How to Set Axis Limits in ggplot2?

Setting the axis bounds on a plot using ggplot2 is a common task. Using the following functions, you can accomplish so quickly.

xlim(): specifies the lower and upper limit of the x-axis.
ylim(): specifies the lower and upper limit of the y-axis.

Both of these approaches will eliminate data that is outside of the bounds, which can have unforeseen implications.

You can use coord_cartesian() instead to modify the axis bounds without losing data observations

Let’s start by loading the library and a simple plot.

library(ggplot2)
p <- ggplot(ToothGrowth, aes(x = factor(dose), y = len,fill=factor(dose))) +
geom_boxplot()
p

Approach 1: Set X-Axis Limits Using xlim()

The following code demonstrates how to use the xlim() function to set the scatterplot’s x-axis limits.

create a scatterplot with x-axis ranging from 0 to 5

p +  xlim(0, 5)

The following code demonstrates how to use the ylim() function to set the scatterplot’s y-axis limits:

create a scatterplot with a y-axis ranging from 0 to 45

p +  ylim(0, 45)

Using the coord_cartesian() function, the following code explains how to specify the scatterplot’s y-axis limits.

create a scatterplot with a y-axis ranging from 0 to 50 and an x-axis from 0 to 3.

p+ coord_cartesian(xlim =c(0, 3), ylim = c(0, 50))