MATLAB

All faculty, researchers, students, and staff are eligible to download and install MATLAB on their personally-owned computers, university-issued computers, or use MATLAB Online in a web browser. Please note that commercial use of MathWorks products is not covered by our campus-wide license; if you are using a commercial license, please continue to do so. If you require a MATLAB Roadrunner licence, please create a ticket with IST. 

MATLAB Registration

  1. Go to the University of Waterloo’s MATLAB Portal.

  2. Click "Sign in to get started".

  3. Click "Create an account".

  4. Enter your UWaterloo e-mail and set a password (this is a separate password from your WatIAM and the same password should not be used for both). Click "Next". 

  5. Verify your account using the e-mail address you registered with. 

  6. Fill in your personal details and click "Next". 

  7. Your MathWorks account is now created.

Download and activate MATLAB on your computer

  1. Sign into MathWorks and click "Get started".
  2. Click "Install MATLAB" on the top right corner. On the next page, click "Download for Windows" (you can use the drop-down menu to download for MacOS and Linux).
  3. Open the downloaded .exe file.
  4. The installer will immediately begin extracting the installation files. When prompted, enter your WatIAM@uwaterloo.ca e-mail and Mathworks account password (hopefully NOT your WatIAM password).
  5. Read and accept the terms of the license agreementand click "Next".
  6. Select the licence that comes up and click "Next".
  7. Leave the default setting for the destination folder and click "Next". 
  8. Select the products you would like to install and click "Next".
  9. You can optionally select to "Add shortcut to desktop" and click "Next".
  10. Click the green "Begin Install" and wait for the installation to complete.
  11. Run MATLAB.

Use MATLAB online

  1. Sign into MathWorks and click "Get started".
  2. Click "Open MATLAB Online" to use the software online.

Renew an existing license

Current MATLAB users - renew your MATLAB license as follows:

  1. Open MATLAB (If the license has already expired the activation client will launch and you can skip the next step)
  2. Windows: Navigate to Help Menu (Click down arrow button) and select Licensing 
  3. Linux or Mac: Click on Resources, Navigate to Help Menu (Click down arrow button) and select Licensing 
  4. Click on Activate Software
  5. Choose to Activate using Internet
  6. Once reactivated you will need to restart MATLAB before the new license file is recognized
  7. If the installation has already expired, you will be prompted to activate when attempting to launch MATLAB. As long as the activation finishes successfully it will roll over to the new license file once the old one expires. You might continue to see the expiration warning in MATLAB until the old file expires

Video instructions from MathWorks

Text instructions from MathWorks

Where can I learn more?

  • Access free, self-paced training to get started in less than 2 hours: MATLAB Onramp.

  • If you have trouble installing MATLAB, go to the MATLAB Portal and click "Need Installation Help" to get support.

  • MathWorks has a comprehensive Knowledge Base for other help articles.