Building Your Watchlist & Saving Your Layout

Introduction

Congratulations! You've come a long way already. You can navigate TradingView, read candlesticks, and add indicators to your charts.

But here's the thing: Every time you want to analyze a different trading pair, do you really want to search for it, add all your indicators again, adjust all the settings, and start from scratch?

Of course not! That would waste a lot of time.

That's why professional traders use watchlists and saved chart layouts. These features let you work smarter, not harder.

In this section, you're going to:

• Build a custom watchlist so you can switch between your favorite trading pairs with a single click
• Save your entire chart setup (with all your indicators perfectly configured) so you can load it anytime

Let's make your TradingView workspace efficient and personalized!

Topic 4.1: Creating a Custom Watchlist

What Is a Watchlist?

A watchlist is your personal list of trading pairs (or stocks, indices, etc.) that you want to keep an eye on.

Instead of typing "BTCUSD" or "EURUSD" into the search bar every time you want to see a chart, you just click on it in your watchlist and—boom—the chart loads instantly.

Locating the Watchlist Panel in TradingView

Let's find your watchlist panel.

1. Look at the right side of your TradingView screen When you're on the main charting page, you should see a sidebar on the right side of the screen. This sidebar has several tabs: Watchlist (list or star icon), Alerts (bell icon), News (newspaper icon), and Ideas (lightbulb icon).
2. Click on the "Watchlist" tab Usually at the top of the right sidebar. If you don't see the right sidebar at all, look for a small arrow icon on the right edge of your screen. Click it to expand the sidebar.
3. You'll see a default watchlist TradingView usually creates a default watchlist with popular symbols like SPX (S&P 500), AAPL (Apple), TSLA (Tesla), maybe some forex or crypto pairs. This is fine, but we're going to create your own custom watchlist.

Adding Symbols to Your Watchlist

Let's add your first trading pairs to a custom watchlist.

1. Create a new watchlist At the top of the Watchlist panel, you'll see the current watchlist name (probably "Watchlist 1" or "Default"). Click on the watchlist name. A dropdown menu will appear. Click "Create new list" or "New watchlist".
2. Name your watchlist A box will pop up asking you to name your new watchlist. Type a clear name like: "Forex & Crypto – Main", "My Trading Pairs", or "Beginner Practice Pairs". Choose whatever makes sense to you. Click "Create" or "Save".
3. Add symbols to your watchlist Look for a "+" button or "Add symbol" button at the top or bottom of the Watchlist panel. Click it. A search box will appear. Type the first symbol: EURUSD. Select it from the dropdown. It will be added to your watchlist!
4. Add more symbols Repeat this process for: EURUSD (forex), USDJPY (forex), BTCUSD or BTCUSDT (crypto - choose Binance), ETHUSD or ETHUSDT (crypto - choose Binance), and any other pairs you're interested in (GBPUSD, AUDUSD, XAUUSD, SOLUSDT, etc.)

Organizing and Renaming Your Watchlist for Easy Reference

As you add more symbols over time, your watchlist might get messy. Here's how to keep it organized.

Rearranging symbols:

You can usually click and drag symbols up or down in your watchlist to reorder them. For example, you might want to group all your forex pairs at the top and all your crypto pairs at the bottom.

Removing symbols:

If you want to remove a symbol from your watchlist, right-click on it (or hover over it and look for a small X or trash icon). Select "Remove from watchlist" or click the X. Don't worry—this doesn't delete the symbol from TradingView. It just removes it from your personal list. You can always add it back later.

Creating multiple watchlists:

You can create multiple watchlists for different purposes. For example:

• "Forex – Major Pairs" (EURUSD, USDJPY, GBPUSD, etc.)
• "Crypto – Top 10" (BTC, ETH, BNB, SOL, etc.)
• "High Risk – Practice Only" (volatile pairs you're studying but not trading yet)

To switch between watchlists, just click the watchlist name dropdown at the top of the Watchlist panel and select the one you want to view.

Quickly Switching Between Pairs from Your Watchlist

Here's where the magic happens.

Once your watchlist is set up, switching between charts is super easy.

Topic 4.2: Saving Your Chart Layout for Reuse

Why Saving Layouts Saves Time

Right now, your chart probably has:

• 20-period SMA (blue)
• 50-period EMA (red)
• RSI (14)
• MACD (12, 26, 9)
• Volume

You spent time adding these indicators, configuring their settings, choosing colors, adjusting line thickness, and organizing them on your chart.

What happens if you close TradingView or refresh the page?

