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# How to Set Up a TradingView Watchlist for Day Trading
- URL: https://www.daytraderincome.com/tradingview-watchlist-setup/
- Published: 2026-10-27T22:29:11.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-31T23:10:35.000Z
- Description: Set up one TradingView watchlist for day trading: four sections, the columns that matter, the free plan limits and what to check on every name before the open.
- Author: Indy Karveli
- Tags: Tools

**Short answer:** open the watchlist panel on the right of your TradingView chart, split one list into sections (Market, Core, In play today and Strongest), show the Chg% column, and keep it short. On the free Basic plan you get one watchlist with up to 30 symbols, which is plenty.

## Step 1: open the watchlist

Open a chart in [TradingView](https://www.tradingview.com/?aff%5Fid=1173482&ref=daytraderincome.com) (affiliate link). The watchlist lives in the panel on the right side of the screen. If it's hidden, click the watchlist icon at the top of that right-hand toolbar. Click **+** to add a symbol.

## Step 2: add four sections

Use the watchlist menu to add sections, so one list works like several:

1. **Market:** SPY, QQQ and IWM. Add NQ1! or ES1! if you trade futures. This is your yardstick.
2. **Core:** five to ten big, liquid stocks you get to know well. Think the largest tech names that trade millions of shares a day.
3. **In play today:** three to five stocks moving more than usual this morning, usually on news. Clear and refill it every day from [the screener](https://www.daytraderincome.com/tradingview-stock-screener-for-day-trading/).
4. **Strongest / weakest:** names beating or lagging the market today. That's [relative strength](https://www.daytraderincome.com/relative-strength-day-trading/).

## Step 3: show the right columns

Make sure **Chg%** is visible. With SPY and QQQ at the top of the list, you can see at a glance which stocks are beating the market.

## What to check on each name before the open

- Why is it moving? Earnings, news, an upgrade.
- How far did it gap from yesterday's close?
- Is volume heavier than normal?
- Where are yesterday's high and low, and the pre-market high and low? Draw them with the horizontal line tool.

## Free plan limits

- **One watchlist, 30 symbols** on Basic. Paid plans raise it to 1,000 symbols per list.
- **Three active price alerts** on Basic. Save them for the levels that matter. See [how to set alerts on TradingView](https://www.daytraderincome.com/tradingview-alerts/).
- Plan details change; TradingView's pricing page has the current numbers.

## Keep it clean

A watchlist that keeps growing stops being a shortlist. Clear In play every morning, swap out core names that have gone quiet for weeks, and never keep a stock just because you're hoping it comes back.

Want to practice the whole routine without risking money? [the Paper Route](https://www.daytraderincome.com/paper-route/) is my free course: build the watchlist, run the screener, then trade 30 sessions on paper.

*Education only, not investment advice. The stocks named here are examples, not recommendations. Most people who day trade lose money.*