How to Set Time in TradingView Chart: A Comprehensive Guide

Getting your TradingView chart's time settings right is like setting your watch before a big trip—it makes sure everything you're looking at is accurate and in sync. It's all about aligning the chart's timezone, intervals, and sessions with the markets you're tracking or your own personal schedule. When your chart's clock matches the real-world market data, your analysis becomes sharper and more reliable, which is a game-changer for making informed decisions.

Why Time Settings on Your Chart Really Matter

Think of the time settings as the foundation of your chart. Everything from the opening and closing of a candlestick to the calculations of your favorite indicators depends on the correct time. If your timezone is off, you might see a major news event or a market open happen at the wrong time on your chart, which can throw off your entire strategy.

The good news is that TradingView makes it simple to adjust. Whether you're on your desktop or using the web platform, you can quickly tweak these settings to match your needs. Here's a quick look at the core components you can control:

Setting	What It Controls	Why It's Important
Timezone	The reference clock for the entire chart.	Ensures candlesticks and market sessions align with your local time or a specific exchange's time.
Interval	The time period each candlestick or bar represents (e.g., 1 min, 1 hour, 4H).	Lets you zoom in on short-term price action or zoom out for the broader trend.
Session Breaks	Visually separates regular trading hours from after-hours trading.	Helps you focus on periods with the highest liquidity and avoid false signals from thin markets.

By getting a handle on these settings, you can tailor your charts to fit any style, from rapid-fire day trading to patient long-term investing, and steer clear of common mix-ups.

Step-by-Step: Changing Timezone in TradingView

Want to make sure your TradingView charts are on your time? It's a simple fix. Here's how to do it.

First, open up the chart you're working on. Look at the very bottom bar, and you'll spot a little clock icon. Give that a click.

A dropdown menu will pop up, showing you a bunch of different timezone choices. Just pick the one that fits you best—whether that's a general one like UTC, or a specific city like New York or London. The chart will refresh right away to show the new time.

Method	Best For
Clock Icon (Bottom Bar)	Quickly changing the timezone for a single chart.
Settings Gear (Advanced)	Applying a timezone change across your entire TradingView platform.

If you want to set it for your whole account, there's a more thorough way. Head to the settings gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen. Click on it, then find and select the "Time" tab in the menu that appears. You can pick your timezone from the dropdown list there. This makes sure everything is consistent, no matter how many charts you have open.

Can't find your timezone in the main list? No problem. TradingView lets you add custom ones through the charting library settings.

Once you've made a change, just double-check the time axis at the bottom of your chart to confirm it worked. Getting this right is super helpful, especially if you're trading international markets like forex or crypto, where timing is everything.

Getting the Perfect View: Adjusting Your Chart's Time Intervals

Think of time intervals on your chart like zooming in and out with a camera. Are you trying to see the broad, sweeping landscape of a stock's movement, or do you need to examine the tiny, minute-by-minute details? The time interval you choose determines this view.

Changing it is simple. Just look for the timeframe selector at the very top of your chart. You'll see a list of handy presets—like 5-minute, 1-hour, or 1-day—that let you switch your view in a single click.

But what if the standard options don't quite fit your needs? That's where custom intervals come in.

For a truly personalized look, click "+ Add custom interval" in that same dropdown menu. Here, you can tell the chart exactly how you want the data grouped. Do you want it to aggregate every 15 minutes? Or perhaps every 4 hours? Just specify the type and amount, click "Add," and your custom view is saved.

This is perfect for trading styles like scalping, where every tick matters. The best part? Any custom interval you create will be waiting for you in the selector for all your future sessions, so you don't have to set it up again.

Once you've got your interval set, pair it with the chart's zoom tool to home in on a specific day or week for even deeper analysis. If you're having trouble seeing the bigger picture, our guide on How to Zoom Out on TradingView: 5 Simple Methods That Actually Work (2025 Guide) can help you master this essential skill.

Here's a quick guide on what different intervals can show you:

Interval	What It's Good For
Low (e.g., 1-min)	Seeing all the tiny, intraday fluctuations and precise entry/exit points.
High (e.g., 1-day)	Smoothing out the "noise" to identify the dominant, long-term trend.

A good rule of thumb is: lower intervals give you more detail, while higher intervals give you more clarity on the bigger picture. It's all about choosing the right tool for the job.

Making Your Charts Work for Your Trading Schedule

TradingView gives you the flexibility to match your charts to the specific hours you trade. You can set up to three custom trading sessions, which is perfect for visually separating the Asian, European, and U.S. market hours right on your screen.

Here's a quick look at common sessions you might want to highlight:

Session Name	Typical Start (EST)	Typical End (EST)
Asian Session	7:00 PM	4:00 AM
European Session	2:00 AM	11:00 AM
U.S. Session	8:00 AM	5:00 PM

You'll find the controls for this in your settings under the "Trading Sessions" tab. Just plug in your preferred start and end times, and the platform will highlight those active market periods for you.

