xlabel

Label x-axis

Syntax

xlabel(txt)
xlabel(target,txt)

xlabel( ___ ,Name,Value)

t = xlabel( ___ )

Description
xlabel(txt) labels the x-axis of the current axes or chart returned by the gca command. example
Reissuing the xlabel command replaces the old label with the new label.
example
xlabel(target,txt) adds the label to the axes or chart specified by target.

xlabel( ___ ,Name,Value) modifies the label appearance using one or more name-value pair example
arguments. For example, 'FontSize',12 sets the font size to 12 points. Specify name-value
pair arguments after all other input arguments. Modifying the label appearance is not supported
for all types of charts.
example
t = xlabel( ___ ) returns the text object used as the x-axis label. Use t to make future
modifications to the label after it is created.

Examples collapse all

 Label x-Axis

Display Population beneath the x-axis.

Try it in MATLAB

plot((1:10).^2)
xlabel('Population')
 Create Multiline x-Axis Label

Create a multiline label using a cell array of character

vectors. Try it in MATLAB

plot((1:10).^2)
xlabel({'Population','(in thousands)'})
 Include Greek Letters in x-Axis Label

Include Greek letters and other special characters in the

label using TeX markup. Try it in MATLAB

x = linspace(-2*pi,2*pi);
y = sin(x);
plot(x,y)
xlabel('-2\pi \leq x \leq 2\pi')
 Include Variable Value in x-Axis Label

Add a label with text and a variable value. Use the num2str
function to include a variable value in the label. Try it in MATLAB

plot((1:10).^2)
year = 2014;
xlabel(['Population for Year ',num2str(year)])
 Include Superscript and Subscript in Axis Labels

Use the '^' and '_' characters to include superscripts

and subscripts in the axis labels. Use curly braces {} to Try it in MATLAB
modify more than one character.

t = linspace(0,1);
y = exp(t);
plot(t,y)
xlabel('t_{seconds}')
ylabel('e^t')
 Change x-Axis Label Font Size and Color

Use Name,Value pair arguments to set the font size, font

weight, and text color properties of the x-axis label. Try it in MATLAB

plot((1:10).^2)
xlabel('Population','FontSize',12,'FontWeight','bold','Color','r')
 Label x-Axis of Specific Subplot

Create a figure with two subplots. Label the x-axis of the

top subplot. Try it in MATLAB

ax1 = subplot(2,1,1);
plot((1:10).^2)
xlabel(ax1,'Population')

ax2 = subplot(2,1,2);
plot((1:10).^3)
 Modify x-Axis Label After Creation

Label the x-axis and return the text object used as the
label. Try it in MATLAB

plot((1:10).^2)
t = xlabel('Population');
Use t to set text properties of the label after it has been created. For example, set the color of the label
to red. Starting in R2014b, you can use dot notation to set properties. If you are using an earlier release,
use the set function instead.

t.Color = 'red';
Input Arguments collapse all

txt — Axis label

 string | character vector | string array | character array | cell array | numeric value

Axis label, specified as a string, character vector, string array, character array, cell array, or numeric
value.

Example: 'my label'

Example: {'first line','second line'}

Example: 123

To include numeric variables with text in a label, use the num2str function. For example:

x = 42;
txt = ['The value is ',num2str(x)];

To include special characters, such as superscripts, subscripts, Greek letters, or mathematical symbols
use TeX markup. For a list of supported markup, see the Interpreter property.

To create multiline labels:

• Use a string array, where each element contains a line of text, such as ["first line","second
line"].
• Use a cell array, where each cell contains a line of text, such as {'first line','second line'}.
• Use a character array, where each row contains the same number of characters, such as ['abc';
'ab '].
• Use sprintf to create text with a new line character, such as sprintf('first line \n second
line').

Numeric labels are converted to text using sprintf('%g',value). For example, 12345678 displays as
1.23457e+07.

