Matplotlib plots not showing in VS Code

Question

I am running Windows 10 and when I run a script that use matplotlib.pyplot to create a plot, no plot is created if I run in the embedded terminal (either bash or powershell) in vscode. However, the figure window is shown in my task bar but I cannot open it.

I still get a plot when I run the script in jupyter. I also get a plot window when I run the script in the 'Terminal' app. So, I figured this problem has something to do with vscode.

The code I use is really simple:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = [1, 1]
plt.plot(x)
plt.show()

Would you be able to provide a MWE showing the behaviour you describe? — fdireito, Feb 09 '21 at 20:03
@David Zanger -When I used "matplotlib.pyplot" to draw a graph in VS Code, it popped up the plot. Could you please provide us with your test code that minimizes and reproduces this problem? Did you use the relevant settings in "settings.json"? — Jill Cheng, Feb 10 '21 at 01:35
I solved the problem by degrading the python version in conda from 3.8.5 to 3.7.9. However, this should not be the solution. — David Zanger, Feb 10 '21 at 07:17
@David Zanger -For example, whether you set the use of the VS Code terminal and the use of some extensions may affect it. — Jill Cheng, Feb 10 '21 at 07:48
@David Zanger -When you use the powershell terminal inside VS Code to execute code, does it display an error message? Please use the command "_python --version_" to check the python used by the terminal. (Maybe the python environment used by the terminal does not contain the module "Matplotlib".) — Jill Cheng, Feb 10 '21 at 07:52
No it does not. I created a new conda environment with Python 3.8.5 and now it works. I do not understand why I had this bug. — David Zanger, Feb 10 '21 at 08:43

cbueltem · Answer 1 · 2021-11-13T19:45:36.600

33

In Visual Studio Code Jupyter Notebooks you may see something like this:

in order to show the plot you may click on the

</>

symbol to the left and change the the mime type to image/png (Jupyter renderer).
Now the plot appears.

edited Nov 13 '21 at 19:45

answered Nov 13 '21 at 12:04

cbueltem

395
4
10

Very helpful! Can I change it once and for all, not for every plot individually? Thanks – AlexGenkin Nov 01 '22 at 18:04
5

Hello when I click the symbol, there's only text/html and text/plain what should I do? – Shayan Nov 27 '22 at 09:35

arhr · Answer 2 · 2021-11-09T16:28:44.340

22

When you are plotting a graph in a script, make sure to use the following command to output the window displaying the graph.

plt.show()

By default, Jupyter outputs the graph, even when plt.show() is not explicitly called.

edited Nov 09 '21 at 16:28

answered Feb 09 '21 at 15:27

arhr

1,505
8
16

3

I'm already using plt.show() but it still does not work. It just creates the window but with no plot. I also can not open the window, it is just in the task bar. – David Zanger Feb 09 '21 at 15:35

score 5 · Answer 3 · edited Aug 04 '21 at 22:24

5

Try the latest version of matplotlib

pip install matplotlib --upgrade

This works good for me.

edited Aug 04 '21 at 22:24

MD Mushfirat Mohaimin

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10
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answered Aug 04 '21 at 11:25

python_geek

59
1
1

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 08 '22 at 07:20

5

Run the program in interactive window in vs code. To do so

write click on code area click on run current file in interactive window

answered Aug 08 '22 at 07:20

Mohd Shahid

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1
2

score 4 · Answer 5 · answered May 06 '22 at 13:55

4

Make sure you call the ipython magic command

%matplotlib inline

before trying to plot anything.

answered May 06 '22 at 13:55

ymentha14

359
3
8

That works to some extent (show the graph). But it doesn't render when I use the interactive mode `%matplotlib notebook` – CN_Cabbage Jun 15 '22 at 08:39

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Nov 11 '21 at 19:33

2

When running in the integrated terminal, I get all the generated pictures only when I put plt.show(block=True) at the end of the python file. I get none of them if this statement is omitted or when plt.show(block=False) is used. By the way plt.show(block=True) is the default.

answered Nov 11 '21 at 19:33

theo olsthoorn

455
3
6

That helped me! Thanks for that Theo! Just a small comment. plt.show(block=True) is the default in non-interactive mode. Otherwise it is set to False. – astromath Dec 14 '22 at 07:37

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 07 '21 at 03:57

1

Maybe you can try changing the Output Mimetype to one with an option with an image. It must be plain/text for you for that cell. You can change it for different cells from their options.

answered Aug 07 '21 at 03:57

score 1 · Answer 8 · edited Jan 04 '22 at 11:35

1

pip install ipympl worked for me.

This post helped me finding this solution: https://github.com/matplotlib/ipympl/issues/132

edited Jan 04 '22 at 11:35

Miguel Conde

813
10
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answered Jan 04 '22 at 00:40

Ellen Tuane

11
1

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). – Community Jan 04 '22 at 13:51

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered May 19 '22 at 18:48

1

I was using conda and python 3.9.7 experienced same problem try this

pip install ipympl

if not worked I tried these command and now it works

pip install PyQt5

Note : I am new to python

answered May 19 '22 at 18:48

Pruthviraj Jadhav

135
1
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score 1 · Answer 10 · answered Jan 20 '23 at 11:31

1

Following the discussion from this GitHub issue, it seems that ipywidgets>=8 is not supported yet. Installing ipywidgets==7.7.2 (and restarting VS Code) fixed the issue for me.

answered Jan 20 '23 at 11:31

MPA

1,878
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score 1 · Answer 11 · edited Feb 18 '23 at 16:12

1

Click on Run Current File in Interactive Window:

Run interactive file

That solves this issue:

Example

edited Feb 18 '23 at 16:12

tdy

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answered Feb 18 '23 at 09:43

Shreyan Das

11
1

score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Sep 16 '22 at 14:37

0

Maybe try this:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = [1, 1]
rnge = range(len(x))
plt.plot(x, rnge)
plt.show()

answered Sep 16 '22 at 14:37

Michael36500

1
3

Stephen Frost · Answer 13 · 2023-07-17T19:49:12.930

In my case, there seemed to be some problem in my notebook file where fig, ax = plt.subplots() would immediately return an empty plot visualization, after which plt.show() would do apparently nothing (no figure/plot). Since my check of plt.isinteractive() returned True, I did the following and got a plot after plt.show():

plt.ioff() #turn off updating of plots after every plotting command
fig, ax = plt.subplots()
...
...
...
plt.ion() #re-enable interactive mode
plt.show()

I don't know why this helps, and frankly, I shouldn't have to do it if I really want to see an updated plot after each plotting command. But it does get plt.show() to actually show something within the VS Code notebook.

Edit:
I found also that if I have fig, ax = plt.subplots() and ax.plot(...) within same cell, the plot shows below the cell with no explicit plt.show() being necessary. With subplots() and plot() commands in different cells, I have not found a way to make the plot show except by explicitly calling plt.show() with interactive mode turned off then on, as I've shown above. And even this works only the first time cell with plt.show() is executed. Immediately rerunning the cell results in no plot shown.

score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Aug 28 '23 at 18:52

0

I had to install the Jupyter extension in my project in order to get the option to run the script in an interactive window and see the plot.

answered Aug 28 '23 at 18:52

Lazor

193
8

Matplotlib plots not showing in VS Code

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