# PythonPlot not showing anything

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pythonplot-not-showing-anything/136478>\
**Category:** Visualization\
**Tags:** pythonplot\
**Created:** [March 31, 2026, 9:38am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pythonplot-not-showing-anything/136478 "2026-03-31T09:38:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ferran\_Mazzanti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ferran_mazzanti/32/7458_2.png) [@Ferran\_Mazzanti](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Ferran_Mazzanti)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 9:38am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pythonplot-not-showing-anything/136478/1 "2026-03-31T09:38:23Z")

</div>

Hi,  
I’ve just installed julia 1.12.5 on a new ubuntu box. First thing I tried was to install PythonPlot, and then on the repl

using PythonPlot  
plot(rand(1000),randn(1000))

displays nothing at all. In old Pyplot.jl that opened a qt window with the plot, but not here. It just reports that a fiigure has been created but doesn’t show it…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ralph\_Smith](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ralph_smith/32/10344_2.png) [@Ralph\_Smith](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Ralph_Smith)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 4:01pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pythonplot-not-showing-anything/136478/2 "2026-03-31T16:01:09Z")

</div>

Some installations of Matplotlib (which is under the hood of PythonPlot) do not automatically set interactive mode as one might expect, so you’d have to call `PythonPlot.show()` or start with `PythonPlot.ion()` to bring up the window.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![stevengj](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stevengj/32/71_2.png) [@stevengj](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/stevengj)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 4:35pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pythonplot-not-showing-anything/136478/3 "2026-03-31T16:35:47Z")

</div>

PythonPlot should turn on interactive mode by default. What is `PythonPlot.backend`?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ferran\_Mazzanti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ferran_mazzanti/32/7458_2.png) [@Ferran\_Mazzanti](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Ferran_Mazzanti)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 6:35am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pythonplot-not-showing-anything/136478/4 "2026-04-01T06:35:36Z")

</div>

PythonPlot.backend says just “Agg”…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![stevengj](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stevengj/32/71_2.png) [@stevengj](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/stevengj)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 12:19pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pythonplot-not-showing-anything/136478/5 "2026-04-01T12:19:34Z")

</div>

That means that it didn’t find an interactive backend it could use in your `matplotlib` installation…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ufechner7](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ufechner7/32/51363_2.png) [@ufechner7](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ufechner7)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 12:39pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pythonplot-not-showing-anything/136478/6 "2026-04-01T12:39:36Z")

</div>

On Linux, you can use the following script to install the QT backend for PythonPlot:

```julia-auto
#!/bin/bash

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2024 Uwe Fechner
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT

# Install matplotlib with Qt backend for PythonPlot using CondaPkg.jl

echo "Installing matplotlib with Qt backend using CondaPkg.jl..."

julia --project -e '
    using Pkg
    
    # Check if CondaPkg.jl is installed, install if needed
    if !haskey(Pkg.project().dependencies, "CondaPkg")
        println("Installing CondaPkg.jl...")
        Pkg.add("CondaPkg")
    end
    
    using CondaPkg
    
    # Install matplotlib and PyQt5
    println("Adding matplotlib and pyqt to CondaPkg...")
    CondaPkg.add("matplotlib")
    CondaPkg.add("pyqt")
    
    # Resolve and install
    println("Resolving and installing packages...")
    CondaPkg.resolve()
    
    println("")
    println("Installation complete!")
    println("To use the Qt backend in Julia, set the backend before plotting:")
    println(" export MPLBACKEND=Qt5Agg; julia --project")

'

```

This might also work on Windows if you use Bash for Windows.

Disclaimer: Written by AI, hand-corrected and tested by myself.