Matplotlib Not Showing Plot in PyCharm on Mac: Causes and Solutions

When using PyCharm on macOS, users often encounter an issue where Matplotlib plots do not display. This problem typically arises due to PyCharm’s handling of graphical backends and run configurations.

For data visualization tasks, this issue is significant as it disrupts the workflow, making it difficult to visualize and interpret data directly within the IDE. Ensuring plots display correctly is crucial for efficient debugging and analysis.

Common Causes

Here are some common causes for the issue where Matplotlib does not show plots in PyCharm on a Mac:

1. Incorrect Backend Settings: Matplotlib uses different backends to render plots. If the backend is not set correctly, plots may not display. You can set the backend to TkAgg by adding matplotlib.use('TkAgg') at the beginning of your script.

2. Missing plt.show() Call: Ensure you call plt.show() at the end of your plotting code. This command is necessary to display the plot window.

3. PyCharm’s Scientific Mode: If you’re using PyCharm’s Scientific Mode, make sure the option to show plots in the tool window is enabled. Go to Preferences > Tools > Python Scientific and check the box for “Show plots in tool window”.

These steps should help resolve the issue.

Solution 1: Check Backend Settings

Sure, here are the steps to check and configure the backend settings to resolve the issue of ‘matplotlib does not show plot in PyCharm on Mac’:

1. Check if plt.show() is called:

   • Ensure that you have plt.show() at the end of your plotting code.

   import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
   plt.plot([1, 2, 3, 4])
   plt.ylabel('some numbers')
   plt.show()
   

2. Configure the backend to TkAgg:

   • Open your script or Python console in PyCharm.
   • Set the backend to TkAgg by adding the following lines at the beginning of your script:

   import matplotlib
   matplotlib.use('TkAgg')
   import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
   

3. Install Tkinter if not already installed:

   • Tkinter is required for the TkAgg backend. You can install it using Homebrew:

   brew install python-tk
   

4. Check PyCharm’s Scientific Mode settings:

   • Go to PyCharm > Preferences (or File > Settings on Windows/Linux).
   • Navigate to Tools > Python Scientific.
   • Ensure that the option Show plots in tool window is checked.

5. Alternative backend options:

   • If TkAgg does not work, you can try other backends like Qt5Agg or MacOSX:

   import matplotlib
   matplotlib.use('Qt5Agg')  # or 'MacOSX'
   import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
   

Following these steps should help you resolve the issue and display plots correctly in PyCharm on your Mac.

Solution 2: Ensure plt.show() is Called

Calling plt.show() is crucial in Matplotlib because it renders the plot window, displaying all the figures you have created. Without this call, the plot will not be shown, especially when running scripts in environments like PyCharm.

Here’s a code example to fix the issue of Matplotlib not showing plots in PyCharm on a Mac:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Sample data
x = [1, 2, 3, 4]
y = [10, 20, 25, 30]

# Create a plot
plt.plot(x, y)
plt.xlabel('X-axis label')
plt.ylabel('Y-axis label')
plt.title('Sample Plot')

# Display the plot
plt.show()

Make sure to include plt.show() at the end of your plotting code to ensure the plot window appears.

Solution 3: Configure PyCharm Scientific Mode

1. Open PyCharm.
2. Go to Preferences: PyCharm > Preferences (on macOS).
3. Navigate to Tools > Python Scientific.
4. Enable Show plots in tool window: Check the box for “Show plots in tool window”.

This should ensure that your plots are displayed correctly in PyCharm’s Scientific Mode on macOS.

To Resolve the Issue of Matplotlib Not Showing Plots in PyCharm on a Mac

Check if plt.show() is called at the end of your plotting code.

Configure the backend to TkAgg by adding matplotlib.use('TkAgg') at the beginning of your script.

Install Tkinter if it’s not already installed.

Ensure that Show plots in tool window is enabled in PyCharm’s Scientific Mode settings.

If TkAgg doesn’t work, try alternative backends like Qt5Agg or MacOSX.