Sometimes, TradingView will remember your setup. But sometimes, it won't—especially if you're using a free account or switching devices.

A saved layout is like taking a snapshot of your entire workspace. When you load it, everything comes back exactly as you set it up—all your indicators, all your settings, all your colors—ready to go in one second.

How to Save a Chart Layout with All Your Indicators Pre-Configured

Let's save your current chart setup right now.

1. Make sure your chart is how you want it Before saving, double-check that: All your indicators are added (SMA, EMA, RSI, MACD, Volume), the settings are correct (20 SMA, 50 EMA, etc.), the colors and line thickness look good, and everything is organized the way you like. If anything needs adjustment, fix it now.
2. Click the "Layouts" button Look at the very top of your TradingView screen, usually near the center or slightly to the right. You'll see a button that says "Chart Layout" or just "Layouts" (might have a small icon that looks like stacked rectangles). Click on it. A dropdown menu will appear.
3. Select "Save As..." In the dropdown menu, you'll see options like: Save, Save As..., Load Layout, Rename, Delete. Click "Save As..."
4. Name your layout A box will pop up asking you to name your layout. Choose a clear, descriptive name like: "Beginner Setup – Chapter 4", "Forex & Crypto – 5 Indicators", "My Main Trading Setup", or "SMA + EMA + RSI + MACD + Volume". Type your chosen name and click "Save" or "OK".

Loading Saved Layouts for Instant Chart Setup

Now let's test it out.

1. Mess up your chart (on purpose) Go ahead and: Remove a few indicators (click the X icon on RSI or MACD), change the colors of your moving averages, switch to a different chart type (like a line chart instead of candlesticks). Your chart should look different now—maybe even messy or incomplete.
2. Load your saved layout Click the "Layouts" button at the top. Look for the name of the layout you just saved (for example, "Beginner Setup – Chapter 4"). Click on it.
3. Boom! Instant restoration In one second, your chart is back to exactly how you had it: All indicators are back, all settings are correct, colors and line thickness—everything exactly as you saved it.

Using Saved Layouts Across Different Symbols

Here's another cool thing: Your saved layout works on any trading pair.

Try this:

• Load your saved layout ("Beginner Setup – Chapter 4")
• Switch to EURUSD using your watchlist → All your indicators appear on the EURUSD chart
• Switch to BTCUSDT using your watchlist → All your indicators appear on the BTCUSDT chart

Important Note: Free TradingView Accounts Have Limitations

Here's something important to know:

What If I Hit the Indicator Limit?

If you try to add a 4th or 5th indicator and TradingView won't let you, you'll see a message like: "You've reached the maximum number of indicators. Upgrade to add more."

If that happens, here's what you can do:

Option 1: Prioritize your indicators

Choose the 3 most important indicators for your trading style. For example:

• Keep: SMA, RSI, MACD
• Remove: EMA (since SMA already shows trend), Volume (use less)

Option 2: Use different indicators at different times

You can have different saved layouts for different purposes:

• Layout 1: SMA, EMA, Volume (for trend analysis)
• Layout 2: RSI, MACD, Volume (for momentum analysis)

Switch between layouts depending on what you're analyzing.

Option 3: Consider upgrading (optional, not required for this course)

TradingView offers paid plans (Pro, Pro+, Premium) that remove these limits. But again, you do NOT need to upgrade for this course. The free plan is more than enough for learning and practicing.

Quick Summary

Let's recap what you just learned:

• You created a custom watchlist – You added your favorite trading pairs so you can access them with one click
• You learned to organize your watchlist – You can add, remove, rename, and reorder symbols to keep everything tidy
• You can switch between pairs instantly – Just click any symbol in your watchlist and the chart updates immediately
• You saved your chart layout – You created a complete snapshot of your workspace with all indicators and settings
• You can load your layout anytime – No matter what happens, you can restore your perfect setup in one click
• You understand free account limitations – Free accounts have limits, but these are manageable and don't prevent effective learning

Common Mistakes & Tips

What's Next?

Excellent work! You now have a personalized, efficient TradingView workspace that's ready for serious practice.

In the next (and final) section of this chapter, you're going to learn about TradingView's Paper Trading feature. This is where you'll practice placing actual trades—without risking a single penny of real money.

You'll learn how to:

• Enter a simulated trade
• Set a stop loss and take profit
• Manage your position
• Close the trade
• Review your performance

This is the bridge between "looking at charts" and "actually trading." It's one of the most important skills you'll develop, and the best part is: it's completely risk-free.