Want to zoom in on a specific price move? Use the range tool from the toolbar on the left. Simply click and drag across the section of the chart you want to isolate. This works with any time frame and is super helpful for reviewing how a strategy would have performed during a specific window, like a key news event.

For even more detail, you can dive into the scales and lines settings. There, you can choose to display lines for the previous day's closing price or pre-market levels. These little tweaks help you build a chart that feels truly yours and focuses on what matters to your approach. Combining custom sessions with the range tool is a powerful way to focus your analysis.

Troubleshooting Common Time Setting Issues

Having trouble getting your chart's time settings to stick? It can be frustrating, but here are a few simple things to check first.

• Settings Not Applying? First, make sure you're logged into your account and try refreshing the page. If you're on a desktop, sometimes your settings need to sync across devices. It's also a good idea to see if any browser extensions might be getting in the way of TradingView's interface.

• Is Your Chart Time Mismatched? This one is a really common mix-up. Often, the issue is just having your chart set to your "Local" timezone instead of the exchange's time. For the most accurate view of when the market actually moves, switch the dropdown to "Exchange." This syncs your chart directly with the market's own clock. If you're still stuck, TradingView's own support pages have detailed solutions.

• Custom Intervals Won't Save? If you've created a custom time interval that isn't saving, it might be using an invalid aggregation type. Double-check your inputs and try testing it on a fresh, clean chart.

Issue	Quick Thing to Try
Time changes don't apply	Refresh the page; check browser extensions.
Chart time seems wrong	Switch the timezone setting to "Exchange".
Custom interval not saving	Check for invalid inputs; test on a new chart.

For persistent glitches, one of the most effective fixes is simply making sure you're running the latest version of TradingView. A quick update often clears things right up. If you suspect the issue might be with TradingView itself, check out our guide on Is TradingView Down? How to Check Status and Troubleshoot for comprehensive troubleshooting steps.

Master Your Charts with Smart Time Management in TradingView

Getting your time settings dialed in can completely change how you see the markets. It's less about managing the clock and more about structuring your analysis for better decisions. Here are some powerful ways to use time to your advantage.

Think of your indicators and your time settings as a team. Instead of just using the standard one-hour or one-day intervals, try matching your moving averages or other tools to a custom timeframe. This alignment can often reveal subtler trends that standard settings might miss. You can even tweak the time scale to show decimals for ultra-precise timing on your data.

For those building charts into apps or websites, a simple but crucial tip is to set the default timezone right in the widget's code. This ensures every user sees the chart in the correct context from the get-go, which is a game-changer for a global audience. Don't forget to use the session breaks feature to clearly mark when markets are closed, helping you and your users visually separate active trading periods from downtime.

What to Adjust	Why It's Powerful
Indicator Timeframes	Align tools like moving averages with custom intervals for clearer signals.
Default Timezone	Sets the right context automatically for all users of an embedded chart.
Session Breaks	Creates clear visual markers for market open/close, avoiding false signals.

One of the most effective strategies is to combine your time adjustments with a multi-chart layout. Pull up the same asset on a 15-minute, 1-hour, and 4-hour chart all at once. This side-by-side view makes it much easier to spot if a trend on a shorter timeframe is supported by the bigger picture, revealing correlations you might otherwise miss.

Finally, once you have your charts looking perfect with all your custom time settings, make sure to sync everything to your TradingView account. This acts as a automatic backup, so you never have to worry about losing your carefully configured workspace.

Why Getting Your Trading Timings Right is Crucial

Think about it: getting your timing wrong by even a minute can be the difference between a successful trade and a missed opportunity. Having your platform's clock set correctly is like having a reliable watch in a race—it ensures you're entering and exiting trades exactly when you plan to.

It also keeps your charts perfectly synchronized with real-world events. When a major economic report drops, you can be confident that the spike or drop on your chart is happening at the exact same moment, with no confusing delay. For traders in places like Shenzhen or Tokyo, setting your platform to local Asia-specific times makes everything feel more relevant and immediate, so you're not mentally converting time zones while trying to make a quick decision.

This becomes especially important in fast-moving markets like crypto, which never close. A simple timezone mismatch can make technical patterns on your chart look completely different, leading you to draw the wrong conclusions. Setting up custom trading sessions helps you zero in on the most active, high-liquidity periods of the day, filtering out the noise.

Trading Style	Time Setting Benefit
Beginner	Using default settings builds familiarity without overwhelm.
Advanced	Custom sessions provide an edge for algorithms and precise entries.
Backtesting	Consistent time across all tests leads to more reliable, trustworthy results.

