How to Place a Trade on TradingView Paper Trading

Learn how to place trades on TradingView's paper trading platform with this step-by-step guide. Master market, limit, stop, and stop-limit orders for risk-free practice trading stocks, forex, crypto and more using virtual money.

What Is Paper Trading on TradingView?

Ever wanted to test out a trading idea without risking a single dollar of your hard-earned cash? That's exactly what paper trading on TradingView is for.

Think of it as a financial flight simulator. You get to practice "flying" a trading account in real-market conditions, but instead of using real money, you're playing with a simulated "paper" balance. It's the perfect sandbox to get your feet wet, learn the ropes, and build your confidence before you jump into the live markets.

The platform gives you access to real-time data feeds, so the prices you're seeing and trading at are the same as what professional traders see. You can practice with all the major order types you'll encounter later—like market orders, limit orders, and stop orders—across a huge range of markets including stocks, forex, cryptocurrencies, and commodities. It's all about learning by doing, without any of the pressure.

Benefits of Paper Trading

Ever wanted to try your hand at trading but the thought of losing real money made you nervous? That's exactly where paper trading comes in. Think of it as a risk-free training ground where you can learn the ropes without any financial pressure.

Here's a breakdown of why it's such a valuable tool for anyone starting out:

• Practice Strategies Safely: This is the biggest perk. You can test out different ideas, experiment with when to buy and sell, and see what works for you, all with virtual money. It's the perfect sandbox to make mistakes and learn from them without any cost.

• Real-Time Data Simulation: A good paper trading platform doesn't use made-up numbers. It runs on live market data, which means you're practicing in conditions that mirror the real world. This makes the experience much more authentic and prepares you for actual market movements.

• Strategy Refinement: After you place some trades, you can look back and see what happened. Why did that trade work? Why did that one lose? Paper trading lets you analyze the outcomes and fine-tune your approach—adjusting your parameters and rules—before you ever commit a real dollar.

• Confidence Building: Simply getting comfortable with a trading platform takes time. Paper trading lets you learn how to navigate the interface, place different types of orders, and manage your positions. By the time you switch to a live account, you'll feel much more competent and confident in your abilities.

Getting Started with Your Paper Trading Account

So you want to try out paper trading on TradingView? It's a fantastic way to get your feet wet without any real money on the line. Here's how to get your virtual account up and running in just a few minutes.

Step 1: Create Your Free TradingView Account First things first, head over to https://www.tradingview.com and sign up. The good news is that the free Basic plan gives you full access to the paper trading feature, so you can start right away.

Step 2: Head to the Charts Once you're logged in, just click on any stock or asset to open its chart. This is your main workspace.

Step 3: Find the Trading Panel Now, look at the very bottom of that chart screen. You'll see a button labeled Trading Panel—go ahead and click that.

Step 4: Connect Your Paper Trading Account Inside the Trading Panel, you'll see a list of brokers. Look for Paper Trading and click the Connect button next to it. Just like that, your virtual account is active! It automatically comes with a starting balance of $100,000 in play money.

Step 5: Tweak the Settings (If You Want To) To make your practice feel more realistic, you can customize your account. Click the little gear icon next to your paper trading account name. From there, you can do a few useful things:

• Reset your starting balance.
• Adjust commission rates to match your future live broker.
• Set a default position size.

Feature	Default Setting	Customization Options
Starting Balance	$100,000	Reset to any amount
Commission Rates	None	Adjust to match your broker
Position Sizing	Manual	Set a default size for consistency

Taking a moment to set this up means your practice will more closely mirror your intended live trading conditions, making the whole experience much more valuable. Now you're all set to practice!

How to Place a Trade on TradingView Paper Trading

Let's walk through how to place a practice trade using TradingView's paper trading feature. It's a fantastic way to test your strategies without any real money on the line.

1. Select Your Instrument

First things first, you need to pick what you want to trade. Use the search bar at the very top of the chart to pull up any stock, forex pair, cryptocurrency, or other asset. Just type in its name or ticker symbol.

2. Choose Your Order Type

Next, decide how you want to enter the trade. Here's a simple breakdown of your options:

• Market Order: This is the "get me in now" option. It fills your order immediately at whatever the current market price is.
• Limit Order: You set a specific price you're willing to pay. The trade will only happen at that price or a better one.
• Stop Order: Think of this as an alert that turns into a market order. Once the price hits a level you set, it triggers a market order to buy or sell.
• Stop-Limit Order: This one is a two-step process. Once your stop price is hit, it doesn't place a market order. Instead, it places a limit order at a price you specify.

3. Configure Your Trade

Now it's time to fill in the details. In the order panel, you'll set up the specifics:

• Quantity: How many shares, units, or contracts do you want?
• Price: For limit and stop-limit orders, this is where you tell it your desired entry price.
• Stop Loss & Take Profit: This is your safety net and profit goal. You can set these levels right in the order panel to automatically close your trade.

4. Execute the Trade

You're all set! To finally place the trade, just click the bright Buy or Sell button in the order panel. You can open this panel by clicking the Trade button at the bottom of your chart.

A quick pro tip: You can also right-click directly on the chart at the exact price you're targeting and choose Buy or Sell from the menu that pops up. It's a really fast way to place an order.

Managing and Understanding Your Trades

Getting a handle on your active trades and past performance is a big part of the journey. Here's a straightforward guide to the tools at your fingertips.

