Matplotlib freezes in Spyder ipython

Question

I am using Spyder 3.1.3 on Windows 7. This used to work on an older Spyder version, but yesterday I updated Anaconda, and with that also all Python packages.

Now, when I simply run plt.figure() in the ipython console of Spyder, I get a matplotlib window (as expected), but it is not responding (the window header says "Figure 1 (not responding)". Running any plot commands results in nothing. If I close that window, I get "Kernel died, restarting" in the ipython shell.

However, if I run ipython through the command prompt (which should be the same ipython installation), everything works as expected.

Answer 1

Same thing happen to me (using spyder 3.1.3) after I upgraded ipykernel in Anaconda to 4.6.0 from 4.5.2

If you downgrade your ipykernel back to 4.5.2 or if you upgrade it to 4.6.1 it works.

The problem is only with version 4.6.0

Doing this in Anaconda Navigator is very easy and Anaconda worries about all the libraries being compatible with each other.

1) Go to Enviroments and then in the search box type ipy

2) you'll see ipykernel there in the list

3) Left Click on top of ipykernel and select "mark for specific version installation"

4) Choose the version you want (4.6.1 for example) and thats it.

Showing the screnshots below.