How to Remove a Legend in ggplot2 (With Examples)

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To remove a legend from ggplot2 in R, use the “theme()” function along with the legend.position argument set to “none” to completely remove the legend from the plot.

Example 1: Set legend.position = none

Here’s an example that demonstrates how to create a scatter plot without a legend:

library(ggplot2)

# Create a sample data frame
df <- data.frame(
  x = rnorm(100),
  y = rnorm(100),
  category = sample(letters[1:3], 100, replace = TRUE)
)

# Create a scatter plot without a legend
plot <- ggplot(df, aes(x = x, y = y, color = category)) +
  geom_point() +
  theme(legend.position = "none")

# Display the plot
plot

Output

Set legend.position = none

By adding theme(legend.position = “none”), we are instructing ggplot2 not to display the legend that would normally show the color mapping for the category variable.

Example 2: Line Plot without Legend

# Load the necessary libraries
library(ggplot2)

# Create a sample data frame
df <- data.frame(
  time = 1:10,
  value = cumsum(rnorm(10)),
  group = rep(1:2, each = 5)
)

# Create a line plot without a legend
plot <- ggplot(df, aes(x = time, y = value, color = as.factor(group))) +
  geom_line() +
  theme(legend.position = "none")

# Display the plot
plot

Output

Line Plot without Legend in R

Example 3: Bar Plot without Legend

# Load the necessary libraries
library(ggplot2)

# Create a sample data frame
df <- data.frame(
  category = rep(letters[1:3], each = 4),
  value = runif(12)
)

# Create a bar plot without a legend
plot <- ggplot(df, aes(x = category, y = value, fill = category)) +
  geom_bar(stat = "identity") +
  theme(legend.position = "none")

# Display the plot
plot

Output

Bar Plot without Legend

Using the fill aesthetic, we would typically have a legend showing the color mapping for the categories. However, we’re again using a theme(legend.position = “none”) to remove the legend from the plot.

That’s it!

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