# How do I read the order book?

Trading · Where: Trade › the Book tab · Updated 2026-10-17

The order book lists the resting orders on Hyperliquid: sellers above the spread, buyers below it, with the size at each price and the running total drawn as a bar behind the row. The step button groups prices into wider rows, so large orders stand out. Click any row to put its price in the order ticket.

## Step by step

1. **Choose the view** The three bar buttons show bids and asks, bids only or asks only. Both sides show 14 rows each; one side alone shows every level Hyperliquid sends.
2. **Pick a price step** The step button lists the steps this market offers, finest first; the first is every price. Hyperliquid groups the book itself, so a coarser step still fills the panel instead of merging a few rows.
3. **Click a row** Its price goes into the ticket’s price field, ready for a Limit order.
4. **Read the spread** The line between the two sides is the gap from the best ask to the best bid, in price and as a share of the price.

## Good to know

- The step you pick stays when you change market, at the same place in that market’s list.
- A very cheap coin offers fewer steps: Hyperliquid caps how many decimals a price can carry, so finer steps would show the same book.
- Until the live book arrives the panel says so. It never shows made-up rows.
- Book and Trades share one place as two tabs; Trades lists the latest fills with their time.

Web page: https://buildtrade.app/help/read-the-order-book/