How to Apply Built-in Style Sheets in Matplotlib (ggplot, dark_background, and more)

TL;DR

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.style.use('ggplot')   # applies globally for the rest of the session

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot([1, 2, 3], [4, 1, 3])
plt.show()

Matplotlib line chart rendered with the ggplot style sheet

What style sheets do

A Matplotlib style sheet is a plain-text file (.mplstyle) that sets rcParams values — colors, fonts, line widths, grid settings, and more — in one go. Instead of configuring each element manually, you apply a style and every chart in that session inherits the look automatically.

Applying a style globally

plt.style.use() changes the style for every plot created after that point:

plt.style.use('dark_background')

Matplotlib line chart with dark_background style

Call it once at the top of your script or notebook. To reset to Matplotlib defaults, use plt.style.use('default').

Applying a style to one chart only

Use plt.style.context() as a context manager to scope the style to a single block without affecting anything else:

with plt.style.context('fivethirtyeight'):
    fig, ax = plt.subplots()
    ax.plot(x, y)
    plt.show()

This is the safer option in notebooks where you have multiple charts with different styles.

Matplotlib line chart with fivethirtyeight style

Listing all available styles

print(plt.style.available)

As of Matplotlib 3.9 the list includes around 30 styles. A few worth knowing:

Style	Look
`default`	Matplotlib's baseline — white background, blue lines
`ggplot`	Grey grid, muted palette, inspired by R's ggplot2
`dark_background`	Black background, bright lines
`fivethirtyeight`	Clean, minimal, grey grid — modelled on the FiveThirtyEight site
`seaborn-v0_8`	Seaborn's default aesthetic (use the `v0_8` suffix in recent Matplotlib)
`bmh`	Bayesian Methods for Hackers palette
`Solarized_Light`	Solarized colour scheme
`tableau-colorblind10`	Tableau's colorblind-accessible palette

Matplotlib line chart with seaborn-v0_8 style

Combining styles

You can stack multiple styles by passing a list. Later styles override earlier ones for any keys they share:

plt.style.use(['dark_background', 'tableau-colorblind10'])

A common pattern is to apply a base layout style first, then a palette-only style on top.

Style comparison

Side-by-side comparison of default, ggplot, dark_background, and fivethirtyeight styles

Overriding individual settings after a style

Styles set rcParams defaults, but you can always override them per-chart afterwards. The style doesn't lock anything:

plt.style.use('ggplot')

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot(x, y, color='#264653', lw=3)   # overrides the style's default color
ax.set_facecolor('white')               # overrides the style's axes background

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