ThinkOrSwim is powerful trading software. That power comes with a cost: complexity. When you first open the platform, you're faced with tabs, gadgets, windows, and settings that don't immediately make sense. If you've ever tried to pull up a chart from a scanner result or view fundamentals for a stock in your watchlist and nothing happened, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
I spent months figuring out how to set up ThinkOrSwim in a way that actually worked for me. The learning curve was real. Double-clicking things that shouldn't be double-clicked, right-clicking menus that led nowhere, trying to get a simple chart to load and coming up empty. It was frustrating.
But once you understand how ThinkOrSwim's linking system works and how to use FlexibleGrid charts, the whole platform opens up. This guide will walk you through customizing ThinkOrSwim charts from scratch, so you can build a day trading workspace that fits your style without spending months figuring it out on your own.
Watch the Complete Tutorial
The video above walks through the entire process in detail, showing exactly how to create each chart and layout from start to finish.
Understanding Linking: The Foundation of ThinkOrSwim
Before you customize anything, you need to understand linking. This is the concept that unlocks everything else in ThinkOrSwim. Without it, the software feels broken.
ThinkOrSwim has different components throughout the interface: charts, scanners, watchlists, fundamental screens, news gadgets, and more. Most of these components can be linked to one of nine numbers, each with its own color:
- 1: Red
- 2: Yellow
- 3: Blue
- 4: Green
- 5: Purple
- 6: Maroon
- 7: Orange
- 8: Brown
- 9: Lilac
When two gadgets are linked to the same color, they communicate. If you enter a ticker symbol in one gadget, that symbol automatically loads into every other gadget linked to the same color.
For example, if you have a chart linked to red and a fundamental analysis window also linked to red, clicking a stock in your scanner and dragging it to the chart will also load that stock's fundamentals. Everything updates together. This is what makes ThinkOrSwim efficient instead of tedious.
Until you grasp this, you'll be manually typing ticker symbols into every window, which defeats the entire point of the platform.
Plain Charts vs FlexibleGrid Charts
ThinkOrSwim offers two main types of charts: plain charts and FlexibleGrid charts.
Plain charts are single-timeframe views. You open one, you see one chart with one set of indicators. They're simple and work fine if you only need to look at one thing at a time.
FlexibleGrid charts are where the real power lives. A FlexibleGrid lets you divide your screen into multiple cells, each displaying different timeframes, indicators, or gadgets. You can have a 5-minute chart, a 1-minute chart, news, Active Trader, Level 2 quotes, and time and sales all in one unified window, all linked to the same stock.
For day trading, FlexibleGrids are essential. They let you monitor multiple perspectives on the same stock without switching between windows.
Creating Your First FlexibleGrid Layout
Let's build a basic day trading layout from scratch.
Step 1: Open a New FlexibleGrid
Go to the Charts tab and select FlexibleGrid. Choose how many cells you want to start with. For a simple layout, start with four cells in a 2x2 grid.
Step 2: Link Everything to One Color
Each cell in your grid has a linking option in the top-left corner. Click it and set all cells to the same color. Red is a good default. Now every cell will respond to the same ticker symbol.
Step 3: Assign Different Views to Each Cell
Click inside each cell and decide what you want it to show:
- Top left: 5-minute chart (your primary decision-making timeframe)
- Top right: 1-minute chart (for precise entry and exit timing)
- Bottom left: Daily chart (for broader context)
- Bottom right: Active Trader (for order entry)
You can add these by clicking the gear icon in each cell and selecting the gadget type.
Step 4: Customize Your Chart Settings
This is where you add indicators, adjust colors, and set up the look of each chart.
Right-click on a chart and select "Edit Studies." Add moving averages, volume, or whatever technical indicators you use. Common choices include:
- 9-period exponential moving average
- 20-period simple moving average
- VWAP (volume-weighted average price)
- RSI or MACD if you use momentum indicators
Adjust the time aggregation for each chart. Your 5-minute chart should show the current day with 5-minute bars. Your 1-minute chart should be set to 1-minute bars. Your daily chart can show a year of daily bars for context.
Step 5: Set Chart Defaults to Copy Styles
Here's a time-saving trick. Once you've customized one chart exactly how you want it, you don't need to rebuild those settings for every other chart.
Right-click on your finished chart, go to Style, and select "Set Chart Default." This saves your current chart settings as the default template.
Now, go to any other chart in your grid, right-click, select Style, and choose "Reset to Chart Default." That chart will instantly adopt all the same indicators, colors, and settings from your template.
This works across different timeframes. You set up your 5-minute chart with all your indicators, save it as the default, then apply it to your 1-minute and daily charts. They'll all have the same look and feel, just with different time aggregations.
Building Multi-Stock Layouts
Once you've built a layout for one stock, you can expand it to monitor multiple stocks simultaneously.
