TradingView Volume Profile: Indicators, Settings, and How to Read It

What is the Volume Profile?

The volume profile is a charting study that maps the volume traded at specific price levels over a user-defined time period. The volume profile requires a premium TradingView subscription, so new users can usually get a free trial to test it out.

Unlike traditional volume indicators that display volume as vertical bars for each time period, the volume profile plots volume as a horizontal histogram on the chart, providing a clear visual representation of the volume distribution among different price levels.

The key attributes of the volume profile include:

• A holistic view of the volume traded at each price level
• Insights into areas of high liquidity (high volume) and low liquidity (low volume)
• Identification of significant price levels that may act as support or resistance

Volume Profile Glossary (POC, Value Area, HVN, LVN)

A volume profile is just a histogram, but it has its own vocabulary that you need to know before any of the strategies make sense. Four terms come up constantly. Point of Control (POC) is the price level where the most volume traded during the profile’s time period. It is the longest bar in the histogram. Traders treat the POC as a magnet because price tends to revisit areas of heavy past activity. Value Area is the price range that contains a defined percentage of the total volume traded, by convention 70%. Anything inside the Value Area is considered fair value; anything outside is considered an extension. The upper edge is the Value Area High (VAH) and the lower edge is the Value Area Low (VAL). High Volume Nodes (HVNs) are clusters of bars with above-average volume. They mark zones where the market spent time agreeing on price, which is why they tend to act as support and resistance. Low Volume Nodes (LVNs) are the gaps between HVNs. Price moves through LVNs quickly because there is no historical agreement to anchor to, which makes them useful targets for breakout entries. Memorize these four labels and the rest of the article is just applying them.

Enabling and Accessing the Volume Profile on TradingView

Types of Volume Profile Indicators on TradingView

There are five main types of Volume Profile indicators available on TradingView:

Visible Range Volume Profile (VRVP Indicator)

Volume Profile Fixed Range (VPFR)

Session Volume Profile (SVP)

Periodic Volume Profile

Anchored Volume Profile (AVP)

The Anchored Volume Profile is TradingView’s drawing tool that lets you build a volume profile starting from any specific bar, candle, or event. Unlike VRVP (which always uses what is on screen) or VPFR (which uses a fixed range you draw), the Anchored Volume Profile attaches to one anchor point and grows forward in time. It is the right choice when you want to measure volume distribution from a specific catalyst forward, like an earnings beat, a Fed announcement, or the start of a new trend. To use it, click the Trend Line tool group in the left toolbar, scroll to Anchored Volume Profile, click the bar you want to anchor to, and drag forward. The histogram will rebuild every time a new bar prints. Anchored Volume Profile is gated to TradingView Plus and higher.

Combining the SVP and VRVP

How to Read the Volume Profile

Reading the Volume Profile involves understanding its key components:

• Point of Control (POC): The price level with the highest volume traded. Similar to the VWAP, price tends to gravitate back toward the POC. It can be used as support and resistance or a take profit level, depending on the trade.
• Value Area (VA): The price range where most of the volume was traded (default set to 70%). It includes Value Area High (VAH) and Value Area Low (VAL), often used as support and resistance levels.
• High Volume Nodes (HVNs): Areas where a large amount of volume was traded. HVNs may indicate strong support or resistance levels.
• Low Volume Nodes (LVNs): Areas with low volume indicating potential price breakouts or quick price movements. When price enters into a LVN, it generally moves quickly to the next HVN.

Volume Profile Customization and Settings in TradingView

TradingView allows users to customize the appearance and settings of the volume profile indicator. Here are some notable customization options:

• Row Size: Adjusts the height of histogram bars, allowing you to view volume distribution at different levels of granularity.
• Volume Type: Choose between total volume, buy volume, or sell volume to view different aspects of trading activity.
• Value Area Percentage: Set the percentage of volume to be included in the Value Area (default is 70%).
• Color Settings: Customize the colors of the histogram, POC, and Value Area to suit your visual preferences.

These customization options give traders the flexibility to tailor Volume Profile to their individual trading needs.

Best Volume Profile Settings on TradingView

The default volume profile settings work, but a few changes make the histogram readable for actual decision-making. Set Rows Layout to Number of Rows and use a row count between 100 and 200 (200 for intraday charts, 100 for daily and higher) so each bar represents a tight enough price band to be meaningful. Set Volume to Total. The Up/Down split looks informative but the histogram becomes harder to read because the bars stack instead of project from one axis. Keep Value Area at 70%, which is the convention every prop firm and institutional desk uses, and there is no reason to deviate unless you are running a custom strategy. Turn on the Point of Control extension setting so the POC line projects forward to the right edge of the chart; this makes it visible whether the heaviest historical price level has been retested without you having to scroll. Use a contrasting color for the POC line (a bright yellow or cyan against a dark theme works well) so it stands out against the histogram bars. Save these as a default template by right-clicking the indicator and selecting Apply Default Settings. If you trade off these levels, log every entry and exit in the Financial Tech Wiz Trading Journal so you can see which volume profile setups actually pay over time.

Tips for Effective Use of Volume Profile

To make the most of the Volume Profile indicator, consider the following tips:

• Combine with Other Indicators: Use volume profile in conjunction with other technical indicators, such as moving averages or trend lines, to enhance your analysis and validate trade setups.
• Monitor Key Levels: Pay attention to the POC, VAH, VAL, HVNs, and LVNs. These levels often act as significant support or resistance and may influence price action.
• Analyze Market Conditions: Use volume profile to assess the balance or imbalance in the market. This framing comes directly from auction market theory, where balanced markets show a symmetrical distribution and imbalanced markets show a strong directional bias.
• Validate Breakouts: Use low volume nodes to identify potential breakout levels. Price may move quickly through these areas due to low liquidity.

