Live · 23 Oct 2026 SPX 7,623.68 -0.52% NDX 28,957.53 +0.00% VIX 19.45 +2.21% GOLD 4,010.00 -1.24% CL 103.44 +3.99% BTC 81,228.08 -0.10%
Free TradingView indicator

[TP] Volume Profile - Mentor

A volume profile sorts one finished stretch of trading by price: how much volume changed hands at each level. This indicator draws the last finished profile, names its three lines in plain words, and then checks something most profile tools never check: what price did when it came back to the value edges on this chart.

Most tools draw the value area and say its edges act as a floor or a ceiling. This one counts it instead. When price first comes back to the value top or the value bottom, it waits ten finished candles and records held, broke through, or no clear move. Then it shows you the count on your chart, both outcomes side by side, and its header says "No clear lean" because it does not pick a side for you. Every number on the panel comes from this chart. It reads finished candles only. The counts are history, not promises.

[TP] Volume Profile - Mentor on a light AAPL one-hour chart: the value top, busiest price and value bottom lines from the last finished session, the finished histogram to the right of the newest candle, circle and square marks where price came back to a value edge, and the Mentor panel at the top left. [TP] Volume Profile - Mentor on a dark AAPL one-hour chart: the value top, busiest price and value bottom lines from the last finished session, the finished histogram to the right of the newest candle, circle and square marks where price came back to a value edge, and the Mentor panel at the top left.
AAPL one hour, default settings. A real chart, an example only, not a recommendation.

What it is in 30 seconds

A volume profile is a classic idea: instead of asking how much traded in each candle, it asks how much traded at each price. Ours draws one finished profile at a time, so its lines never move while you look at them, and it counts what price did at the value edges on this chart. Every number it shows comes from that chart. It describes the past. It does not say what comes next.

One finished profile

On an intraday chart it uses the last finished session. On a daily chart, the last finished week. On a weekly chart, the last finished month. A profile still being built never enters the reading.

Three lines in plain words

Value top, busiest price and value bottom. Hover any of the names at the right edge and the tooltip gives the usual short name too: VAH, POC or VAL.

It counts, and it is honest about the count

Each first return to a value edge is sorted into held, broke through, or no clear move, and the panel shows both outcomes side by side, for example "Here: 84 held, 78 broke into value." on AAPL one hour. It never calls a winner for you.

What counts as a return here

Profile tools rarely say how they build the profile, or what they mean when they say a level "held". This one uses one rule, writes it in the tooltips, and never changes a level once the period has finished.

  1. 1. A finished periodWhen the session, week or month ends, its candles are sorted into 24 price rows. Each candle's volume is shared evenly across every row its high-to-low range touched. The value area grows out from the busiest row until it holds 70 of every 100 units of volume.
  2. 2. Price comes back from outsideA finished candle reaches the value top after the previous candle closed above it, or reaches the value bottom after the previous candle closed below it. Coming within a tenth of a typical candle counts as reaching. Each edge can be counted once per period.
  3. 3. Ten candles decideFrom the next candle, it watches ten finished candles. Held: a close half a typical candle back on the side price came from. Broke through: a close half a typical candle past the level. Neither within ten candles: no clear move.
Built from candles

The profile is an estimate from your chart's own candles, not from every trade. It cannot see where inside a candle the volume happened, so it shares it out evenly. The teaching line says so: "The profile is estimated from candles."

Never moved

Once a period has finished, its three lines stay where they are. A new set of lines starts when the next period finishes. Nothing is drawn from a period or a candle that is still open.

One return at a time

Only one ten-candle window is watched at a time, so the same stretch of candles is never counted twice. A typical candle here means ATR, the average true range of the last 14 candles, fixed on the candle where price came back.

Each part, up close

The value top and the value bottom are treated the same way, mirrored, and counted separately. The marks use shapes, never arrows, so their meaning lives in the shape, not the colour.

