Volume Profile

Volume Profile shows how much volume traded at each price during a period. It turns the day's trading into a histogram beside the candles, so you can see where the market accepted price and where it moved through quickly.

Category Volume and profileApplies to Web and DesktopUpdated 2 Nov 2026Read time 5 min

Shows: A volume histogram per period, with POC and value area lines
Resets: At the end of each period. The default is every 1 day
Best on: Intraday time charts

What it measures

The profile adds up the volume traded at each price level over the period you choose. Longer bars mean more volume at that price.

Point of control (POC) is the price with the most volume.
Value area (VA) is the range around the POC that holds a set share of the volume. It starts at the POC and adds the next price above and below until it holds the share you set. The default is 70%.
High and low of the value area are the VA High and VA Low.

With Split Profile on, each period gets two profiles: one for regular trading hours (RTH) and one for the rest of the day, the extended trading hours (ETH). Each has its own session, shape, color and lines. Above each profile, a summary shows Vol (total volume), Rng (high minus low) and Ch (close minus open).

On the chart

ES on a 3-minute chart on live data. Each session gets its own profile: the bars show how much traded at each price, and the line marks the point of control.

Add Volume Profile to a chart

In the chart header, click Indicators.
Type profile in Search indicators and click VolumeProfile.
Change the settings on the right.

Volume Profile allows one copy per chart and is not available on tick charts. For one profile over the whole chart, see Composite Profile.

Settings

VolumeProfile selected in the Indicators window, with its settings on the right.

General

Setting	What it does	Default
Profile Period	How the chart is divided into profiles. Choose Last or Every, enter a number, then pick a unit: Bars, Minutes, Days, Weeks, Month, Quarters or Years. To Present builds one profile from a date you pick to now. All Bars and Visible Bars build one profile from all or the visible bars.	Every 1 Days
Profile Type	Volume adds contracts traded. Ticks adds the number of trades. Price is also listed.	Volume
Hide	Tick the box and choose Last Profile or All Profiles to hide those profiles.	Off
Value Area, %	Share of volume the value area holds, 0 to 100.	70
Smoothed..	Smooths the profile across the number of Prices you enter.	Off, 9 prices
Profile Alignment	Two icon buttons. They draw profiles from the left or the right edge of the period.	Left
Calculate X profiles	The most recent number of profiles to calculate. Minimum 1.	999
Use custom tick size	Groups prices into rows of Ticks per price ticks each.	Off, 5 ticks
Background Color	Color of the box behind each profile.

Profile Settings

Turn on Split Profile to set the RTH and ETH profiles separately. The two blocks are named RTH Session and ETH Session. With the switch off, one block applies to the whole period. With it on, Overlay ETH over RTH appears and draws the ETH profile on top of the RTH profile.

Setting	What it does	Default
Split Profile	Gives RTH and ETH their own profile settings.	On
Overlay ETH over RTH	Draws the ETH profile over the RTH profile. Shown when Split Profile is on.	Off
Session Template	The trading hours the block covers. The defaults are the US RTH and US ETH sessions. Shown in the RTH Session and ETH Session blocks.	US RTH, US ETH
Profile Type	The shape: Hollow Blocks, Dots, Lines, Hollowgram, Solidgram, Filled Line, Hollow Line or Solid Block.	Solidgram
Color mode	The dropdown under the shape: Profile Color, Heat Map, Custom Blend or FP Shading.	Profile Color
Profile width	Width of the profile in px or %. In percent, the maximum is 100.	RTH 80%, ETH 30%
Extend Naked POCs	Extends a POC to the right until price trades through it. A POC that price has not revisited is called naked.	On
Extend Naked	Extends the Closes, the highs and lows (Hi&Lo) or all three (Cl,Hi,Lo) of each period until price trades through them. Set the color and line style beside it.	Off, Cl,Hi,Lo
Inside VA Opacity	Opacity of the profile inside the value area, 0 to 100.	50
Outside VA Opacity	Opacity of the profile outside the value area, 0 to 100.	50

POC and Value Area Lines

Two columns, POC and Value Area (VA), each with three rows. Tick a box to draw the line, then set its color and line style. The same rows exist for RTH and ETH when Split Profile is on.

Row	What it draws	Default
Current	The POC, or the VA high and low, of each period across that period.	POC on, VA off
Previous	The previous profile's POC or VA, carried into the current period.	Off
Dev	The developing POC or VA, which moves as the period builds.	Off

Graphics

Setting	What it does	Default
Summary: Enabled	Shows the Vol, Rng and Ch summary above each profile when there is room.	On
Summary Font	Font Open Sans or Monospace, weight Regular, Bold or Bolder, and size.	Open Sans, Regular, 12
Summary Color	Color of the summary text.

How traders read it

High volume nodes: wide parts of the profile mark prices the market accepted. Price tends to slow or rotate there.
Low volume areas: thin parts mark prices that traded quickly. Price often moves through them fast.
POC and value area: traders watch whether price opens inside the previous value area, and whether it holds above or below it.
Naked POCs: a POC that price has not revisited is often treated as a magnet.

Tip. Use the Previous row to carry yesterday's POC and value area into today without searching back for them. Compare them with VWAP for a second view of fair value.

Was this article helpful?