MATLAB: How to prevent scientific notation on the axes in MATLAB R2015b and later

axesaxischangeexponentlabel;limitsnotationpanscientifictickzoom

I would like to change the tick labels of my plot so they do not display in scientific notation.
If I use the "xticklabel" function to manually change the labels, they do not update automatically when I zoom or pan. How can I change the format of my tick labels in a way that is respected by zoom and pan?

Best Answer

Starting in MATLAB R2015b, you can use axis ruler properties to customize the appearance of an individual axis. Please refer to the following examples for how you can remove scientific notation from your axis labels, in a way which is respected by zoom and pan.
In MATLAB R2016b and later:
>> h = plot(1:1000000, 1:1000000)
>> ax = ancestor(h, 'axes')
>> ax.XAxis.Exponent = 0
>> xtickformat('%.0f')
Setting the "Exponent" property of an axis to 0 removes the exponential notation common to all tick values. For more information, refer to the following documentation page:
https://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2019a/matlab/ref/matlab.graphics.axis.decorator.numericruler-properties.html#bun6izd-1-Exponent
The functions "xtickformat", "ytickformat", and "ztickformat" can then be used to customize the format of your tick labels. In this example, the format is set to fixed-point notation with zero decimal places, which removes the scientific notation from the individual tick labels. The following documentation page describes how to call the "xtickformat" function, and the additional formatting options which are available:
https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/xtickformat.html
In MATLAB R2015b and R2016a:
>> h = plot(1:1000000, 1:1000000)
>> ax = ancestor(h, 'axes')
>> ax.XAxis.Exponent = 0
>> ax.XAxis.TickLabelFormat = '%.0f'
In releases R2015b and R2016a, you can use the "TickLabelFormat" property of an axis to customize the format of your labels. For more information on this property, refer to the following documentation page:
https://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2019a/matlab/ref/matlab.graphics.axis.decorator.numericruler-properties.html#bun6izd-1-TickLabelFormat
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