diff --git a/src/spatialdata_plot/pl/basic.py b/src/spatialdata_plot/pl/basic.py
index d6216341..a881cd5f 100644
--- a/src/spatialdata_plot/pl/basic.py
+++ b/src/spatialdata_plot/pl/basic.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Literal, cast
 
+import matplotlib
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 import numpy as np
 import pandas as pd
@@ -789,6 +790,7 @@ def show(
         ax: list[Axes] | Axes | None = None,
         return_ax: bool = False,
         save: str | Path | None = None,
+        show: bool | None = None,
     ) -> sd.SpatialData:
         """
         Plot the images in the SpatialData object.
@@ -813,6 +815,12 @@ def show(
             Number of columns in the figure. Default is 4.
         return_ax :
             Whether to return the axes object created. False by default.
+        show :
+            Whether to call ``plt.show()`` at the end. If ``None`` (default), the plot is shown
+            automatically when running in non-interactive mode (scripts) and suppressed in
+            interactive sessions (e.g. Jupyter). Set to ``False`` to prevent ``plt.show()``
+            from being called, which is useful when you want to save or further modify the
+            figure after calling this method.
         colorbar :
             Global switch to enable/disable all colorbars. Per-layer settings are ignored when this is False.
         colorbar_params :
@@ -856,6 +864,7 @@ def show(
             ax,
             return_ax,
             save,
+            show,
         )
 
         sdata = self._copy()
@@ -1211,8 +1220,12 @@ def _draw_colorbar(
         if fig_params.fig is not None and save is not None:
             save_fig(fig_params.fig, path=save)
 
-        # Manually show plot if we're not in interactive mode
-        # https://stackoverflow.com/a/64523765
-        if not hasattr(sys, "ps1"):
+        # Show the plot unless the caller opted out.
+        # Default (show=None): display in non-interactive mode (scripts), suppress in interactive
+        # sessions. We check both sys.ps1 (standard REPL) and matplotlib.is_interactive()
+        # (covers IPython, Jupyter, plt.ion(), and IDE consoles like PyCharm).
+        if show is None:
+            show = not hasattr(sys, "ps1") and not matplotlib.is_interactive()
+        if show:
             plt.show()
         return (fig_params.ax if fig_params.axs is None else fig_params.axs) if return_ax else None  # shuts up ruff
diff --git a/src/spatialdata_plot/pl/utils.py b/src/spatialdata_plot/pl/utils.py
index 11d5d10d..9d3b2954 100644
--- a/src/spatialdata_plot/pl/utils.py
+++ b/src/spatialdata_plot/pl/utils.py
@@ -2000,6 +2000,7 @@ def _validate_show_parameters(
     ax: list[Axes] | Axes | None,
     return_ax: bool,
     save: str | Path | None,
+    show: bool | None,
 ) -> None:
     if coordinate_systems is not None and not isinstance(coordinate_systems, list | str):
         raise TypeError("Parameter 'coordinate_systems' must be a string or a list of strings.")
@@ -2089,6 +2090,9 @@ def _validate_show_parameters(
     if save is not None and not isinstance(save, str | Path):
         raise TypeError("Parameter 'save' must be a string or a pathlib.Path.")
 
+    if show is not None and not isinstance(show, bool):
+        raise TypeError("Parameter 'show' must be a boolean or None.")
+
 
 def _type_check_params(param_dict: dict[str, Any], element_type: str) -> dict[str, Any]:
     colorbar = param_dict.get("colorbar", "auto")