← Hub

TradingView Setup Guide

Overview

This guide walks you through opening a TradingView account, connecting it to Tradovate, setting up ES and NQ futures charts, and finding ICT community indicators. Takes about 20–30 minutes.

⏱ 20–30 min 📈 Charting platform START HERE

Step 1 — Open a TradingView Account

1 Go to TradingView and click Sign Up

Open tradingview.com in your browser. Click Sign In (top right) → Create an account. Use your email or Google account.

📸 Screenshot: TradingView sign-up page
tradingview.com → Sign In → Create account
Figure 1: TradingView sign-up — use Google for fastest setup
2 Choose a paid plan for real-time futures data

The free plan gives you 15-minute delayed data. For live trading you need real-time. The cheapest plan that includes real-time futures data is Essentials at ~$15/month.

  • Essentials (~$15/mo): Real-time data, 1 chart layout, unlimited indicators
  • Plus (~$30/mo): Adds 5 chart layouts, intraday data
  • Premium (~$60/mo): Everything, more layouts, technical analysis tools
Alan — Essentials is sufficient for starting out. Upgrade later if you want more layouts.

Go to tradingview.com/pricing and pick your plan. Annual billing saves ~20%.

Source: TradingView pricing page — tradingview.com/pricing

Free TradingView = delayed data (15 min). You cannot trade live futures with the free plan. You need a paid plan before connecting Tradovate for live trading.

Step 2 — Set Up ES and NQ Futures Charts

3 Open TradingView and add a futures chart

After logging in, click Chart in the top menu. This opens the charting interface.

📸 Screenshot: TradingView chart interface
Top menu → Chart button → chart workspace opens
Figure 2: Click "Chart" from the top navigation bar
4 Search for ES (E-mini S&P 500) futures

In the chart toolbar, click the symbol/search box (it shows "Search symbol or product..."). Type ES and select ES1! or ES futures from the results. ES1! is the front-month continuous contract — that's what most traders use.

Repeat for NQ: type NQ and select NQ1! (E-mini Nasdaq continuous contract).

📸 Screenshot: TradingView symbol search
Type "ES" → select ES1! from futures results
Figure 3: ES1! = front-month E-mini S&P 500 continuous contract

Source: TradingView platform — verified live interface

5 Set your chart timeframes

ICT methodology starts on the daily and weekly timeframe — not the 1-minute chart. Set up your layout as follows:

  • Window 1: Daily chart (D) — your primary direction bias
  • Window 2: 4-hour (4H) — confirms structure
  • Window 3: 1-hour (1H) — for intraday killzone analysis
  • Window 4: 5-minute (5M) — entry timing only

To change timeframe: click the timeframe buttons in the chart toolbar (1m, 5m, 15m, 1H, 4H, D, W).

ICT rule: daily = the war, 1H = the battle, 5M = the skirmish. Never start your analysis on a 1-minute chart.

Step 3 — Connect TradingView to Tradovate

6 Open the Trading Panel and select Tradovate

With your chart open, look for the Trading Panel toolbar (bottom or side of the chart). Click it and select Tradovate as your broker.

If you don't see a Trading Panel: look in the chart toolbar for a button labeled Trading Panel or Broker. Enable it from View → Trading Panel.

📸 Screenshot: TradingView Trading Panel
Chart toolbar → Trading Panel → select Tradovate
Figure 4: Select Tradovate as your broker in TradingView's Trading Panel

Source: Tradovate official integration guide — support.tradovate.com/s/article/Connecting-Your-Tradovate-Account-to-TradingView

7 Log in with your Tradovate credentials

After selecting Tradovate, you'll be prompted to log in. Enter the email and password you used to open your Tradovate account (see the Tradovate guide for how to open that account).

Once connected, the TradingView chart will route orders directly through Tradovate — live execution, real market orders.

If you don't have a Tradovate account yet, do that first before trying to connect. See the Tradovate guide →.

Source: Tradovate official — tradovate.com/platform/add-on-integration-tools

Step 4 — Install ICT Indicators

8 Go to TradingView's Indicator Store

Click Indicators (or the FX button) in the chart toolbar → Community Scripts tab. Search for:

  • ICT FVG or ICT Smart Money — identifies Fair Value Gaps automatically
  • ICT Order Blocks — highlights order block zones
  • LuxAlgo ICT — comprehensive ICT toolkit (most popular)

Click any indicator → Add to Chart. They're all free.

📸 Screenshot: TradingView Community Scripts search
Indicators → Community Scripts → search "ICT"
Figure 5: Free ICT indicators in TradingView's Community Scripts

Source: TradingView platform, ICT community indicators — verified live

9 Set up volume + simple price indicators

Add these built-in indicators on top of any ICT tool:

  • 9/21 EMA: Indicators → Moving Averages → Exponential → set length 9 and 21. Crossover gives basic trend direction.
  • Volume: Indicators → Volume. Shows real trading volume per candle.
  • VWAP (optional): Built-in. Many traders use VWAP as a key intraday level.
Don't overload with indicators. FVG + OB + Volume + EMA 9/21 is enough to start. More indicators = more noise, not more edge.

Step 5 — Verify Live Data

10 Confirm you're seeing real-time data

Check the top-left of your chart. If it says "Market is open" with a green dot = live data. If it says "Delayed" = your subscription isn't active yet.

To check Tradovate connection status: look for the Tradovate logo or broker name in the Trading Panel. It should show your Tradovate account balance.

After connecting for the first time: place a LIMIT order (not market) for 1 MES contract to test the full execution chain — TradingView → Tradovate → exchange. Watch it fill.

What You've Set Up

← Tradovate Setup Prop Eval Guide →