import numpy as np
from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
from matplotlib.ticker import MultipleLocator
a = np.arange(100)
ml = MultipleLocator(5)
plt.plot(a)
plt.axes().yaxis.set_minor_locator(ml)
plt.show()
This will place minor ticks on only the y-axis, since minor ticks are off by default.
Also, if you only want minor ticks on the actual y-axis, rather than on both the left and right-hand sides of the graph, you can follow the plt.axes().yaxis.set_minor_locator(ml) with plt.axes().yaxis.set_tick_params(which='minor', right = 'off'), like so:
import numpy as np
from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
from matplotlib.ticker import MultipleLocator
a = np.arange(100)
ml = MultipleLocator(5)
plt.plot(a)
plt.axes().yaxis.set_minor_locator(ml)
plt.axes().yaxis.set_tick_params(which='minor', right = 'off')
plt.show()
To clarify the procedure of @emad's answer, the steps to show minor ticks at default locations are:
Turn on minor ticks for an axes object, so locations are initialized as Matplotlib sees fit.
Turn off minor ticks that are not desired.
A minimal example:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
fig, ax = plt.subplots()
plt.plot([1,2])
# Currently, there are no minor ticks,
# so trying to make them visible would have no effect
ax.yaxis.get_ticklocs(minor=True) # []
# Initialize minor ticks
ax.minorticks_on()
# Now minor ticks exist and are turned on for both axes
# Turn off x-axis minor ticks
ax.xaxis.set_tick_params(which='minor', bottom=False)
Alternative Method
Alternatively, we can get minor ticks at default locations using AutoMinorLocator:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.ticker as tck
fig, ax = plt.subplots()
plt.plot([1,2])
ax.yaxis.set_minor_locator(tck.AutoMinorLocator())
Result
Either way, the resulting plot has minor ticks on the y-axis only.
from matplotlib.ticker import MultipleLocator
ax.xaxis.set_minor_locator(MultipleLocator(#))
ax.yaxis.set_minor_locator(MultipleLocator(#))
# refers to the desired interval between minor ticks.