Turn off the left/bottom axis tick marks in Matplotlib

To turn off the left or bottom axis tick marks in Matplotlib, we can use the tick_params() method with length=0 parameter. This removes the tick marks while keeping the labels visible.

Basic Syntax

plt.tick_params(axis='both', which='both', length=0)

Parameters

• axis − Specifies which axis to modify ('x', 'y', or 'both')
• which − Applies to 'major', 'minor', or 'both' ticks
• length − Sets the tick mark length (0 removes them)

Example: Remove All Tick Marks

Here's how to remove tick marks from both axes ?

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.rcParams["figure.figsize"] = [7.50, 3.50]
plt.rcParams["figure.autolayout"] = True

x = np.linspace(-2, 2, 10)
y = np.sin(x)

plt.plot(x, y)
plt.tick_params(axis='both', which='both', length=0)

plt.show()

Example: Remove Specific Axis Tick Marks

You can target specific axes by changing the axis parameter ?

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.figure(figsize=(10, 4))

# Subplot 1: Remove only x-axis tick marks
plt.subplot(1, 2, 1)
x = np.linspace(0, 4*np.pi, 50)
y = np.cos(x)
plt.plot(x, y, 'b-')
plt.tick_params(axis='x', length=0)
plt.title('X-axis tick marks removed')

# Subplot 2: Remove only y-axis tick marks  
plt.subplot(1, 2, 2)
plt.plot(x, y, 'r-')
plt.tick_params(axis='y', length=0)
plt.title('Y-axis tick marks removed')

plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()

Alternative Methods

You can also use gca() to get the current axes and modify tick parameters ?

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = np.linspace(0, 2*np.pi, 30)
y = np.sin(x)

plt.plot(x, y, 'go-', linewidth=2, markersize=4)

# Using gca() method
ax = plt.gca()
ax.tick_params(axis='both', which='both', length=0)

plt.title('Tick marks removed using gca()')
plt.grid(True, alpha=0.3)
plt.show()

Comparison

Conclusion

Use tick_params(length=0) to remove tick marks while preserving labels. Specify axis='x' or axis='y' to target specific axes, or use axis='both' for complete removal.