Scanner Prerequisites
Getting Access to TradingView Scanner
- When purchasing the scanner make sure to provide your TradingView username in the designated box
- If you forget to add your TradingView username during the purchase email it to scriptedtrading@gmail.com
- Being added to the access list does not happen automatically.
- Your access will be granted usually within an hour, but depending on the time of day you purchase this may take up to a few hours
- Once your access is granted the Notifications icon on the right-side will show a red bubble indicating you have a new notification. The notifications panel will show that you have been granted access to the scanner
- If you are using TradingView in a web browser refresh the browser tab.
- If you are using TradingView desktop use ctrl+r to refresh your tab (cmd+r on Mac)
- On the indicators screen there should be a section called "Invite-only scripts"
- In the "Invite-only scripts" section you will see both the "Volume Spike Scanner" and "Crypto Volume Spike Scanner" if all of the above steps are complete
Get the NASDAQ and NYSE Data Subscriptions
To get the best performance from the volume scanner when using with stocks you need to get the NYSE and NASDAQ data subscriptions added to your TradingView account. These are $3/month each. TradingView does not let Basic (free) accounts subscribe to this data. They will require you to have at least a Pro subscription.
If you don't have the data subscriptions then the data TradingView is providing you is actually data from the CBOE BZX exchange. The volume spikes with this data can be very very different from actual NYSE and NASDAQ data. Therefore, the signals on the scanner will be very different and you may miss a lot of trade opportunities. (Read more here)
To check which data you're seeing pull up the settings of the scanner and scroll down to the Symbol Lists. If you see "BATS" before each ticker in the list then you should add the NYSE and NASDAQ subscriptions to your account. If you see "NYSE" and "NASDAQ" before each ticker you're good to go.
Preparing the Layout and the Chart
Use a Two Chart Layout and Dedicate One Chart to the Scanner
Set the timeframe of this chart to 3m
Why do this?
The 3m timeframe is recommended because the scanner uses data from a low timeframe. TradingView Pine Script does not behave well when trying to use data from low timeframes if the chart is set to a high timeframe. In most cases the table won't render.
Also, the 3m timeframe was found in testing to give better performance when compared to 1m and 2m timeframes.
Set the background ticker on this chart to a very liquid ticker
Clear the Scanner Chart In Chart Settings
On the scanner dedicated chart open the chart settings and make the following changes:
1. Click the Hide chart button (eyeball icon) (hover cursor over ticker name to see icon)
2. Open the Chart Settings and do the following:
- Symbol section - Turn on Regular Trading Hours (Not in the list if the chart is set to crypto)
- Status Line section - Uncheck Logo, Title, OHLC, Bar change, Volume, Arguments, Values
- Scales section - Uncheck the top 11 boxes
- Canvas section - Set Grid Lines Opacity to 0%, Set Lines Opacity to 0%
- Trading section - Turn Buy/Sell Buttons off
- Events section - Uncheck all boxes
3. Remove the Volume indicator (Hover cursor over top left of chart to find the indicator)
Making the above changes limits any chart elements from obscuring the scanner tables.
End Result:
Standard Setup for Stock Scanning
Get the NASDAQ and NYSE Data Subscriptions
(See beginning of post for these details)
Add the Scanner Six Times
Each table can only display 40 tickers. This is a limitation that TradingView imposes. To watch the full set of 240 pre-loaded stocks you need to use 6 tables. That means add the indicator 6 times to the chart.
When you first add them all 6 will be laying on top of each other and showing the same stock list. To set them up side-by-side open the settings panel for each table and change the values for the “Table Number” and “Pre-Load List #” fields.
Leave the first table with the default value “1” for both fields. In the next table change the value of both fields to “2”. This will move the table one whole table space to the left and change the ticker list to the second list hardcoded into the defaults. In the next table set the value of both fields to “3”. Continue this for the last three tables.
You can add more tables if you want to watch more tickers. This will require also customizing the list of tickers for that table.
I keep a 7th table for focus on large caps. AAPL, AMD, AMZN, BA, COIN, GOOGL, META, MSFT, NFLX, NVDA, and TSLA
Keep the Minimum Volume Filter On
For the tickers on the pre-loaded stock lists I’ve found it’s best to remove signals from volume spikes that are low volume.
Use Compact Mode to Save Screen Space (now on by default)
Using 6 or more scanner tables can take up a lot of screen space. If you want to reduce the footprint of the tables check the box for “Compact Mode” in the user settings for each table. This will make the tables roughly half their normal width.
Save and Rename the Layout
After completing all of the setup steps and getting everything laid out how you like it save your layout and give it a name. This way if you have to restart TradingView or if you mess with the layout you can easily reload all the work you just did.
1. Hit "Save Layout"
2. Turn off Autosave
3. Hit "Rename..." and type in a name for the layout
Now your layout is saved and you can reload it as needed in the future.
Setup for Crypto Scanning
No Extra Data Subscription Needed
TradingView provides free real-time data for cryptocurrency charts. So unlike with stocks you can use the scanner to find crypto volume spike signals with a Basic (Free) account. No TradingView subscription needed.
Turn the Minimum Volume Filter Off
Uncheck the box in settings for Minimum Volume Filter. A filter of 10,000 would remove significant volume spike signals for some crypto such as BTC and ETH.
Use the Separate Crypto Volume Spike Scanner
I had to separate out the crypto scanning list into it's own indicator for performance reasons. Now to scan crypto add the "Crypto Volume Spike Scanner" indicator to your chart.
