LiquiditySweeps.com
Mentorship
Home
›
Articles
›

How to Set Up TradingView for ICT Trading — Complete Guide

ICT forex trading guide — the framework was built for forex. Best pairs (EUR/USD primary), session kill zones mapped to EST/UTC, the daily AMD sequence from midnight to midnight, pip-based sizing, and the EUR/USD London model step by step.
The default TradingView configuration displays price in the browser’s local timezone, includes no session kill zone highlighting, and comes pre-loaded with moving average lines and oscillator sub-panels. For ICT trading, the timezone must be New York, the chart must be clean (no indicators), and the kill zones must be visually shaded. This guide covers the complete configuration in eight steps.

Key takeaways

  • Pro+ ($29.95/month) is the recommended TradingView plan — 4 simultaneous charts for the full Model 1 layout (Daily + 1H + 15M + 5M). Pro ($14.95) is the minimum.
  • The single most critical setting: timezone to New York (UTC-5/UTC-4). Every ICT time reference is in EST/EDT. Wrong timezone = 5-hour session identification errors.
  • Session backgrounds: Asian (amber #FAEEDA 15%), London (teal #E1F5EE 15%), NY AM (purple #EEEDFE 15%). Instant visual identification of kill zones.
  • ICT colour system: bullish OB/FVG = teal (#0F6E56), bearish OB/FVG = coral (#993C1D), PDH/PDL = amber (#C09000), PWH/PWL = purple (#534AB7), Asian range = gray dashed.
  • 8 alerts per session: PDH/PDL crossing, Asian range H/L crossing, Venom Box H/L crossing, London open time alert, NYSE open time alert.

TradingView plan requirements

Pro ($14.95/mo)
Minimum for ICT

Multiple tabs (not simultaneous). 20 alerts. Adequate for tab-switching between daily and 5M. Sufficient for beginners doing single-model analysis.

Pro+ ($29.95/mo)
★ Recommended

4 simultaneous charts = full Model 1 layout (Daily + 1H + 15M + 5M) without tab-switching during live sessions. 100 alerts.

Premium ($59.95/mo)
Optimal for professionals

8 simultaneous charts = run Model 1 and Model 2 on separate instruments without layout switching. 400 alerts.

Step 1 — Candle settings

Chart type: Hollow Candles or Standard Candles

Right-click chart → Chart Settings → Chart type → Hollow Candles. Hollow = outline for bullish, filled for bearish. Do NOT use Heikin Ashi (distorts OHLC values that FVG/OB analysis depends on), line charts, or area charts.

Candle colours + background

Up body: white/light grey. Down body: black/dark grey. Up wick: teal (#0F6E56). Down wick: coral (#993C1D). Background: dark mode (#131722). Grid lines: OFF. Dark backgrounds make coloured structural zones significantly more visible.

Step 2 — Timezone setting (most critical configuration)

Critical

  • Set the timezone to New York before any other configuration. Click the clock icon at the bottom right of TradingView → select “New York (UTC-5 / UTC-4).” TradingView auto-handles DST. Verify: midnight candle = 00:00, Asian = 20:00, London open = 02:00. An incorrect timezone produces 5-hour session identification errors that invalidate all session-based analysis.

Step 3 — Session backgrounds (kill zone shading)

Add the Sessions Background indicator

Indicators (beaker icon) → search “Sessions” → add “Sessions Background” by TradingView. Configure: Session 1 (Asian): 2000–0200, amber #FAEEDA 15%. Session 2 (London): 0200–0500, teal #E1F5EE 15%. Session 3 (NY AM): 0700–1100, purple #EEEDFE 15%.

Add vertical session lines

02:00 EST = London open (teal solid, labelled “LO”). 09:30 EST = NYSE open (amber solid, “NYO”). 00:00 EST = midnight daily open (purple dotted, “Midnight”). Right-click each → Apply to Defaults.

Step 4 — The ICT colour coding system

Bullish zones
Teal (#0F6E56) • 25% opacity

Bullish OB: teal filled rectangle. Bullish FVG: light teal (#E1F5EE) 30%, dotted border. Consistent across all TFs. Rectangle tool → draw → right-click → set colour → Apply to Defaults.

Bearish zones
Coral (#993C1D) • 25% opacity

Bearish OB: coral filled rectangle. Bearish FVG: light coral (#FAECE7) 30%, dotted border.

