading and connecting a broker

Practice with Paper Trading and Bar Replay

Click Trade at the top right, choose Paper Trading and then Connect. It’s TradingView’s own simulator: it supports market, limit and stop orders with stop loss and take profit, and it includes futures. To practice outside market hours, the Bar Replay button replays the chart from a date you pick, bar by bar or on autoplay (it doesn’t work on tick or spread charts).

Connect a broker or a funded account

The process is the same as with Paper Trading: Trade button or Trading Panel, pick the broker from the list and log in. TradingView only acts as the interface; the broker executes the order. In futures, many funded accounts connect through Tradovate: choose Tradovate from the list, log in with the credentials the firm gives you and select the environment it tells you to use (usually demo or simulation). If TradingView rejects the connection, log in to Tradovate first and accept the user agreement.

Placing orders with a stop and target from the chart

1. Open the order panel (Buy/Sell button or the + next to the price). Holding Alt + Ctrl (⌥ + ⌘ on Mac) shows the + anywhere on the chart.
2. Check which contract will receive the order (if you’re on MNQ1!, the platform shows the actual expiration).
3. Tick Take profit and Stop loss and set them in ticks or price.
4. Send the order. The stop and target appear as lines you can drag.

Worked example: position sizing on MNQ

Say you have a 25K futures account with a $450 daily loss limit. You decide not to risk more than a third of that limit per trade ($150), and your technical stop is 25 points away on MNQ:

• Risk per contract: 25 points × $2 = $50.
• Contracts: $150 ÷ $50 = 3 MNQ.
• With a 50-point target (1:2 ratio), the potential profit is 3 × 50 × $2 = $300.
• If you open NQ1! instead of MNQ1! by mistake, those 3 contracts risk $1,500: more than three times the daily loss limit.

Before you send it, draw the long or short position tool with those values: it confirms your risk in dollars and catches math errors.

The most useful TradingView keyboard shortcuts

Action	Windows	Mac
Create alert	Alt + A	⌥ + A
Horizontal line	Alt + H	⌥ + H
Trend line	Alt + T	⌥ + T
Fibonacci retracement	Alt + F	⌥ + F
Rectangle	Alt + Shift + R	⌥ + ⇧ + R
Chart snapshot	Alt + S	⌥ + S
Open indicators	/	/
Change timeframe	Type the number	Type the number
Hide all drawings	Ctrl + Alt + H	⌘ + ⌥ + H
+ button at any price	Alt + Ctrl	⌥ + ⌘
Show all shortcuts	Ctrl + /	⌘ + /

A 10-minute pre-session routine

For the New York open (9:30 a.m. ET), start at 9:20 a.m. ET. That’s 14:20 UTC during U.S. standard time and 13:20 UTC during daylight saving time; in London it’s usually 2:20 p.m., except for the few weeks a year when the U.S. and UK clock changes don’t line up.

1. Minutes 1-2: calendar. Check whether there’s high-impact data during the session and at what time.
2. Minutes 3-4: context. Run through the “Context” section of your watchlist: DXY, 10-year yield, VIX.
3. Minutes 5-6: levels. On the 15-minute chart, mark the previous day’s high and low and the overnight session’s high and low with Alt + H.
4. Minute 7: alerts. Set an alert at each key level so you don’t stare at the screen for no reason.
5. Minute 8: contract. Confirm the symbol and the expiration that will receive the order.
6. Minute 9: risk. Write down your max loss for the day and the number of contracts based on your stop.
7. Minute 10: connection. In the Trading Panel, check that you’re on the right account with no forgotten positions or orders.

To go over the most frequent analysis mistakes on the platform, see common TradingView analysis mistakes.

How to trade with TradingView at Emerge Profit

Emerge Profit futures accounts can be traded from TradingView, Tradovate and NinjaTrader on the same account, with the platform license included. Everything you set up in this guide works as is. There are two ways to start:

• Futures Evaluation (from $60): EOD drawdown, a minimum of 5 trading days and no activation fee once you pass. Positions are closed before the end of each session.
• Futures Instant Funding (from $130): no evaluation phase, simulated trading accounts from 5K to 250K and EOD or static drawdown.

Two rules to keep in mind when trading from the chart: every trade must last at least 10 seconds, and your position size should grow gradually, without jumping from micros to minis all at once.

FAQ: how to use TradingView

Sources

• TradingView – Plans and pricing (accessed November 2026).
• TradingView – What are 1! and 2! continuous futures contracts? and Can I trade a continuous futures contract? (accessed November 2026).
• TradingView – Layouts, charts, drawings, indicators, and their interaction and What are indicator templates (accessed November 2026).
• TradingView – How to set up alerts and Mastering the TradingView watchlists (accessed November 2026).
• TradingView – Paper trading: main functionality, How do I turn Bar Replay on? and How to trade on TradingView (accessed November 2026).
• TradingView – How to create an order, alert, and price line anywhere on the chart, New shortcuts to access Rectangle and shortcuts list and Keyboard shortcuts (accessed November 2026).
• CME Group – contract specifications for Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100, Micro E-mini S&P 500 and Micro EUR/USD.

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