Installing Matlab on your own computer under the University site licence
If you have an @cam.ac.uk email address you are entitled to install MATLAB on your personally-owned computer, for non-commercial University use only.
If you need help or have questions, please contact the Maths Computing helpdesk, help@maths in the first instance.
- Registration on Mathworks portal
- Getting the installation media
- Using network installer
- Known problems
- Update an expiring licence
Registration on Mathworks portal
To be able to use University Matlab license you need first to register at Mathworks portal using your @cam.ac.uk email address.
Getting the installation media
Due to the increase in size, starting from Matlab R2018b, it is no longer possible to download a full DVD image from the Maths website. Instead it is recommended to use the network installer which allows you to choose which toolboxes to download and install. The network installer can be downloaded directly from the Mathworks portal. If required full DVD images are available on the Mathworks portal.
Check System Requirements Before Installation
The latest MATLAB release may not support older operating systems. If your operating system is not listed as supported by MathWorks, you may need to install an earlier MATLAB release.
Please refer to the official MathWorks system requirements documentation before downloading the installer.
If you are unsure which MATLAB version is appropriate for your computer, please contact the Maths IT Helpdesk for advice before installation.
When contacting the Helpdesk, please provide the following system details:
• Operating system and version (Windows, macOS, or Linux)
• Processor type
• Amount of RAM
• Graphics card model
• Available disk space
Providing this information will help them recommend the most suitable MATLAB version for your computer and identify any potential compatibility issues before installation.
Downloading and using network installer
Detailed installation instructions for Windows, macOS, and Linux are maintained by MathWorks and can be found in the official documentation:
MATLAB Installation Documentation.
Known Problems
If you do not have an Internet connection (to allow access to the MathWorks website) then the Matlab installation will fail and/or the activation of the installation will fail.
If you find that this does not work or you run into other problems please let us know: help@maths.
Update an Expiring Licence
If your Matlab licence is expiring (there is usually a message when starting up Matlab) then to update the licence, relaunch Matlab from an account with admin privileges and:
- help -> licensing -> Update Current Licences
- click on "update" button
- restart Matlab
Alternatively when presented with "Activate MathWorks Software" window, choose "Activate automatically using the Internet" option, login into your MathWorks account and choose license labelled "Individual".