Ultimately, it all comes down to confidence. When you know your timings are locked in, you can trust the data on your screen and make decisions with greater assurance. Start with the basics, and as you grow, fine-tuning these settings becomes a powerful tool in your trading toolkit.

Making Time Settings Work with Other TradingView Features

Getting your chart's time settings to work in harmony with other parts of TradingView can really speed up your analysis. Here's how you can connect the dots.

Think about linking your custom time adjustments to your watchlists. When you update the time on one chart in a list, it can automatically sync across others, keeping everything you're watching consistent without extra effort.

Setting up alerts is another powerful combo. You can create notifications that are tied directly to your chosen time intervals. This means you won't get pinged for every little move; instead, you'll get a heads-up only when something meaningful happens on your specific timeframe.

When you're using the Replay Mode to practice on old data, your time settings are crucial. They let you simulate a past trading session exactly as it happened, bar by bar. It's like having a time machine for the markets. While you're in this mode, use the drawing tools to mark up key support or resistance levels you spot, creating a visual log of time-based patterns.

If you share your charts with friends or a trading group, your custom time settings travel with the chart. This is super handy because it means everyone is looking at the exact same setup, saving you the trouble of having to explain your configuration.

For those who like to automate things, this is where Pine Script comes in. You can write or find scripts that handle time-based actions for you. Imagine a script that automatically changes your chart's interval at a certain time of day or highlights specific trading sessions. It adds a layer of programmatic control that can make your workflow incredibly efficient. If you want to create these time-based automations without learning to code, tools like Pineify make it accessible to everyone with their visual editor and AI-powered Pine Script generator. For a detailed look at how this tool can transform your workflow, check out our Pineify Review: The Ultimate No-Code Tool for TradingView Indicators.

By weaving your time settings into these other features, you're not just looking at a chart—you're building a tailored, interactive trading toolkit.

Feature to Integrate With	How Time Settings Enhance It
Watchlists	Synchronize your preferred time view across all charts in a list.
Alerts	Get notified only for activity on your specific, chosen time intervals.
Replay Mode	Accurately step through past market data, simulating real-time sessions.
Drawing Tools	Mark and annotate time-based patterns and levels you discover.
Chart Sharing	Share your analysis with others while preserving your time configuration.
Pine Script	Automate time-based functions, like changing intervals or highlighting sessions.

Your TradingView Timezone Questions, Answered

What's the simplest way to change the timezone on my chart?

Just look at the bottom of your chart—you'll see a small clock icon next to the time. Click it, and a dropdown menu will pop up with a list of timezones. Pick the one you want, and it updates instantly. If you need more advanced options, you can always dive into the full settings menu.

Can I make my own custom time intervals?

Absolutely! Right from the timeframe toolbar, you can add a brand new interval. You just type in the length you want (like 133 minutes or 4 hours) and choose how the data should be grouped. It's a great way to view the market exactly how you prefer.

Why is the time on my chart different from my computer's time?

Ah, good question! This usually happens because your chart is set to "exchange time" instead of your local time. Exchange time follows the trading hours of the specific market you're watching. Just switch your chart's timezone setting to your local one. If it doesn't update right away, try refreshing the page or logging out and back in.

How do trading sessions affect my time settings?

Trading sessions are those colored bars on your chart that highlight specific market hours (like the London open or the US stock market session). You can set up to three of them, and you get to define exactly when they start and end. They don't change the underlying time on your chart, but they help you visualize key periods at a glance.

Can I set the time for a chart I've embedded on my website?

Yes, you can. If you're using TradingView's tools to put a chart on your own site, you'll use the widget code. There's a specific timezone property in the widget's setup where you can define the default timezone for anyone viewing it.

What if I can't find my specific timezone in the list?

No worries, TradingView has you covered. You can actually create a custom timezone. Head into the chart settings, find the timezone option, and look for the choice to add a new one. You can either pick from an extensive global list or manually type in the exact UTC offset yourself.

What to Do Next

The best way to get comfortable with TradingView's time settings is to just dive in and play around. Pull up a demo chart and test out the different periods we talked about. See what feels right for your style of trading.

I'd love to hear what you discover—drop your findings or favorite setups in the comments below so we can all learn from each other.

A couple more things that can really help you level up:

• Subscribe to TradingView on YouTube: Their channel is packed with straightforward tutorials, and they're constantly dropping new ones.
• Join a Trading Community: Find a forum or a group where traders hang out. It's a goldmine for discussing custom chart setups and getting new ideas. If you're looking to deepen your technical analysis skills, our guide on TradingView AI Indicators: Ultimate 2025 Guide for Smarter Technical Analysis can help you leverage artificial intelligence in your trading.

If this guide was useful for you, giving it a like or share can help other traders find it too.

And if you ever need one-on-one help, the TradingView support team and their public forums are the best places to get your specific questions answered.

Start applying even one of these tips today—it's a simple step that can make your trading strategy feel much more refined.