How do I create a desktop shortcut to start MATLAB with command-line options in MacOS?

I need to run MATLAB with the command-line option "-cefdisablegpu" on my MacBook. For example, for MATLAB R2022b I run the following commands from Terminal:

cd /Applications/MATLAB_R2022b.app/bin/
./matlab -cefdisablegpu

Is there a way to create a desktop shortcut so that MATLAB starts with this flag automatically when I double-click?

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

To create a desktop shortcut such that MATLAB R20XXx runs with a startup option like "-cefdisablegpu", please follow the steps below. 

• Open Terminal in your MacBook. 
• Type the following commands in Terminal:

cd ~/Desktop
touch matlab_new.command

• Right click the new icon created on the desktop --> Open With --> TextEdit. 

#!/bin/bash
% chmod u+x /Users/$USER/Desktop/matlab_new.command
cd /Applications/MATLAB_R20XXx.app/bin/
./matlab -cefdisablegpu

chmod u+x /Users/$USER/Desktop/matlab_new.command

• At this point, you should be able to double-click the created icon on the desktop to start MATLAB with the specified flag. 
• (Optional) To add a custom icon image, follow the steps in the following Apple discussions thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7720713

[Walter Roberson]

Instead of

chmod u+x /Users/username/Desktop/matlab_new.command

with the necessity to replace "username" with your own username, you could instead do

chmod u+x ~/Desktop/matlab_new.command

The ~ in context means "the home directory of the executing account".

The instructions already used ~ in the cd ~/Desktop step so there is no reason to avoid using it.