For MATLAB R2011a, R2011b, R2012a, and R2012b, you must install XQuartz before proceeding with these instructions.
For MATLAB R2013a, you should not need to install XQuartz.
You can download XQuartz here:
After installing XQuartz, you must restart your computer before proceeding with these instructions.
Java 1.6 is required to run the installer for MATLAB R2013a and previous releases.
Java 1.6 is not installed by default in macOS 10.10 and later.
Even if Java 1.6 is installed, the MATLAB installer might not use it, due to new default Java settings in OS X 10.10 and later.
This article describes how to install Java 6 if you don't have it, and how to force your Mac to use Java 6 to start the installer.
To check which versions of Java are installed, open Terminal and run the following command:
/usr/libexec/java_home -V
The output of this command will show you all of the versions of Java that are installed on your computer.
If you do not see Java 1.6, then you will need to install it.
You can download Java 1.6 here:
If you see Java 1.6 and you do not see Java 1.7 or Java 1.8, then you should be able to start the MATLAB installer.
If you see Java 1.6 and you also see Java 1.7 or Java 1.8, then you will need to start the MATLAB installer from Terminal and force it to use Java 1.6.
To do this, follow the steps below:
1. In the output of the java_home -V command, copy the file path shown for Java 1.6.
- If your computer is 64-bit, use the x86_64 version of Java 1.6.
- If your computer is 32-bit, use the i386 version of Java 1.6.
2. Open the folder with the MATLAB installer files and locate the file "install" (not "InstallForMacOSX.app").
3. Drag the file "install" into Terminal. You should see the full path to the "install" file displayed in Terminal.
4. In Terminal, press the space bar once to add a space, then enter the following:
-javadir
5. In Terminal, press the space bar once to add another space, then right-click and paste the path to Java 1.6 that you copied earlier.
The full command should look similar to this:
/Users/username/Downloads/R20XXx/matlab_R20XXx_maci64/install -javadir /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home
6. Press Enter in Terminal to run the command. The MATLAB installer should start.
Once the installation is complete, you will need to install the patch for the release of MATLAB that you installed.
The patch fixes bugs that occur when running MATLAB R2011a through R2014a on macOS 10.10 or later.
The patch can be downloaded here:
Why am I unable to start MATLAB on macOS 10.10 Yosemite or later?
Scroll down to the "Attachments" section and download the patch for your release of MATLAB.
After you install the patch, you should be able to start MATLAB.
