How to Turn on Extended Hours on TradingView
Ever notice that a stock makes a big move, but the market has been closed for hours? That's where extended trading hours come in. This guide will walk you through how to see this data on TradingView, whether you're on your computer or phone. We'll also cover how to adjust the settings to your liking, what to do if it's not working, and answer some common questions.
What Are Extended Trading Hours?
Think of extended trading hours as the "early bird" and "night owl" sessions of the stock market. It's all the trading action that happens before the official opening bell (pre-market) and after the closing bell (after-hours).
This is super useful because it lets you see how stocks are reacting to big news—like an earnings report or a major announcement—that came out when the regular market was closed. It gives you a much fuller picture of what's really going with Getting Your Pine Script Entry Prices Right (It's Trickier Than You Think) when analyzing price action across different trading sessions.
Why Trading in Extended Hours Can Be a Game-Changer
Trading outside of the standard 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM ET session is like getting a backstage pass to the market. It lets you see the action before the main show starts and stick around after the curtain falls. Here's why that's so powerful:
- Spot Trends Early: Get a head start. You can see buying or selling pressure building up before the regular market even opens. This can help you make more informed decisions about your positions for the day ahead.
- React to News in Real-Time: Companies often release big news, like earnings reports, right after the market closes. Extended hours let you see how investors are truly reacting to that news, not just waiting to find out the next morning when it might be too late.
- See the Bigger Picture: The regular trading day only tells part of the story. By watching how a stock behaves before and after the bell, you get a much fuller sense of its real supply and demand, helping you understand its true momentum.
How to See Pre-Market and After-Hours Trading on Your Desktop Chart
Want to see what a stock is doing before the opening bell or after the market closes? Enabling extended hours on your TradingView desktop chart is a simple process. It lets you spot potential gaps and react to after-hours news. Here's how to do it, step by step.
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Log in and Open Your Chart: Start by signing into your TradingView account on their website or through the desktop app. Open up the chart for the stock you're interested in. A quick tip: this setting only works for intraday timeframes, like 1-minute or 1-hour charts, not for daily or weekly views.
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Access the Settings: Right-click anywhere on the main body of your chart. From the menu that pops up, select Settings. This is your control center for how the chart looks and behaves.
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Find the Session Setting: In the Settings panel that appears, click on the Symbol tab. Now, look for the dropdown menu labeled Session.
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Switch to Extended: Click the Session dropdown and change the selection from Regular to Extended. This single switch tells the chart to pull in pre-market and after-hours trading data.
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Apply and View: Click the OK button at the bottom. Your chart will immediately update to show the thinner, colored lines that represent trading activity outside of the standard 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM ET session.
| Session Type | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Regular | Standard market hours (e.g., 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM ET) only. |
| Extended | Includes pre-market and after-hours trading data. |
And that's it! You should now see the extended hours data on your chart, usually displayed in a lighter color. This gives you a much more complete picture of a stock's trading activity throughout the entire day. If you're looking to enhance your analysis further, consider exploring LonesomeTheBlue TradingView Indicators: How to Actually Find Support and Resistance That Works (2025 Guide) to identify key levels that may react during extended sessions.
How to See Pre-Market and After-Hours Trading on Your Phone
Want to see how a stock is moving before the market opens or after it closes? It's super easy to set up right in the TradingView app on your phone. Here's how you do it.
- First, open the TradingView app and pull up the chart for the stock you're watching.
- Look for the little Settings icon (it usually looks like a gear or three sliders). You'll find it just below the price scale on the right side of the screen. Give that a tap.
- Now, scroll down until you see the option for Session. Tap on it and switch from Regular Trading Hours to Extended Trading Hours.
- And that's it! Your chart will now show the pre-market and after-hours price action, so you can get the full picture of the trading day.
| Session Type | What You'll See |
|---|---|
| Regular Trading Hours | Standard market session (e.g., 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM ET for US markets). |
| Extended Trading Hours | Includes pre-market and after-hours data, giving you the complete view. |
This is really handy for spotting early trends or reactions to news that happens outside of normal market hours.
Making the Chart Work for You: A Guide to Display Preferences
Trying to tell the pre-market and after-hours action apart on your chart can be a bit of a puzzle. Luckily, it's easy to set up your chart so these extended sessions stand out clearly. Think of it like using different colored highlighters to organize your notes.