Keeping an Eye on Open Positions Want to see all your active trades at a glance? Just head over to the Positions tab in your Trading Panel. It's your central hub for everything that's currently open.

Making Adjustments on the Fly Changed your mind or need to update a level? No problem. You can easily edit an order's quantity, price, stop loss, or take profit by clicking the little pencil icon next to it. It's all about staying in control.

Action	How to Do It
View Open Trades	Go to the Positions tab.
Modify an Order	Click the pencil icon next to the order.
Close a Trade	Use the close button in the Positions tab.
Review History	Check the Account History section.

Closing a Trade Manually When you're ready to close a position yourself, you can do it instantly using the close button right there in the Positions tab.

Learning from Your Past Trades Your Account History section is like your personal trading journal. It's the perfect place to review all your past trades, see commissions, and analyze your profit and loss. Looking back at your history is one of the best ways to refine your strategy.

Advanced Tips and Best Practices

Getting the most out of your paper trading means going beyond the basics. Think of it as your personal trading playground where you can test everything safely. Here are a few ways to make your practice sessions really count.

• Mirror Your Real Trading Setup: This is a big one. Set your virtual account balance and commission fees to match exactly what you plan to use when you trade with real money. This makes your practice results feel much more realistic and prepares you for the real deal.
• Put Screeners & Watchlists to Work: Don't just wait for ideas to come to you. Dive into TradingView's built-in screeners for stocks, forex, or crypto to actively discover new trading opportunities that fit your strategy.
• Test Your Strategy First: Before you even start paper trading, give your idea a trial run. Head over to the Strategy Tester tab to backtest your strategy against historical data. It's a great way to see how it would have performed in the past.
• Get Creative with Pine Script: If you find yourself doing the same things over and over, try a little automation. You can use TradingView's Pine Script editor to customize indicators or even build your own automated trading strategies from scratch. For traders who want to create powerful indicators and strategies without the coding headache, tools like Pineify make this process incredibly smooth. Its visual editor and AI-powered features let you build, test, and optimize your trading ideas in minutes, not hours.

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Running into a Few Hiccups? Let's Fix That.

Paper trading is a fantastic way to learn, but sometimes things don't go as planned. If you run into one of these common snags, here's how to get back on track.

• Your trades just won't go through. This is often a simple connection glitch. The easiest fix is usually to give your browser a quick refresh or to disconnect and then re-connect the Paper Trading panel. Think of it like turning a key off and on again.

• Your starting balance looks wrong. No worries, you can easily reset it. Just look for the gear icon (the settings menu) on your paper trading account. In there, you'll find an option to reset your balance back to the default amount.

• Your orders keep getting rejected. This one can be tricky. The platform is checking your order against the current market. If you're placing a limit order, double-check that your price is within the current buy and sell spread shown on the chart. The system will reject it if the price isn't realistic for that moment.

Your Paper Trading Questions, Answered

Got questions about how paper trading works on TradingView? I've gathered the most common ones and broken them down in plain English.

Q: Can I use a different currency for my paper trading account? A: No, all paper trading accounts are set up in US Dollars (USD) and that can't be changed. Think of it as practicing with "dollars" as your default play money.

Q: Is there leverage in paper trading? A: Nope. The leverage is locked at 1:1. This keeps things simple and means you're trading only the virtual cash you have in your account, without any borrowed funds.

Q: How do I start over with a fresh paper trading balance? A: It's super easy. Just find the little gear icon next to your paper trading account name, click it, and select Reset account. From there, you can type in whatever starting balance you want and begin again.

Q: What can I actually trade with paper trading? A: Pretty much anything you can pull up on a TradingView chart! This includes:

• Stocks
• Forex pairs
• Cryptocurrencies
• Commodities (like gold or oil)
• Indices (like the S&P 500)

Q: Does paper trading include real-world costs like fees and slippage? A: It's a close simulation, but not 100% perfect. TradingView does simulate brokerage commissions on trades. However, it doesn't account for market slippage (the difference between the price you expect and the price you actually get). So, your results might be slightly better than what you'd experience in live markets.

Your Next Steps to Trading Confidence

Alright, you've got the basics down. Now, let's turn that knowledge into real skill. Here's a practical plan for what to do next.

1. Get Comfortable with Practice The best way to learn is by doing, without any pressure. Head back to your paper trading account and just play around. Try out different order types and see how they feel. Adjust your pretend risk levels—make them super conservative one day and a bit more adventurous the next. The goal here isn't to make a fake fortune, but to build genuine confidence in your approach.

2. Learn from the Crowd You don't have to figure everything out on your own. On TradingView, pop into the community chat rooms or browse through the public "ideas" streams. It's like being a fly on the wall in a room full of experienced traders. You'll see how they analyze the markets, what they're watching, and why. It's a fantastic way to pick up new perspectives and tricks.

3. Start Automating Your Winners As you practice, you'll notice certain strategies just seem to work well for you. When you find one, that's your cue to open up the Pine Script editor. It might sound technical, but it's just a tool to teach the platform your best moves. Start by trying to automate your most successful paper strategy. Once it's running smoothly in your practice account, you'll be in a much stronger position to consider using it with real capital. For more advanced technical analysis, you might also explore tools like the Anchored VWAP indicator to enhance your volume-weighted price analysis.