 Note
The words default, factory, and remove are reserved words that will not appear in a label
when quoted as a normal characters. To display any of these words individually, precede them
with a backslash, such as '\default' or '\remove'.

target — Target for label

 Axes object | graphics object

Target for label, specified as an Axes object or a graphics object that has an XLabel property. For
example, you can add an x-axis label to a HeatmapChart object.

If you do not specify the target, then the xlabel function adds the label to the graphics object returned
by the gca command.

 Note
 Some charts do not support modifying the label appearance, such as the color, or returning the
text object as an output argument.

Name-Value Pair Arguments

Specify optional comma-separated pairs of Name,Value arguments. Name is the argument name and Value is
the corresponding value. Name must appear inside single quotes (' '). You can specify several name and
value pair arguments in any order as Name1,Value1,...,NameN,ValueN.

Example: 'Color','red','FontSize',12 specifies red, 12-point font.

The text properties listed here are only a subset. For a complete list, see Text Properties. collapse all

'FontSize' — Font size

 11 (default) | scalar value greater than 0

Font size, specified as a scalar value greater than 0 in point units. One point equals 1/72 inch. To
change the font units, use the FontUnits property.

Setting the font size properties for the associated axes also affects the label font size. The label font size
updates to equal the axes font size times the label scale factor. The FontSize property of the axes
contains the axes font size. The LabelFontSizeMultiplier property of the axes contains the label
scale factor. By default, the axes font size is 10 points and the scale factor is 1.1, so the x-axis label font
size is 11 points.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

'FontWeight' — Character thickness

 'normal' (default) | 'bold'

Character thickness, specified as one of these values:

• 'normal' — Default weight as defined by the particular font

• 'bold' — Thicker character outlines than normal

MATLAB® uses the FontWeight property to select a font from those available on your system. Not all
fonts have a bold font weight. Therefore, specifying a bold font weight still can result in the normal font
weight.

'FontName' — Font name

 supported font name | 'FixedWidth'

Font name, specified a supported font name or 'FixedWidth'. To display and print properly, you must
choose a font that your system supports. The default font depends on the specific operating system and
locale.

To use a fixed-width font that looks good in any locale, use 'FixedWidth'. The 'FixedWidth' value
relies on the root FixedWidthFontName property. Setting the root FixedWidthFontName property
causes an immediate update of the display to use the new font.

Example: 'Cambria'
 'Color' — Text color
 [0.15 0.15 0.15] (default) | RGB triplet | 'r' | 'g' | 'b' | ...

Text color, specified as an RGB triplet or one of the color options listed in the table.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet. An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements
specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the
range [0,1]; for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7]. Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by
name. This table lists the long and short color name options and the equivalent RGB triplet values.

Option Description Equivalent RGB Triplet

'red' or 'r' Red [1 0 0]

'green' or 'g' Green [0 1 0]

'blue' or 'b' Blue [0 0 1]

'yellow' or 'y' Yellow [1 1 0]

'magenta' or 'm' Magenta [1 0 1]

'cyan' or 'c' Cyan [0 1 1]

'white' or 'w' White [1 1 1]

'black' or 'k' Black [0 0 0]

'none' No color Not applicable

Example: 'blue'

Example: [0 0 1]

'Interpreter' — Interpretation of text characters

 'tex' (default) | 'latex' | 'none'

Interpretation of text characters, specified as one of these values:

• 'tex' — Interpret characters using a subset of TeX markup.

• 'latex' — Interpret characters using LaTeX markup.
• 'none' — Display literal characters.

TeX Markup
By default, MATLAB supports a subset of TeX markup. Use TeX markup to add superscripts and
subscripts, modify the font type and color, and include special characters in the text.

When you set the Interpreter property to 'tex', the supported modifiers are as follows. Modifiers
remain in effect until the end of the text. Superscripts and subscripts are an exception because they
modify only the next character or the characters within the curly braces.

