How to show after hours on TradingView

Turn pre-market and after-hours bars on or off

Open the intended symbol on a time-based intraday chart, such as 5 minutes. In Settings > Symbol > Session, choose Extended trading hours. Select Regular trading hours to return to RTH. The session control near the chart clock provides a shortcut when available. The extended-hours background tint can also be adjusted in Settings.

• If the ETH shortcut is absent, the symbol may have no extended-hours data. TradingView says the Settings option can remain visible even when selecting it has no effect.
• Inspect a completed trading day and compare the first and last displayed timestamps. A color change alone is not evidence that additional bars loaded.
• Record the chart timezone when checking timestamps, and use the same timezone for both views.

Resolve symbol, session, and data restrictions separately

A paid TradingView plan does not include every exchange data subscription. Open the chart market-status details to inspect the feed and any delay. Most supported stock and futures exchanges charge separately for real-time data; changing the session cannot remove a feed delay or create unavailable history.

Recalculate an SMA with and without pre-market bars

This invented example uses a stock with a 09:30 regular-session open in exchange time and 5-minute bars. All prices are hypothetical USD per share. At the close of the bar opening at 09:30, the close is 105. The last two RTH bars from the previous trading day closed at 100 and 102; today's 09:20 and 09:25 pre-market bars closed at 108 and 110. A three-bar SMA includes the current close and the two preceding bars available in its dataset.

• Assume a strategy is flat and creates a buy order only when this first regular bar closes above its three-bar SMA. It creates an order in the RTH case and none in the extended case. This is a condition test, not a crossover test or a measured backtest.
• Allowing entries only during RTH does not remove pre-market bars from an SMA calculated on the extended chart. Decide the calculation session and the permitted entry session independently.
• A longer lookback can retain the effect of pre-market bars well after the open. A matching current close does not imply matching indicator history.

Compare strategy tests with a reproducible session record

Run the same saved strategy twice, changing only the chart session first. Inspect the trade list and indicator values at matching timestamps. TradingView's broker emulator normally fills a market order on the next available tick; with default bar-close calculation, that is usually the following bar's open. An extra session can change both the signal inputs and the next available bar.

• Use an overlapping test period with enough preceding bars for the indicator. If either run lacks that history, mark the comparison incomplete.
• A script can explicitly request a session-specific dataset. Inspect those requests before assuming that every calculation follows the chart toggle.
• Start by explaining the first differing trade. A changed trade count or net profit alone cannot tell you whether the cause was an entry condition, a changed bar boundary, or simulated execution.
• After isolating the session effect, hold the chosen session fixed during parameter comparisons. Evaluate selected parameters on a separate period; historical fit does not establish future performance.

Keep displayed prices separate from executable orders

Displaying ETH candles is a chart-data choice. For supported instruments and connections, TradingView documents separate Fill order outside RTH and Fill take profit outside RTH controls in the order panel. The first applies to limit orders; the second requires an enabled take-profit order. Check the actual connection, instrument, and order instructions before relying on extended-hours execution.

• Inspect the Orders tab to confirm which orders permit execution outside RTH. A permitted order can still remain unfilled.
• Paper Trading fills are simulated. Strategy Tester fills come from a broker emulator. Neither proves that a live broker would accept or execute the same order.