Set the background chart to BTCUSD
Make sure the background chart that the scanner table is sitting on is set to a liquid cryptocurrency such as BTCUSD. If the background chart is set to a stock then the signals on the table will not update during off-market hours.Setting Up and Using Alerts
Setting up alerts on the scanner tables is a three step process. You need to set up alerts for every table individually so repeat the below process for all the tables that you are using.
1. Set alert levels in the scanner settings.
Typically just the top two levels (Orange and Yellow) will be enough to alert the most important signals. (If you're using a 7th table for large cap focus I also turn on Green and Light Green alerts)
Keep Bright Only and Market Hours Only set to on
Set the values for "Start Alerts # Minutes After Open" and "End Alerts # Minutes Before Close". The default value is 7. This will prevent alerts from being sent during the first and last 7 minutes of the market. The market open and close are the times that have the most alerts and these inputs allow you to prevent being bombarded with alerts during these times.
Hit OK in the scanner settings once you've chosen your alerts.
2. Select the "..." icon and select Add Alert
It's important that this step is done after step 1 and both steps are done for the same table.
3. Configure the Alert Settings and Notifications
Nothing needs to be changed on the Alert Settings tab. If you prefer you can shorten the Alert Name to remove all the extra text.
The Alert Notifications tab is what's important. Here you choose the type of alerts you want to get.
"Notify in app" is for mobile notifications. You need to have the TradingView mobile app installed, login with your account, and set your phone to allow notifications from this app for this to work.
"Show pop-up" will display a pop-up on the TradingView screen each time an alert is triggered.
"Play sound" will make a sound each time an alert is triggered.
Repeat the above 3 steps for each table you are using. If you're using all 6 of the pre-load lists then repeat for all 6 of the tables.
Tips When Using Alerts
Alerts May Trigger More Than Once
There's a known issue where an alert might be sent more than once for the same signal. It may just be a limitation on TradingView, but if a fix is found the scanner will be updated.
Pause All Alerts As Needed
If for any reason you temporarily want to pause all alerts you can do that using the clock icon on the right side of TradingView. Hit the 3 dots to open the Settings Menu as shown in the first image below. Then select "Stop All" as shown in the second image below. This will maintain all your alerts settings but pause the alerts until you're ready to turn them on again.
To turn them all back on use "Restart all inactive" as shown in the second image below.
24/7 Crypto Alerts
After setting an alert on a scanner table with the cryptocurrency list you can get mobile notifications 24/7 allowing you to catch a trade on high volume crypto moves from anywhere.
Reading Mobile Notifications
Mobile notifications will contain 2 lines of text. The 1st line can be misleading and should be ignored because the ticker that is shown is simply the active ticker of the chart on which the scanner tables have been added. The 2nd line of text is the key line that provides the ticker that had a volume spike as well as the level of intensity of the volume spike.
Other Tips
Make Sure You Get The Updates
When an update is published to the scanner you will get an email notifying you of the update and also a notification in the Ideas Stream section on the right-side of TradingView.
The updated script will NOT automatically be reflected in the scanner tables that you already have on the chart. So to ensure that you are using the latest code updates remove the scanner tables, refresh the TradingView tab using ctrl+r (cmd+r for Mac), and add the scanner tables again.
Customize the Ticker Lists
All 6 hardcoded symbol lists are fully customizable. You can replace any ticker on the list with another one.
Use the Other Positioning Inputs
The "Compact Mode" and "Table Number" settings were already covered above. The other two positioning settings are "Move Down" and "Adjust Right Side Spacing".
Increase the "Move Down" setting if you want extra space between the top of the table and the top of the chart space.
Increase or decrease the "Adjust Right Side Spacing" setting to slightly move the table left or right. Most likely this can be left at zero, but if the table are overlapping slightly that can be fixed by adjusting this setting.
Study Error: Calculation Timed Out
Every now and then this error will appear on one of the scanner tables. Usually it's happened over night and I see it when I pull up TradingView in the morning.
It also happens when loading a saved layout. TradingView will try to render several scanner tables at one time and a couple may fail to render.
The fix for this is very simple. Even though the error message says to "Remove the indicator and reapply it to the chart" you don't have to do that. Simply open the Settings panel for the study and change one of the values and change it back. I usually just move the Table Number setting up by 1 and then back down to what it was. This will trigger TradingView to render the table again and the error will go away.
Tips for Different TradingView Subscription Levels
Basic (Free)
If you have a Basic account in TradingView, meaning no paid subscription, then here are the limitations.
TradingView will not let you add NYSE and NASDAQ data subscriptions without upgrading to a Pro account. This means when scanning the stock lists for volume spike signals the signals you are seeing are going to be very very different than the real market signals. NOTE: There may be a workaround to this by connecting your broker to your TradingView account.
No split chart layouts and limit of 3 indicators per chart. This means you can't add the full set of stock tables on a single chart. You will have to get clever and make use of multiple tabs/windows and add the scanner 3 times to each. (Probably not even worth the effort due to the previous NYSE and NASDAQ data issue)
Cryptocurrency scanning still works perfectly as TradingView provides this data for free. You just might need to keep the scanner on a separate tab/window than your main chart and have the chart with the scanner set to the 1m or 3m timeframe and have the chart ticker set to a liquid cryptocurrency.
Pro
A Pro account has far fewer limitations than the Basic account.
NYSE and NASDAQ data subscriptions can be added.
You can have 2 charts per tab and 5 indicators per chart. You still may need to make use of an extra tab/window to get all 6 tables with pre-set stock lists.
Pro+ and Premium
If you have a Pro+ or Premium account on TradingView then you will have no limitations when using the scanner.
Just make sure you also have NYSE and NASDAQ data subscriptions.