Free Volume Profile Indicator on TradingView

While the volume profile is a paid indicator on TradingView, you can use the RS: Market Profile custom indicator as a free alternative. It will not provide the volume bars, but you can get the value area based on volume and the volume point of control (VPOC) using this indicator.

How to Set up the RS: Market Profile as a Free Volume Profile Indicator on TradingView

1- Add the custom indicator using this link and scroll down to add the indicator to your favorites.

2- On a TradingView chart, click indicators, and add the RS: Market Profile

3- Click the gear icon on the indicator at the top left of the chart to edit the settings

4- Ensure “Highlight POC Based on VP” and Use VP POC for Value Area” are checked

5- Change TPO characters to the letters

6- Change the timeframe to daily (if you use fixed, you can get volume numbers for one day or an extended period. This is explained more below under the section: Using the Fixed Timeframe on RS: Market Profile to See the Volume).

7- Customize the VP Poc and value area colors to your liking

8- Change your chart to a line or remove the candles altogether if you only want to see the profile (The two lines on the left of the letters indicate the open price and close price. The close price is the current price if the market is open).

Reading the RS: Market Profile as a Volume Profile

The image above shows the final product of customizing the RS: Market Profile indicator to be similar to a volume profile. On my chart, the white letters indicate the value area based on volume. The green letters are the volume point of control (VPOC).

This indicator works best on highly liquid tickers such as futures, but you can use it on SPY and QQQ for free to track the indices. Additionally, you can view volume numbers based on price if you use the fixed timeframe.

Best Volume Indicators on TradingView

In addition to Volume Profile, TradingView offers a variety of volume indicators to complement your analysis. Some popular volume indicators include:

• On Balance Volume (OBV)
• Chaikin Money Flow (CMF)
• Accumulation/Distribution Line (ADL)
• Money Flow Index (MFI)

While each indicator provides valuable insights, volume profile stands out for its ability to map volume distribution at specific price levels, making it an indispensable tool for many traders.

Market Profile vs. Volume Profile

The market profile is another charting study that organizes price AND time information into a distribution similar to the volume profile. The volume profile only takes volume into account. Here are some key differences:

• Market Profile: Organizes price data into a statistical distribution based on time and volume. It represents the market’s activity over time and highlights prices where the market spent the most time, in addition to the volume profile. Market Profile is often presented as a bell-shaped curve or “TPO” (Time Price Opportunity) chart.
• Volume Profile: Only displays the volume traded at specific price levels and does not include time spent. It is pretty much the market profile except without the time aspect.

Keep in mind that the volume profile can be used on longer time frames, while the market profile is primarily used for day trading.

Volume Profile vs VWAP vs Footprint vs Market Profile

Volume profile sits in a family of price-and-volume tools, and traders often confuse them. Here is the short version: Volume profile shows where volume traded across price (a horizontal histogram). VWAP shows the volume-weighted average price across time (a single line that moves with each candle). Footprint charts show buy volume vs sell volume inside each individual candle (best for order-flow scalping). Market profile (TPO) shows time at price using letter blocks instead of volume bars (Steidlmayer’s original auction-market framework). Use volume profile for support and resistance zones over a defined window. Use VWAP for execution benchmarking and intraday mean reversion. Use footprint for individual-candle aggression. Use market profile for session structure. They are complementary, not interchangeable.

How Much is TradingView?

Volume profile indicators are available on all paid TradingView plans. You can sign up for a TradingView free trial to test the volume profile tools risk-free. For a full breakdown of every plan and what each tier includes, see our TradingView pricing guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does TradingView have volume profile?

Yes. TradingView includes several volume profile indicators (Visible Range, Fixed Range, Session, Periodic, and Anchored Volume Profile drawing tool) but most of them require a paid TradingView plan. The free workaround is the open-source RS: Market Profile community indicator, which approximates a volume-weighted profile using TPO logic.

How do you read the volume profile on TradingView?

Find the Point of Control (the longest bar) first, because that is the price level with the most historical volume and the strongest mean-reversion magnet. Then identify the Value Area High and Value Area Low, which together contain about 70% of the volume traded in the window. Price inside the Value Area is balanced; price extending outside it is being tested. High Volume Nodes act as support and resistance; Low Volume Nodes act as fast-travel zones where price moves through quickly with no historical agreement to slow it down.

What is the best volume profile indicator on TradingView?

For most traders, Visible Range Volume Profile (VRVP) is the default choice because it auto-adjusts as you zoom and pan, so the profile always reflects what you are actually looking at. For session-based intraday work, Session Volume Profile is the better pick because it resets at the open of each new session. For event-anchored analysis (earnings, Fed days, breakout origins), use the Anchored Volume Profile drawing tool.

How do I add volume to a TradingView chart?

To add the standard volume bars at the bottom of the chart, click Indicators in the top toolbar, type Volume, and select the built-in Volume indicator. To add a volume profile (the horizontal histogram on the right side of the chart), click Indicators, type Volume Profile, and choose Visible Range, Fixed Range, Session Volume, or Periodic Volume Profile. The volume profile variants require a paid TradingView plan.

Is volume profile available on TradingView for free?

The standard volume profile indicators (Visible Range, Fixed Range, Session, Periodic) require a TradingView Plus subscription or higher. The free workaround is the community-published RS: Market Profile indicator, which builds a TPO-based approximation of a volume profile and works on free accounts. The Anchored Volume Profile drawing tool is also gated to paid plans.

TradingView Volume Profile | Bottom Line

TradingView is definitely the best platform for accessing the volume profile for all assets. It makes it convenient to track stocks, crypto, futures, and forex from a single platform.

While paying for TradingView may not be necessary for everybody, it is definitely worth getting a TradingView free trial to test out risk-free.