Development Environment

Opening the Editor Without Starting MATLAB

On PC platforms, you can use the MATLAB Editor without starting MATLAB. To do so, double-click an M-file in Windows Explorer. The M-file opens in the MATLAB Editor. To open the Editor without a file, open $matlabroot/bin/win32/meditor.exe. Regardless of the type of MATLAB license you have, you can open multiple instances of meditor because it is not considered an instance of MATLAB.

This version of the MATLAB Editor is a stand-alone application. You cannot: debug M-files from it, evaluate a selection, access source control features, dock the Editor in the MATLAB desktop, nor access help from it. It remains a stand-alone application, even if you subsequently open MATLAB. Other than these limitations, you can use the editing features as described in Creating and Editing M-Files with the Editor/Debugger.

For PC platforms, when MATLAB is installed, the stand-alone editor is automatically associated with files having a .m extension. If you double-click on an M-file, the stand-alone Editor opens. You can change the association using Windows Explorer so that files with a .m extension will open in the Editor/Debugger in MATLAB.

Opening Existing M-Files in the Editor/Debugger

Closing the Editor/Debugger