Getting started#

Installation quick-start#

pip

pip install matplotlib

conda

conda install -c conda-forge matplotlib

pixi

pixi add matplotlib

uv add matplotlib

Warning

uv usually installs its own versions of Python from the python-build-standalone project, and only recent versions of those Python builds (August 2025) work properly with the tkagg backend for displaying plots in a window. Please make sure you are using uv 0.8.7 or newer (update with e.g. uv self update) and that your bundled Python installs are up to date (with uv python upgrade --reinstall). Alternatively, you can use one of the other supported GUI frameworks, e.g.

uv add matplotlib pyside6

other

Install an official release

Third-party distributions

Install a nightly build

Install from source

Draw a first plot#

Here is a minimal example plot:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

x = np.linspace(0, 2 * np.pi, 200)
y = np.sin(x)

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot(x, y)
plt.show()

(Source code, 2x.png, png)

[]

If a plot does not show up please check Troubleshooting.

Where to go next#

Check out Plot types to get an overview of the types of plots you can create with Matplotlib.
Learn Matplotlib from the ground up in the Quick-start guide.