ThinkorSwim can be pretty slow when it comes to loading data and charts. This can be very frustrating for traders trying to make quick decisions. In this article, we will show you how to speed up the ThinkorSwim platform so that you can get back to making money!
What is ThinkorSwim?
ThinkorSwim is a desktop-based platform for trading and analysis. It was created by the company TD Ameritrade in 2006. The software allows traders to buy and sell stocks, options, and futures.
The platform has a customizable interface, which can be tailored to meet the needs of each trader. It also has charting capabilities, which allow traders to visualize the market and make informed decisions. In addition, the platform offers educational materials and support from experts in order to help traders improve their skills.
Purchase a Falcon Trading Computer designed specifically to run ThinkorSwim on multiple monitors.
When you are ready to take your trading to the next level, you need to purchase a purpose-built computer to run ThinkorSwim on multiple monitors. This will allow you to have all of your charts and data in front of you, giving you an edge in the markets.
There are a few key things that you should look for when purchasing a trading computer for ThinkorSwim:
– Thinkorswim is a single-threaded application. It requires a processor that can push the computational limits so that real-time data is processed and displayed on the chart as quickly as possible.
– ThinkorSwim needs a minimum of 16GB of RAM to handle the ThinkorSwim platform and multiple charts.
– Because ThinkorSwim is one of the few trading platforms that utilizes your graphics card for data crunching, integrated graphics won’t suffice in most cases.
– Support. getting ThinkorSwim to run smoothly takes some technical expertise and a team that understands what you can change to get the best result.
Our F-37GT and F-52GT trading computers are ideal for the greatest experience with ThinkorSwim if you need to trade on the go, our F-10 and F-15 laptops are both excellent choices.
Now without further delay below are some things you can use to maximize ThinkorSwim’s performance:
1. Adjust your memory usage for ThinkorSwim
You may try to optimize the ThinkorSwim platform’s memory usage. This is easily done by opening ThinkorSwim and navigating to the settings gear at the bottom of the login screen:
We find that providing ThinkorSwim more than 6144Mb is largely ineffective. We don’t suggest setting the minimum number to something less than the maximum number since ThinkorSwim will usually request a platform reboot to increase its memory usage larger throughout the trading day.
2. Remove Old Drawings in ThinkorSwim
Drawing tools are a great way to visualize data, but they can also impact performance if they’re not properly managed. If you’re using the ThinkorSwim platform, it’s important to remove old drawings that you no longer need. Otherwise, they’ll continue to take up space and slow down the platform. To remove a drawing, simply select it and press the delete key. You can also delete multiple drawings at the same time by clicking on the “Drawings” drop-down above your chart then hovering over “Remove drawings” and then clicking on the “Remove drawing set”. With a little housekeeping, you can keep your ThinkorSwim platform running smoothly.
3. Collect Garbage
Try manually collecting garbage in ThinkorSwim to see if your performance improves.
Once you have ThinkorSwim open, click the “Help” tab and then “System” on the bar underneath. You should see the total, used, and free memory.
Click “Collect garbage.”
Once you have clicked the “Collect garbage” button, it will clean up the memory that it was holding for nonessential data helping create room for new content to be loaded into the memory.
4. Remove the usergui directory.
You can remove the usergui directory to reinstall updates to ThinkorSwim, which might resolve some issues due to a faulty update.
- Logout and close ThinkorSwim
- Open up your main disk C:\ and proceed to the thinkorswim install directory (e.g., C:\Program Files\thinkorswim).
- Rename the usergui folder to userguiold
- Launch ThinkorSwim again. Note that it will re-install updates which will take some time.