How to Set Up Custom Toolbars in ThinkOrSwim

Overview

In this tutorial I set up a custom toolbar in ThinkOrSwim and link its buttons to saved styles and study sets, so one click loads a complete chart setup. In the video, a single button takes an Oracle (ORCL) chart from the daily timeframe to a 2-minute chart with our Stock Volatility Box models loaded.

The toolbar is for traders who switch between setups, timeframes or groups of indicators during the day and are tired of reloading studies by hand. I also explain the difference between a style and a study set, so you know which one each button should load.

Key Takeaways

What a Custom Toolbar Does in ThinkOrSwim

A custom toolbar in ThinkOrSwim is a row of buttons on your charts, and each button loads something you saved ahead of time. Without it, testing a different setup means loading your custom indicators one at a time and changing the timeframe by hand. With it, you click one button.

In the video I start on a daily chart of Oracle. One click on my Stock Volatility Box button moves the chart to the 2-minute timeframe with all of our indicators loaded and ready to go. You do the setup work once, save it, and get it back in one click every time after that.

I link my buttons to styles and study sets, because each one saves a whole group of studies. The sections below show how to turn the toolbar on, how the two differ and how to save each one.

How to Turn On the Toolbar

The ThinkOrSwim toolbar is controlled from the My tools section of the settings, and ThinkOrSwim leaves it off by default. These are the steps and menu names as they were when I recorded the video. ThinkOrSwim may have moved things since, so a label can read a little differently on yours.

1. Click the settings icon near the top of the screen.
2. Stay on the General tab. It's the main tab the settings open to.
3. Find the My tools section and change it from Off to On each chart.
4. Click Apply. The toolbar now shows on your charts.

Set My tools back to Off and the toolbar disappears again. A new toolbar usually starts with 1 button. If you configured it before, you may see a few more.

What a Toolbar Button Can Load

A ThinkOrSwim toolbar button can link to a drawing tool, a study set or a style, the 3 options I cover in the video. The limit is 7 buttons. Once you have 7, ThinkOrSwim grays out the option to add a new one, so choose what goes on them with care.

A drawing tool button gives you one-click access to a tool such as the trendline. In my opinion that's a waste of prime real estate, since the drawing tools already have their own menu. Study sets and styles each load a whole group of studies, and that's where a button saves the most time.

Style vs Study Set in ThinkOrSwim

A style in ThinkOrSwim saves the studies on your chart together with the timeframe and your chart settings. A study set saves only the studies. That one difference decides which to link to a button.

When to Use a Style

A style fits a setup that is tied to a timeframe and to chart settings. Chart settings include things like extended hours turned on or off and a set number of bars on the time axis. When you save a style, all of that is saved with the indicators.

I use a style to load an entire setup's workspace in one click. Our Momentum Reversal setup for Stock Volatility Box members is an example. It calls for a 2-minute or 5-minute chart, extended hours turned on and a specific series of indicators, and a style brings back all three at once. Members may also keep separate sets for the aggressive and the conservative models.

When to Use a Study Set

A study set fits when you want to swap indicators and keep everything else. Say you're on a daily chart and like to look at it through a few lenses. One lens holds trend indicators such as the Market Pulse and the Squeeze. Another holds oversold and overbought indicators such as the RSI or our Dynamic RSI.

A third lens might split fundamental from technical studies. Each lens can be its own study set, and loading one keeps the daily chart as it is.

For Stock Volatility Box members, comparing daily and hourly models is the example. If you already have the timeframe you want and only want to swap between the aggressive and the conservative models, a study set does it. A style would also reload its saved timeframe and overwrite your current settings.

For most traders I think the style is the winner, because it moves you between whole setups and timeframes in one click.

How to Save a Style

A ThinkOrSwim style is saved from the Style menu at the top of the chart. Set the chart up first, exactly as you want the button to load it.

1. Pick the timeframe, for example a 2-minute chart.
2. Set your chart settings, such as extended hours on or off.
3. Load every study the setup uses.
4. Open the Style dropdown and click Save style at the bottom of the menu.
5. In the prompt that opens, select the option to include patterns and study set, then save the style.

Including the study set is the step that saves your indicators along with the timeframe and chart settings. Make sure it's selected every time you save a style.

How to Save a Study Set

A ThinkOrSwim study set is saved from the study settings, and it holds the indicators on the chart and nothing else.

1. Load the indicators you want in the set. If one of them is a custom study, add it first with our guide on how to import a study into ThinkOrSwim.
2. Click the study settings icon.
3. Click Save as a set.
4. Give the set a name and save it.

Linking Your Buttons

Each ThinkOrSwim toolbar button links to one saved style, study set or drawing tool, so save your styles and study sets before you set up the buttons. My first toolbar button in the video is the trendline drawing tool, and that's the kind of button I'd change to a style or a study set.

The video doesn't show the exact clicks that link a button, and the menus may have moved since I recorded it. The My tools section where you turned the toolbar on is the first place to look.

Then test each button. Click it on a chart set to a different timeframe. A style button should switch the timeframe and load the studies. A study set button should load the studies and leave the timeframe alone.

Planning Your 7 Buttons

A 7-button limit means each slot should hold a setup you use often. Here is one way to fill the toolbar with the examples from the video:

Swap in your own setups. Use a style when the setup comes with its own timeframe, and a study set when the indicators change but the chart stays.

How I Use the Toolbar

The custom toolbar lets me move through my trading day in a few clicks. The ORB button is my first click of the morning in the video. One click on my ORB button loads our Opening Range Breakout indicator on a 1-minute chart, with the 5-minute breakout and its targets already plotting.

When I want the Stock Volatility Box models instead, one more click changes the chart to the timeframe I use for them, with the right set of indicators. I don't fumble with settings or reload indicators, because I did that work once when I saved the style.

A button loads a setup, and the trade decision is still yours. Follow each setup's own rules, decide where your stop goes before you enter, and size the position so a stop-out costs a small, fixed share of your account.

Common Problems and Fixes

Most ThinkOrSwim toolbar problems come from the My tools setting or from how a style or study set was saved.

• No toolbar on the chart. My tools is off by default. In the settings, on the General tab, change it to On each chart and click Apply.
• You can't add another button. The toolbar holds 7. Replace a button you use less, such as a drawing tool.
• A button changed your timeframe. It's linked to a style. Link it to a study set if you want to keep the current timeframe.
• A style loads the timeframe but not your studies. Save the style again with the include patterns and study set option selected.
• A custom study is missing from a set. Import the study, load it on the chart, then save the set again.

For another way to clean up a crowded chart, our tutorial on plotting RSI signals on the price chart instead of a lower panel frees up chart space. More free tutorials are on the thinkScript page.

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