Modifier Description Example

^{ } Superscript 'text^{superscript}'

_{ } Subscript 'text_{subscript}'

\bf Bold font '\bf text'

\it Italic font '\it text'

 Modifier Description Example

\sl Oblique font (usually the same as '\sl text'

italic font)

\rm Normal font '\rm text'

\fontname{specifier} Font name — Set specifier as '\fontname{Courier} text'

the name of a font family. You can
use this in combination with other
modifiers.

\fontsize{specifier} Font size — Set specifier as a '\fontsize{15} text'

numeric scalar value in point units
to change the font size.

\color{specifier} Font color — Set specifer as one '\color{magenta} text'

of these colors: red, green,
yellow, magenta, blue, black,
white, gray, darkGreen, orange,
or lightBlue.

\color[rgb]{specifier} Custom font color — Set '\color[rgb]{0,0.5,0.5}

specifier as a three-element text'
RGB triplet.

This table lists the supported special characters with the Interpreter property set to 'tex'.

Character Character Character

Symbol Symbol Symbol
Sequence Sequence Sequence

\alpha α \upsilon υ \sim ~

\angle ∠ \phi \leq ≤

\ast * \chi χ \infty ∞

\beta β \psi ψ \clubsuit ♣

\gamma γ \omega ω \diamondsuit ♦

\delta δ \Gamma Γ \heartsuit ♥

\epsilon ϵ \Delta Δ \spadesuit ♠

\zeta ζ \Theta Θ \leftrightarrow ↔

\eta η \Lambda Λ \leftarrow ←

\theta θ \Xi Ξ \Leftarrow ⇐

\vartheta ϑ \Pi Π \uparrow ↑

\iota ι \Sigma Σ \rightarrow →

\kappa κ \Upsilon ϒ \Rightarrow ⇒

\lambda λ \Phi Φ \downarrow ↓

\mu µ \Psi Ψ \circ º

\nu ν \Omega Ω \pm ±

\xi ξ \forall ∀ \geq ≥

\pi π \exists ∃ \propto ∝

\rho ρ \ni ∍ \partial ∂

\sigma σ \cong ≅ \bullet •

\varsigma ς \approx ≈ \div ÷

 Character Character Character
Symbol Symbol Symbol
Sequence Sequence Sequence

\tau τ \Re ℜ \neq ≠

\equiv ≡ \oplus ⊕ \aleph ℵ

\Im ℑ \cup ∪ \wp ℘

\otimes ⊗ \subseteq ⊆ \oslash ∅

\cap ∩ \in ∈ \supseteq ⊇

\supset ⊃ \lceil ⌈ \subset ⊂

\int ∫ \cdot · \o ο

\rfloor ⌋ \neg ¬ \nabla ∇

\lfloor ⌊ \times x \ldots ...

\perp ⊥ \surd √ \prime ´

\wedge ∧ \varpi ϖ \0 ∅

\rceil ⌉ \rangle 〉 \mid |

\vee ∨ \langle 〈 \copyright ©

LaTeX Markup
To use LaTeX markup, set the Interpreter property to 'latex'. Use dollar symbols around the text,
for example, use '$\int_1^{20} x^2 dx$' for inline mode or '$$\int_1^{20} x^2 dx$$' for display
mode.

The displayed text uses the default LaTeX font style. The FontName, FontWeight, and FontAngle
properties do not have an effect. To change the font style, use LaTeX markup.

The maximum size of the text that you can use with the LaTeX interpreter is 1200 characters. For
multiline text, this reduces by about 10 characters per line.

For more information about the LaTeX system, see The LaTeX Project website at http://www.latex-
project.org/.

Output Arguments collapse all

t — Text object
 text object

Text object used as the x-axis label. Use t to access and modify properties of the label after it has been
created.

See Also

Functions
num2str | text | title | ylabel | zlabel

Properties
Text Properties
Topics
Add Text to Graph Interactively

Introduced before R2006a