Install a QGIS plugin

Most QGIS plugins are installed from the official Plugin repository and this is the process covered here. To install a plugin from the QGIS plugin repository go to the Plugins menu and chose “Manage and Install Plugins”

This will open the plugin manager

The plugin manager has 5 sections

  1. Tasks: Here the typical choices are All (Show all plugins), installed (show all installed plugins), and useful for removing a plugin. Not installed (show all installed plugins) useful for installing a plugin. Upgradable (shows all plugins that can be updated)
  2. Search: locate plugins by words in name or description
  3. List: List of (filtered) plugins. Click the plugin in this list to see its info
  4. Info area: Shows general information about the plugin
  5. Actions: What to do with the selected plugin.

Use example: Install the “Data Plotly” plugin

In the search field type “plot”, this will find all plugins where the word is in or part of a word in the plugin description.

Select the plugin “Data Plotly” from the list of plugins and click “Install Plugin”

Hiding/unhiding installed plugins including the Processing menu

I problem I often comm across is that the processing menu is missing from QGIS and the typical reason is that the prossesing is a plugin that (by accident) can be hidden. To hide and unhide plugins go to the installed tab of the plugin manager

Here you can hide plugins by removing the little tick mark in front of a plug-in or unhiding it by adding the little tick mark.