Install Documentation on Permanently Offline Computers

Since R2023a

When using MATLAB®, you access product documentation on the web, by default. To use the documentation on a computer that is permanently offline, you can download a documentation ISO image, copy the image to the offline computer, and then mount the image and install the documentation.

If you typically work with MATLAB while connected to the internet and only occasionally work offline, see Install Documentation for Temporary Offline Use.

Prerequisites

  • The offline computer must run on Linux® or Windows®. On macOS operating systems, downloading and installing documentation from a mounted DMG image is not supported.

  • The computer you use to download the documentation must have an internet connection.

  • To download the documentation, you must have a MathWorks® Account. Installing the documentation on the offline computer does not require a MathWorks Account.

  • Both the computer you use to download the documentation and the offline computer must have more than 10 GB of available disk space to accommodate the size of the documentation ISO image.

  • MATLAB must already be installed on the offline computer.

  • Knowledge of IT concepts is recommended but not required.

Download Documentation (Requires Internet Connection)

To download the R2025a documentation, in the Operating Systems list below, select the operating system for the target offline computer. Then, click Download documentation.

Note

macOS DMGs are not available. To download and install documentation on macOS operating systems, see Install Documentation for Temporary Offline Use.

To download documentation for releases before R2025a, see the support article How do I download and install documentation on offline machines?

Copy Documentation to Offline Computer

Copy the documentation ISO image that you downloaded to the offline computer using removable media or a shared network location. Then, on the offline computer, mount the image using the standard process for your platform.

For more details, see this support article.

Install Documentation on Offline Computer

Install the documentation on the offline computer using the mpm command line tool. mpm is included as part of the downloaded documentation ISO image.

Note

Perform these steps from the command line for your operating system. Do not run these commands from MATLAB.

  1. From the operating system command line, navigate to the folder within the mounted image that contains the documentation installer.

    cd <mountedDocImage>/bin/<arch>

    • <mountedDocImage> is the root of the mounted documentation ISO image.

    • <arch> is the operating system architecture folder of the ISO image, such as win64, glnxa64, maci64, or maca64.

  2. Install the documentation by using the mpm install-doc command. Specify the --matlabroot option to the folder where MATLAB is installed on the offline computer. By default, mpm installs the documentation to the support package root folder within MATLAB, as determined by the function matlabshared.supportpkg.getSupportPackageRoot (MATLAB).

    Windows example:

    .\mpm.exe install-doc --matlabroot="C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2025a"

    Linux or Mac example:

    ./mpm install-doc --matlabroot=/home/<username>/matlab

    To install the documentation to a custom location, also specify the full path to this location using the --destination option. Use this option when you want to:

    • Install the documentation on a network drive so that your users all access the same version.

    • Install the documentation to a shared location on computers accessed by multiple users. This scenario applies to Linux platforms only, where the documentation is installed by default to a user-specific folder. On Windows, the documentation is installed by default to a shared location.

    Windows example:

    .\mpm.exe install-doc --matlabroot="C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2025a" --destination="Z:\Shared\MATLAB Doc"

    Linux example:

    ./mpm install-doc --matlabroot=/home/<username>/matlab --destination=/usr/local/share/matlab-doc

  3. Unmount the documentation ISO image. If you need to reclaim the disk space, delete the image.

Configure MATLAB to Use Installed Documentation

Update the MATLAB settings so that MATLAB opens the installed documentation instead of the web documentation. For each installation of MATLAB that will use the documentation:

  1. Open MATLAB, and at the command prompt, enter:

    s=settings, s.matlab.help.DocLocation.PersonalValue='INSTALLED';

  2. If you installed the documentation to a custom location, update the documentation root to point MATLAB to that location. <custom/doc/install/folder> is the documentation path you specified in the --destination option of mpm install-doc.

    docroot('<custom/doc/install/folder>/help')

  3. Optionally add the previous MATLAB commands to your startup.m or matlabrc.m file so that they run every time that MATLAB starts up. For more details on using MATLAB startup files, see Startup Options in MATLAB Startup File (MATLAB).

  4. Restart MATLAB.

Verify Local Installation

Verify that the documentation opens locally. At the MATLAB command prompt, enter: doc

In the browser page that opens, check the address of the URL.

  • If the URL points to a local IP address and port number (for example, http://127.0.0.1:12345), then MATLAB is accessing the locally installed documentation.

  • If the URL points to a web address (for example, https://www.mathworks.com/help/...), then MATLAB is still accessing the web documentation. Update MATLAB to point to the locally installed documentation, as described in the section Configure MATLAB to Use Installed Documentation.

Update Documentation on Offline Computer

To update installed documentation after adding or removing products, or to install the most recent documentation, repeat the previous procedures.

See Also

Topics