Matplotlib Adding Grid Lines


Add Grid Lines to a Plot

With Pyplot, you can use the grid() function to add grid lines to the plot.

Example

Add grid lines to the plot:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = np.array([80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125])
y = np.array([240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330])

plt.title("Sports Watch Data")
plt.xlabel("Average Pulse")
plt.ylabel("Calorie Burnage")

plt.plot(x, y)

plt.grid()

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »


Specify Which Grid Lines to Display

You can use the axis parameter in the grid() function to specify which grid lines to display.

Legal values are: 'x', 'y', and 'both'. Default value is 'both'.

Example

Display only grid lines for the x-axis:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = np.array([80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125])
y = np.array([240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330])

plt.title("Sports Watch Data")
plt.xlabel("Average Pulse")
plt.ylabel("Calorie Burnage")

plt.plot(x, y)

plt.grid(axis = 'x')

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Example

Display only grid lines for the y-axis:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = np.array([80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125])
y = np.array([240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330])

plt.title("Sports Watch Data")
plt.xlabel("Average Pulse")
plt.ylabel("Calorie Burnage")

plt.plot(x, y)

plt.grid(axis = 'y')

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Set Line Properties for the Grid

You can also set the line properties of the grid, like this: grid(color = 'color', linestyle = 'linestyle', linewidth = number).

Example

Set the line properties of the grid:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = np.array([80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125])
y = np.array([240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330])

plt.title("Sports Watch Data")
plt.xlabel("Average Pulse")
plt.ylabel("Calorie Burnage")

plt.plot(x, y)

plt.grid(color = 'green', linestyle = '--', linewidth = 0.5)

plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

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