Here's how you can customize the view to make everything more intuitive at a glance:
| Setting Location | What You Can Adjust | Why It's Helpful |
|---|---|---|
| Chart Settings > Symbol > Extended Hours | Color and shading style for pre-market and after-hours areas. | Creates an immediate visual distinction between the standard trading day and extended sessions. |
| Chart Settings | Different background colors for pre- and post-market. | Offers a clearer separation, so you know which session you're looking at instantly. |
| Line & Style Options | Opacity and line styles for extended session price lines. | Lets you highlight this data without making the main chart look too cluttered. |
A little pro-tip: Playing with the opacity is a game-changer. You can make those extended-hours price lines visible but slightly faded, so they don't compete for attention with the main trading day's action. It keeps your chart clean and easy to read.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Here's a quick guide to sort out the most common snags people run into with extended hours.
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The extended hours just aren't showing up. This one gets everyone at first! If you're looking at a daily, weekly, or monthly chart, you won't see them. You need to switch your chart to an intraday timeframe—anything under one day, like a 1-hour or 15-minute chart.
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You can't find the "Session" option. If the setting seems to have vanished, it's likely because the specific stock or asset you're looking at doesn't support pre-market or after-hours trading data. Try switching to a popular, highly-traded stock to see the option appear.
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Your changes don't show up right away. You've toggled the setting on, but the chart looks the same. Don't worry, the fix is simple. Just give the chart a quick refresh or clear your cache. It's like giving the page a fresh start to load the new settings.
In a nutshell: Check your chart timeframe, make sure your asset is supported, and refresh if things seem stuck. Understanding For Loops and else if in Pine Script can also help if you're building custom indicators that need to handle different trading sessions differently.
Your Extended Hours Trading Questions, Answered
Navigating pre-market and after-hours trading on your charts can be a bit confusing at first. You're not alone! Here are answers to the most common questions we get, explained in plain English.
Why is the extended hours part of my chart grayed out or missing?
This is the number one question, and the fix is usually simple. The extended hours feature only shows up when you're using an intraday chart. That means any timeframe shorter than a single day.
- To see it: Switch your chart to a setting like the 1-minute, 5-minute, or 15-minute view. Once you do, you should see the lighter-colored bars for pre-market and after-hours trading appear.
How do I actually turn on extended hours viewing?
Let's walk through how to find this setting. It's super easy once you know where to look.
- On the chart, right-click and select Settings.
- In the settings panel, click on the Symbol tab.
- You'll see a dropdown menu labeled Session. Click it and choose Extended.
That's it! Your chart will now display the full extended trading session.
Can I change how the extended hours look? I don't love the default color.
Absolutely! You have full control over the appearance so you can make it work for you.
| Your Goal | Where to Go |
|---|---|
| Change the border color of the bars | Chart Settings > Symbol > Extended Hours > Border Color |
| Adjust the transparency or fill color | Chart Settings > Symbol > Extended Hours > Background Color & Opacity |
| Switch from a background shade to lines | Chart Settings > Symbol > Extended Hours > Session Breaks (for line style) |
Play around with these settings until the chart looks just the way you like it. A little customization can make analyzing the data much easier on your eyes.
Your Next Moves
Think of this as the perfect time to get some hands-on practice. The best way to get comfortable with pre-market and after-hours trading is to just dive in and experiment.
Pick a few of your favorite stocks or ETFs and apply these extended-hours settings to their charts. Watch how they behave when the broader market is closed. You'll start to notice patterns and gain insights that regular-hours charts just can't show you.
To go even deeper, the TradingView Help Center is your best friend. It's packed with detailed tutorials and community-built scripts specifically designed to help you make the most of this extended session data. For traders who want to take their analysis further, tools like Pineify make it incredibly easy to build custom indicators and strategies without any coding knowledge, allowing you to create precisely the tools you need to analyze extended hours data effectively. If you're serious about building automated strategies, The 2025 Retail Trader's Playbook: From Zero to Automated Trading Hero (Without Losing Your Shirt) provides a comprehensive roadmap for getting started.
And don't keep your discoveries to yourself! Share your most interesting charts and insights in the TradingView Community. It's a fantastic place to chat with other traders, get feedback on your ideas, and pick up new strategies. You learn so much by seeing how others interpret the same data.