How do I make a figure legend multiple lines?

The string for my legend is too long to fit into one line. I would like to split it into multiple lines.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

To split legend to multiple lines, use the "newline" function or the ASCII character 10 for new line, for example:

>> plot(sin(1:10),'b')
>> hold on
>> plot(cos(1:10),'r')

>> legend({['blue' char(10) 'line'],'red line'})

With MATLAB "strings" you can use the following notation:

>> legend({ "blue" + newline  + "line", 'red line'})

or

>> legend({ strcat("blue", string(newline), "line"), 'red line' })

In addition to the MATLAB command line, the legend can also be updated interactively in the figure itself to include multi-line legend entries.

Answer 2

[Christoforos Kanavakis]

In newer versions, Matlab recommends using 'newline'.

So,

 legend({['blue' newline 'line'],'red line'})

Answer 3

[Sulaymon Eshkabilov]

This one is a better solution that is easier to implement:

plot(sin(1:.1:10),'r', 'DisplayName', 'Cosine'), hold on
plot(cos(1:.1:10),'g', 'DisplayName', 'Sine')
plot(tan(1:.1:10),'b', 'DisplayName', 'Tangent')
plot(1./tan(1:.1:10),'k', 'DisplayName', 'Inverse Tangent'), grid on
My_LGD = legend;
My_LGD.NumColumns = 2;    % Show legends in two lines