A beginner-friendly guide to the TradingView chart
If you're new to TradingView or technical analysis, this guide will walk you through the essentials of how to read and use a TradingView chart effectively, from the layout and timeframes to indicators and drawing tools.
Understanding the Chart Layout
When you first open a chart on TradingView, you’ll see:
- The main price chart, usually set to candlesticks by default
- Timeframe selector, changes the interval (e.g. 1m, 1h, 1D)
- Indicators toolbar, lets you add tools like RSI, moving averages, etc.
- Drawing tools, for trendlines, support/resistance, fib levels, and more
- Watchlist & settings, manage assets and customize the interface
Reading Candlestick Charts
Each candlestick shows four key values:
- Open: where the price started
- Close: where the price ended
- High: the highest point reached
- Low: the lowest point reached
Green candles usually mean price went up, red means it went down.
Look for patterns like:
- Doji (indecision)
- Engulfing candles (potential reversals)
- Long wicks (rejection of higher or lower prices)
Choosing the Right Timeframe
Timeframes matter. Use them based on your trading style:
- 1m–15m: Scalping and intraday setups
- 1h–4h: Swing entries and structure
- 1D+: Higher time frame bias and macro analysis
Tip: check a setup on more than one timeframe (multi-timeframe confluence) before acting on it.
Adding and Using Indicators
Click on the Indicators button to search thousands of tools, both built-in and community scripts.
Popular ones include:
- RSI (overbought/oversold signals)
- MACD (momentum shifts)
- Moving Averages (trend direction)
- Volume Profile (where price spent the most time)
Avoid clutter, less is more. Only use what helps your strategy.
Using Drawing Tools
TradingView's drawing features let you mark up charts. Common ones:
- Trendlines to highlight market direction
- Support & resistance levels to identify key zones
- Fibonacci retracement to mark common pullback levels
- Boxes/zones to visualize areas of interest (e.g. order blocks or FVGs)
Your markup should help you see the story price is telling, not distract from it.
Useful Settings
In the settings gear, you can:
- Customize colors and wicks
- Enable/disable session breaks
- Adjust price line and scales
- Enable auto log scale for large charts
Personalizing your chart makes analysis faster and easier.
Other Features
TradingView also lets you:
- Save layouts for different strategies
- Create alerts when price hits a level
- Use Pine Script to build your own indicators
- Share charts with the community or embed in websites
These are worth learning once the basics feel familiar.
Final Thoughts
A clean, consistent chart setup makes analysis faster. Keep things simple, build routines, and favor clarity over complexity.
PWS Markets embeds TradingView charts on each market page if you want to see the same tools in context.
– PatrickWS