One-Stock Layout
Start with a layout dedicated to a single stock. Link everything to one color (say, red). This gives you full visibility on one position: multiple timeframes, news, order entry, Level 2 quotes, time and sales.
Save this layout with a descriptive name like "DT-1up-Red."
Two-Stock Layout
Duplicate your one-stock layout and split it in half. The top half gets linked to one color (brown, number 8), and the bottom half gets linked to another color (lilac, number 9).
Now you can track two stocks at once. Each half has its own 5-minute chart, 1-minute chart, Active Trader window, and so on. You can monitor two positions without switching screens.
Use the "Set Chart Default" trick to apply your chart styles to both halves quickly. Customize the top half, save the style, then reset all the charts in the bottom half to match.
Save this as "DT-2up-89-BrownLilac."
Four-Stock Layout
For more active trading, create a four-quadrant layout. Split your screen into four sections, each linked to a different color:
- Top left: Maroon (6)
- Top right: Orange (7)
- Bottom left: Brown (8)
- Bottom right: Lilac (9)
Each quadrant gets a compact version of your trading setup. You won't fit as many gadgets, so prioritize the essentials: a 5-minute chart, a 1-minute chart, and Active Trader. If you have room, add Level 2 or time and sales.
This layout is dense, but if you're used to managing multiple things at once (like playing several poker tables simultaneously), it's manageable. The 5-minute chart sits in the center of each quadrant because that's the primary timeframe most day traders work from.
Which layout do you prefer? Do you focus on one stock at a time with maximum detail, or do you like monitoring several positions at once? Let me know in the comments.
Adding Active Trader and Level 2 Data
The Active Trader window gives you one-click order entry, position tracking, and real-time profit and loss. It's essential for day trading.
To add it to a FlexibleGrid cell, click the gear icon and select "Active Trader." Link it to the same color as the rest of your layout. Now, when you load a stock into your charts, Active Trader loads that stock too.
You can customize which buttons appear in Active Trader. Some traders remove unnecessary buttons to streamline the interface. Just remember to manually adjust the quantity field when switching between stocks, especially if you're using different position sizes.
Level 2 quotes show the order book: bids and asks at different price levels. Time and Sales shows the tape of executed trades in real time. Both provide insight into market depth and momentum.
Add these the same way you add any gadget: click the gear icon, select the gadget type, and link it to your color.
Saving and Loading Your Layouts
Once you've built a layout, save it. Click the save icon in the FlexibleGrid menu, give it a clear name, and it's stored for future use.
Good naming conventions help. Use descriptive labels like:
- "DT-1up-Red" (day trading, one stock, red link)
- "DT-2up-89-BrownLilac" (day trading, two stocks, linked to brown and lilac)
- "DT-4up-Kaleidoscope" (day trading, four stocks in a grid)
When you open ThinkOrSwim in the morning, you can load your saved layout with one click instead of rebuilding everything from scratch.
Practical Tips from Real Use
A few things you learn after using these layouts for a while:
Start simple. Don't try to build a four-stock layout on day one. Start with a single-stock setup, get comfortable with linking, and expand from there.
Color-coding becomes automatic. At first, remembering which number corresponds to which color feels clunky. After a week, you stop thinking about it. Brown is 8, lilac is 9, maroon is 6. It becomes muscle memory.
Paper money mode is your friend. ThinkOrSwim's paper trading feature lets you practice with fake money. Use it. Build your layouts, test your workflow, make sure everything works before risking real capital.
The "On Demand" feature is incredibly useful. This lets you replay historical trading days. You can go back, see how a stock moved, test your setups, and refine your approach. It's one of the best learning tools in the platform.
More data isn't always better. You might be tempted to cram as many indicators and gadgets as possible into every cell. Resist. Too much information becomes noise. Stick to what you actually use.
Check your Active Trader quantity settings. When switching between stocks with different position sizes, it's easy to forget to adjust the quantity in Active Trader. Double-check before you click buy or sell.
A Final Word
ThinkOrSwim can feel overwhelming at first. That's normal. It's a professional-grade platform with a lot of depth. But once you understand linking and get comfortable building FlexibleGrid layouts, it becomes a tool that adapts to your trading style instead of forcing you to adapt to it.
This isn't about becoming an expert overnight. It's about building a workspace that makes sense for you, one piece at a time. Start with a single chart, add a gadget, link them together, and see how it feels. Tweak it. Save it. Expand it.
You don't need to copy my exact setup. Use it as a starting point, then adjust based on what works for your strategy and preferences.
Want to see this entire process in action? The full video tutorial above walks through every step in real time, showing exactly how to create these charts, apply styles, and build multi-stock layouts from scratch. It's detailed, but if you're new to ThinkOrSwim, it'll save you weeks of trial and error.
If you've customized ThinkOrSwim yourself, what does your setup look like? Have you found any tricks that make the process faster or easier? Drop a comment below and share what's worked for you.
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