Liquidity levels
Amber + Purple + Gray

PDH/PDL: amber (#C09000) solid. PWH/PWL: purple (#534AB7) solid, slightly thicker. Asian range H/L: gray (#888888) dashed. Dealing range CE: purple dashed.

Step 5 — Multi-chart layouts

Model 1 — London
4-chart layout (Pro+)

Top left: Daily EUR/USD (HTF context, PDH/PDL). Top right: 1H (dealing range, OBs). Bottom left: 15M (Judas observation, MSS). Bottom right: 5M (FVG CE entry, live execution). All linked to same symbol group.

Model 2 / Venom
4-chart layout (Pro+)

Top left: Daily NQ (HTF, IPDA levels). Top right: Daily ES (SMT context). Bottom left: 5M NQ (Venom Box, MSS, SB entry). Bottom right: 5M ES (SMT divergence live). NQ and ES linked.

Swing Trading
3-chart layout (Pro)

Left 50%: Daily EUR/USD (primary swing chart). Top right: Weekly (macro bias). Bottom right: 4H (entry zone identification). No session backgrounds needed.

Step 6 — Alert configuration (8 alerts per session)

Price-level alerts (6 daily)

PDH crossing (“PDH touched — check MSS”). PDL crossing. Asian range LOW crossing down (“Asian low swept — London Judas bullish”). Asian range HIGH crossing up. Venom Box LOW crossing (NQ). Venom Box HIGH crossing (NQ). Set each morning before the session.

Time alerts (2 recurring)

02:00 EST (“London open — begin Asian range observation”). 09:30 EST (“NYSE open — Venom Box sweep window begins”). Set once — auto-repeat daily.

Save as template

  • After completing all 6 steps: right-click chart → Save Chart Layout. Name it “ICT Model 1” or “ICT Venom.” Load it at the start of every session. The 30-minute setup is done once. Every subsequent session loads in seconds.

FAQ — TradingView for ICT

Which TradingView plan for ICT? +
Pro+ ($29.95/mo) recommended — 4 simultaneous charts for the full Model 1 layout. Pro ($14.95) is the minimum. Free plan is not sufficient (single chart, 3 indicator limit).
Most important setting? +
Timezone to New York. Click clock icon bottom right → New York (UTC-5/UTC-4). Every ICT time reference is in EST/EDT. Wrong timezone = all session analysis invalid.
How to shade kill zones? +
Indicators → search “Sessions” → add Sessions Background. Asian: 2000–0200 amber 15%. London: 0200–0500 teal 15%. NY AM: 0700–1100 purple 15%.
Can I use Heikin Ashi candles? +
No. Heikin Ashi averages OHLC values, distorting the exact open/high/low/close that ICT FVG and OB analysis depends on. Use standard or hollow candles only.

Conclusion — set up once, load every session

The TradingView configuration for ICT is a one-time 30-minute setup that produces a clean, structurally marked, timezone-correct, kill-zone-shaded, colour-coded charting environment. Save it as a template. Load it at the start of every session. The configuration is complete when the chart shows candles, structural markings, session backgrounds, and nothing else — no indicators, no oscillators, no MAs. Price is the only source of truth. The chart should reflect that.
Companion guides: no indicators explains why the clean chart approach is methodological; best timeframes covers which charts to include in each layout; kill zones covers what the session backgrounds represent; forex market hours covers the 24-hour cycle. Or join the mentorship.
Lio
Founder & ICT trading educator, LiquiditySweeps.com

Lio has traded ICT and Smart Money Concepts on forex majors and US indices since 2021 and built LiquiditySweeps.com to teach the framework the way it should be learned.

About All articles Mentorship
Ready to go further?
The mentorship programme covers the full framework — weekly live sessions, daily bias review, and personal trade review on every entry you submit.
View mentorship — $1,500/year

On This Page

Reading progress
0%Just started
Quick check
What is the single most critical TradingView setting for ICT trading — and why?
✓ Correct. The London-NY overlap (07:00–12:00 EST) is the highest daily volume window. Both London and New York institutional participants are simultaneously active. The silver bullet (09:50–10:10 EST) falls within this overlap — producing the clearest MSS displacement candles and the most liquid FVG fills of any daily window.
TradingView setup
Related tools
🕐Killzone clockLive⚡Silver Bullet timerLive🌍Session clockLive