How to Remove Unnecessary Time Components from a Datetime Axis in Matplotlib?

Modifying Datetime Axis Formatting

In data visualization, the formatting of a datetime axis is essential for presenting time-dependent data effectively. When plotting a series with datetime index values, it may be desirable to remove unnecessary time components, such as hours, minutes, and seconds, to gain a clearer view of the data trends.

To address this issue, consider the following solution:

Import the necessary libraries, including numpy, pandas, matplotlib.pyplot, and matplotlib.dates.

Create a sample dataset with datetime index values and random values as a data series.

Generate a line plot using plt.plot() with the index and values of the series as input.

To remove the hours, minutes, and seconds from the x-axis, utilize the mdates formatters provided by matplotlib.

Use ax.xaxis.set_major_formatter(mdates.DateFormatter("%Y-%m")) to specify the major x-axis tick labels in the format "YYYY-MM".

Employ ax.xaxis.set_minor_formatter(mdates.DateFormatter("%Y-%m")) to set the minor x-axis tick labels in the same format as the major ticks.

Finally, rotate the x-axis tick labels by 90 degrees for easier readability using plt.xticks(rotation=90).

This approach effectively removes the unnecessary time components from the datetime axis, allowing for a more concise and focused representation of the data over time.

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