Close-up of the value top line on a light chart: a thin solid line starting where the last period finished and running to the right, with its name Value top at the right edge. Close-up of the value top line on a dark chart: a thin solid line starting where the last period finished and running to the right, with its name Value top at the right edge.

 Value top

The upper edge of the value area: the band of prices that held 70 of every 100 units of volume in the last finished period. Its tooltip reads "Value area high (VAH) of the last finished profile."

When price comes down to it from above, that is a return to the value top. Many traders watch this line. The panel shows what such returns did, without claiming that the line will hold price back.

Back to the chart
Close-up of the busiest price line on a light chart: a dashed gold line between the two value lines, named Busiest price at the right edge. Close-up of the busiest price line on a dark chart: a dashed gold line between the two value lines, named Busiest price at the right edge.

 Busiest price

The middle of the row where the most volume changed hands. Its tooltip reads "Point of control (POC) of the last finished profile." If two rows tie, the lower one wins.

The panel teaching line keeps it in proportion: "A busy price shows past trade only." It records where trading was heavy. It does not say anyone will trade there again.

Back to the chart
Close-up of the value bottom line on a light chart: a thin solid line below the busiest price, named Value bottom at the right edge. Close-up of the value bottom line on a dark chart: a thin solid line below the busiest price, named Value bottom at the right edge.

 Value bottom

The lower edge of the value area. Its tooltip reads "Value area low (VAL) of the last finished profile." When price comes up to it from below, that is a return to the value bottom, counted separately from the value top.

"Show previous profile lines" keeps faded lines from up to three earlier finished profiles. They are off by default, and they are never counted.

Back to the chart
Close-up of the finished histogram on a light chart: thin horizontal rows to the right of the newest candle, darker inside the value area and lighter outside it. Close-up of the finished histogram on a dark chart: thin horizontal rows to the right of the newest candle, darker inside the value area and lighter outside it.

 Finished histogram

The last finished profile, drawn as thin rows to the right of the newest candle so it never covers price. The longest row is the busiest price. Rows inside the value area are a little darker than the rows outside it.

"Show estimated direction split" (off by default) shades part of each row by candle direction, in the same neutral ink as the rows, never green or red. That is an estimate from whether candles closed up or down, not a record of real orders, and the setting's tooltip says so.

Back to the chart
Close-up of return marks on a light chart: three squares, two of them centred on the value top and value bottom lines at the candles where price came back. Close-up of return marks on a dark chart: three squares, two of them centred on the value top and value bottom lines at the candles where price came back.

 Held, broke through, no clear move

Each mark is centred on the value edge itself, at the candle where price came back to it, and appears only once the result is in, so nothing moves once drawn.

  • ● Held: within ten candles, a close half a typical candle back on the side price came from.
  • ■ Broke through: within ten candles, a close half a typical candle past the level.
  • ○ No clear move: neither within ten candles. Every unclear case lands here, never in held.

Hover a mark and its tooltip says "Held", "Broke through" or "No clear move". The marks are one neutral grey in both themes, so the shape carries the meaning, and the older half of them is drawn in a fainter shade so the newest returns stand out. The chart keeps the last 12 by default ("Marks drawn", 0 to 30). "Mark size" sets how big they are (Tiny, Small, Normal or Large; Normal by default). "Mark past events" switches them off without changing the panel's counts.

Back to the chart
Close-up of the panel header on a light chart: [TP] VP | No clear lean, in a muted colour. Close-up of the panel header on a dark chart: [TP] VP | No clear lean, in a muted colour.

Header

The header reads "[TP] VP | No clear lean" on every chart and every timeframe. That is not a placeholder. It is the result.

The header does not pick a side. It leaves the reading to you: look at the count on this chart, both outcomes side by side, and decide what it tells you. Our own offline research on value edges sits in its own block further down this page, clearly marked as Titan research. The panel never shows it.

Back to the chart
Close-up of the Mentor panel rows on a light chart: where price closed against value, the count on this chart, a teaching line and the footer. Close-up of the Mentor panel rows on a dark chart: where price closed against value, the count on this chart, a teaching line and the footer.

