How to Change Legend Font Size in Matplotlib

In order to change the font size of a legend in Matplotlib, you can use the “prop” parameter of the legend function. This parameter allows you to set the font size of the legend text. You can also set other properties such as font weight, font family, and font style. To do this, you must set the prop parameter when you create the legend object. Once you have set the properties, the legend object will be updated with the new font size.


You can easily add a plot to a Matplotlib plot by using the following code:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

#add legend to plot
plt.legend()

And you can easily change the font size of the text in the legend by using one of the following methods:

Method 1: Specify a Size in Numbers

You can specify font size by using a number:

plt.legend(fontsize=18)

Method 2: Specify a Size in Strings

You can also specify font size by using strings:

plt.legend(fontsize="small")

Options include:

  • xx-small
  • x-small
  • small
  • medium
  • large
  • x-large
  • xx-large

The following examples show how to use each of these methods in practice:

Example 1: Specify Font Size Using a Number

The following example shows how to specify a legend font size using a number:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

#create data
plt.plot([2, 4, 6, 11], label="First Line")
plt.plot([1, 4, 5, 9], label="Second Line")

#add legend
plt.legend(fontsize=18)

#show plot
plt.show()

Change legend font size in Matplotlib

Example 2: Specify Font Size Using a String

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

#create data
plt.plot([2, 4, 6, 11], label="First Line")
plt.plot([1, 4, 5, 9], label="Second Line")

#add legend
plt.legend(fontsize="small")

#show plot
plt.show()

Change font size of legend in Matplotlib Plot in Python

How to Change Font Sizes on a Matplotlib Plot
How to Add Text to Matplotlib Plots

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