Panel rows

Under the header, the panel reads the edge that matters now: the one being watched if price is back at a value edge, otherwise the one most recently reached. Value top and value bottom are counted separately. The rows, in order:

  • Where price is: "Price closed inside finished value.", "Price closed above finished value.", "Price closed below finished value.", "Price closed at the busiest price." or, while a return is being watched, "At value top from above, n candles ago." (n is the candles since the return).
  • The count on this chart, both outcomes together: "Here: 84 held, 78 broke into value." (AAPL one hour, value bottom, read 19 Oct 2026), or "Too few here to count yet (n)." under 8 returns, with the number so far.
  • The returns that did neither: "1 of 372 had no clear move." (MSFT daily, read 19 Oct 2026), shown from 8 returns when at least one did neither. When none did, the row is left out, as on AAPL one hour.
  • One teaching line, which changes as returns are added: "Value levels are history, not walls.", "A busy price shows past trade only.", "Thin prices were crossed fast before." or "The profile is estimated from candles."
  • The footer: "Closed candles, last 5000. Not advice."

The default Compact panel on the chart at the top of this page (AAPL, one hour, read 19 Oct 2026 from the published script, on the last candle of 16 Oct), top to bottom. The edge being read is the value bottom. None of its 162 returns had no clear move, so that row is left out:

  • The header: "[TP] VP | No clear lean"
  • Where price is: "Price closed inside finished value."
  • This chart: "Here: 84 held, 78 broke into value."
  • The teaching line: "The profile is estimated from candles."
  • The footer: "Closed candles, last 5000. Not advice."
Back to the chart

 A return being watched

While a return is inside its ten-candle window, "Show still-open event" (on by default) puts one gold ring on the level at the return candle, centred and the same size as the other marks. Its tooltip says "Still open, not counted yet". It is not in the counts until the result is in, and then it becomes a circle, a square or a ring like the rest.

Only one return is watched at a time. A return to the other edge while a window is open is not counted, so the same stretch of candles is never counted twice.

Back to the chart
Close-up of the optional busy shelf and thin gap on a light chart: two short dotted lines at the right edge, named Busy shelf and Thin gap. Close-up of the optional busy shelf and thin gap on a dark chart: two short dotted lines at the right edge, named Busy shelf and Thin gap.

Busy shelf and thin gap (optional)

"Show busy shelf and thin gap" (off by default) marks one more busy row, a local peak other than the busiest price, and one quiet row, a local dip. Their tooltips give the usual names, high-volume node (HVN) and low-volume node (LVN).

"Count busy shelf returns" (also off) counts returns to the busy shelf in their own history, never mixed with the value edges. The teaching line for the quiet row is plain: "Thin prices were crossed fast before."

Back to the chart
Close-up of the Full panel on a light chart: the Changes if line, the volume note and the mark legend above the footer. Close-up of the Full panel on a dark chart: the Changes if line, the volume note and the mark legend above the footer.

Full detail

"Panel detail" on Full adds two rows and fixes the teaching line to a note on the data. First, what would change the read on this chart, always half a typical candle from the level:

Changes if"Changes if: a close half an ATR inside." / "Changes if: a close half an ATR outside."

Then the volume note: "Tick volume on this feed." on forex and CFD symbols, where volume counts price updates rather than shares, or "The profile is estimated from candles." elsewhere. Then the legend "● held ■ broke through ○ no clear move". Because there is no lean, Full shows no agree or disagree row.

Back to the chart

Two panel layouts

Compact (default)

The header, where price closed against value, the count here, how many had no clear move (only when at least one did), one teaching line and the footer. Six rows, or five when that row is left out, as on AAPL one hour.

Full

Everything in Compact, plus "Changes if", the volume note in place of the rotating teaching line, and the mark legend. Eight rows, or seven when the no clear move row is left out.

How the Mentor helps you at every level

Same indicator, same panel. What you take from it grows with you. The quoted lines are the panel's own words. Counts marked as a worked example illustrate the format and are not from a chart.

  1. Level 1

    Beginner

    What gets in the way

    • A histogram full of rows and colours with no words behind it.
    • Short names like POC, VAH and VAL that nobody explains.
    • Treating every line as a floor or a ceiling.

    The habit it builds: saying in one sentence where price closed against the last finished period's value.

    What the Mentor says

    Where price is"Price closed above finished value."

    Teaching line"Value levels are history, not walls."

  2. Level 2

    Intermediate

    What gets in the way

    • Profiles that move with every new candle, so yesterday's line is somewhere else today.
    • Counting every touch of the same line as fresh evidence.
    • Letting a long wick decide what a level did.

    The habit it builds: finished profiles only, first returns only, judged on closes only.

    What the Mentor says

    Where price is, worked example"At value top from above, 3 candles ago."

    Teaching line"The profile is estimated from candles."

  3. Level 3

    Advanced

    What gets in the way

    • Remembering the times a value edge held and forgetting the times it broke.
    • Looking only at the held count and skipping the broke into value count beside it.
    • Reading a handful of returns on one chart as a rule.

    The habit it builds: reading this chart's held and broke into value counts as one thought, with the sample size in mind.

    What the Mentor says

    This chart, AAPL one hour"Here: 84 held, 78 broke into value."

    This chart, MSFT daily"1 of 372 had no clear move."

  4. Level 4

    Expert

    What gets in the way

    • Telling a story about who traded at a busy price, when the chart only shows that volume was there.
    • Forgetting the profile is built from candles, and on forex and CFD feeds from tick volume.
    • Changing the row count or the value share until an old chart looks clean.

    The habit it builds: a steady second pair of eyes: the same plain read on every chart, with its limit every time.

    What the Mentor says

    Teaching line"A busy price shows past trade only."

    Teaching line"Thin prices were crossed fast before."

It reads both edges the same way

Value top Price comes down from above

Held means it closed back above. Broke through means it closed back inside value.

"At value top from above, n candles ago." (n is the candles since the return)

Value bottom Price comes up from below

Mirrored: held means it closed back below. Broke through means it closed back inside.

"At value bottom from below, 2 candles ago." (worked example)

The header Both edges

It does not pick a side. You read the count.

"[TP] VP | No clear lean"

Three things to remember

  1. A value edge is a record of past trading. It shows where volume was. It does not show anyone waiting there.
  2. Read both outcomes together. "84 held" sounds like something until you see 78 broke into value on the same chart.
  3. History, not a promise. The counts describe past returns. The next return can go either way.

Honest about timing, honest about limits

Why the lines appear when a period ends

A profile only counts once its period has finished, so the lines for today's session appear when the session closes, not while it is trading. Returns, results, marks, counts and alerts all wait for finished candles. Nothing changes once it is final, and Bar Replay shows exactly what the chart showed at the time.

What it does not do

No arrows, no % signs in the panel, no colour without words, and no claim about who traded at a price or why price turned there. It does not claim that value edges act as a floor or a ceiling. Every number on the panel comes from this chart: its own count covers the settled returns of the last 5000 finished candles, and it moves as the window rolls.

Change the price rows, the value share or the period and the lines move, so the counts change too. None of those settings is the right one.

Volume profile mentor msft 1d
MSFT daily, default settings, where the profile is the last finished week. Another chart, its own count. The panel's words and counts are read on the day of the shot.
An AAPL one-hour chart at phone width: the three lines and the marks on the chart, and the Compact Mentor panel readable at the top left.
At phone width, the Compact panel at Tiny text stays readable.
Titan research

What we found when we tested value edges offline

We tested this rule on 198 to 200 markets offline. This is our research, not something the indicator reads on your chart.

On one-hour charts (200 markets, the last year), the value top held 54 times in 100 and the value bottom 55, while the same test started from random price levels in the prior range held 53. On daily charts (198 markets, since 2020), the value top held 55 times in 100 and the value bottom split about evenly (51 held, 48 broke through), against 53 for random levels. So in our test the edges did about as well as any price level. It is history from many markets, and it says nothing certain about the next return on your chart.

Settings

The defaults work out of the box. These are the ones worth knowing.

On a small screen, swipe the table sideways to see every column.
SettingWhat it doesDefault
Profile periodWhich finished period the profile uses. Auto uses a session on intraday charts, a week on daily charts and a month on weekly and higher charts.
AutoSessionWeekMonth
Auto
Price rowsHow many rows divide the finished period (12 to 40). Changing it moves the levels and resets their history.24
Value area shareThe share of the period's volume held by the value area (50 to 90). Changing it moves the value top and bottom and resets their history.70
Finished candles to countHow far back this chart's own count reaches (500 to 5000). The footer prints the number in use.5000
Show finished histogram / Show estimated direction splitThe thin rows to the right of the newest candle, and an optional shading by candle direction, which is an estimate, not a record of orders.On; Off
Show busy shelf and thin gap / Count busy shelf returnsOne more busy row and one quiet row, and whether returns to the busy shelf get their own count.Off; Off
Show previous profile lines / Line thicknessFaded lines from up to three earlier profiles, and the thickness of the three main lines (1 to 4).Off; 1
Mark past events / Marks drawn / Mark size / Show still-open eventThe circle, square and ring at settled returns, how many to keep (0 to 30), how big they are (the still-open ring too), and the gold ring while a return is waiting for its result.
TinySmallNormalLarge
On; 12; Normal; On
Show the Mentor panel / Panel detailFull adds "Changes if", the volume note and the mark legend.
CompactFull
On; Compact
Where to put the panelAuto picks the top left, or the top right when the top left is crowded. It never uses the bottom left, where the TradingView logo sits. Or pick any of nine spots.
AutoTop LeftTop Right
Auto
Panel text size / ColoursTiny is the usual choice for a phone. Colours on Auto matches your chart background: Paper on a light chart, Ink on a dark one.
TinySmallNormalLarge
Tiny; Auto

Every setting has a small (i) next to it. Hover over it, or tap it on a phone, and it explains that setting in plain English, right there on your chart.

Volume profile mentor settings tooltip
The (i) next to Show estimated direction split, opened. Captured from the published script.
See the whole settings window

Open it by double-clicking the indicator's name on your chart. Top to bottom, at the defaults:

Settings, part 1: the Profile group: Profile period, Price rows, Value area share and Finished candles to count.
1. Profile
Settings, part 2: the Lines and profile group: Show finished histogram, Show estimated direction split, Show busy shelf and thin gap, Count busy shelf returns, Show previous profile lines and Line thickness.
2. Lines and profile
Settings, part 3: the Marks group: Mark past events, Show still-open event and Marks drawn.
3. Marks
Settings, part 4: the Mentor panel group: Show the Mentor panel, Panel detail, Where to put the panel, Panel text size and Colours, then the Alerts group.
4. Mentor panel and alerts
Light or dark, it matches

The lines, histogram, marks and panel come in a warm light and a warm dark palette. With "Colours" on Auto, it reads your chart background and picks the right one. The marks keep their shapes in both, so their meaning never depends on colour.

Alerts

Each alert says what happened, once, after a candle closes. Two conditions are in TradingView's alert dialog. Neither tells you what to do.

  • Price reached a levelVolume Profile Mentor: price reached a profile level on a finished candle.
  • An outcome settledVolume Profile Mentor: an outcome settled on a finished candle.

Open TradingView's alert dialog, pick this indicator in the condition box, and choose the condition by name. Each one fires once per event, not on every candle near a line. The two "Alert when" switches in the settings turn each condition off at the source.

Learn more

Start with the lesson, then watch the indicator explained.

Foundry lesson

Volume profile: where the volume was, and what the edges actually did

What a volume profile is in plain words, how the busiest price and the value area are found, why a finished profile is the one to read, what counts as a return to a value edge, and how to read the count of past returns on your own chart. Concept first, indicator second, with a quiz.

Open the lesson
Trading journal

Keep a study log

Note where price closed against the last finished value, say what you expect if it comes back to an edge, then write down what happened, right or wrong. Over time your own notes show you more than any single chart.

Coming soon

Watch it explained

Video · 2:28How to read [TP] Volume Profile - MentorEvery part of the indicator, one at a time, on real charts: the three lines and their plain names, the finished histogram, the return marks, and the panel's count on this chart.
Video · 1:54Volume profile explained: where the volume was, and what the edges actually didWhat a volume profile is, why only a finished one should be read, what counts as a return to a value edge, and how to read both outcomes on your own chart, in plain English. Concept first, then the indicator. Read the full lesson

One concept, read well

[TP] RSI - Mentor, [TP] Volume - Mentor, [TP] Market Structure - Mentor, [TP] Trend - Mentor, [TP] VWAP - Mentor, [TP] Fibonacci - Mentor, [TP] MACD - Mentor, [TP] Bollinger Bands - Mentor, [TP] Regime - Mentor, [TP] Market Board - Mentor, [TP] Order Blocks - Mentor, [TP] Support and Resistance - Mentor, [TP] Volume Profile - Mentor and [TP] Elliott Wave - Mentor each read one thing deeply, for free. Markets rarely move on one thing. The full Titan suite reads them together: momentum, volume, trend structure and flow, combined into one plain-English read.

Questions

Is it free?

Yes. [TP] Volume Profile - Mentor is free on TradingView. Add it from the Indicators menu. Nothing is locked.

What is a volume profile, in plain words?

A sideways count of volume by price for one finished period. The busiest price is the row where the most volume changed hands. The value area is the band around it that held 70 of every 100 units of volume, with a value top and a value bottom. It describes where trading was heavy. It does not say who traded or what price does next.

So do value edges work?

Not in the sense most tools claim. On your chart, the panel shows what returns to each value edge did, held and broke into value side by side, so you can judge it yourself. Our own offline test of the same rule is on this page in the Titan research block. It is our research, and the panel never shows it.

Then why use it?

Because it tells you where volume was in plain words, keeps the lines fixed so you can study them, and checks the most repeated claim about them on your own chart instead of asking you to believe it. Knowing what a line actually did on your chart is useful. It keeps you from leaning on it blindly.

Does it repaint?

No. The profile is built only from a finished period, returns are found only on finished candles, and results, marks, counts and alerts all wait for finished candles. Once a period's lines are drawn they never move, and a result never changes.

The panel used to show a line about many markets. Where did it go?

We took it off on 19 Oct 2026. A live indicator should only show numbers that come from the chart it sits on, and that line was a figure from our own offline research. The research is still on this page, in the block marked Titan research.

Why does my count say "Too few here to count yet"?

Because fewer than 8 returns to that edge have settled on this chart in the window. From 8 it shows both outcomes, for example "Here: 84 held, 78 broke into value." (AAPL one hour, read 19 Oct 2026), and how many had no clear move when at least one did. The header stays "No clear lean" whatever the count says.

Does it work on forex and on indices?

On forex and CFD feeds, volume is tick volume, a count of price updates, and the Full panel says so: "Tick volume on this feed." Where a feed has no volume at all, the panel says "No volume on this feed, so no profile." and draws nothing.

Does it tell me when to act?

No. It describes where volume sat and what price did when it came back to the value edges. It cannot see what comes next. Decisions stay with you.

The chart looks busy. What can I do?

Turn off "Show finished histogram" (the lines and counts stay), lower "Marks drawn" or "Mark size", keep "Show previous profile lines" off, and keep "Panel detail" on Compact for the shortest panel. Pick a spot under "Where to put the panel".

Get our weekly market brief free.