Can not see the variable when double clicks them on workspace

As the attached picture shows , when I double click a variable on workspace I cannot see the exact number. Thanks for any one who can helps.

[John D'Errico]

It works for me (R2025a). No problem. Of course, for a 1000x1000 array, you will only see a few elements.

This suggests you need to help us. What release are you using?

[the cyclist]

I have seen some strangeness in the Variable Editor, too, in R2025a.

I speculate that it could be because I am still using MATLAB Schemer for dark mode, and not the new native version, but I have not really investigated yet. (I rarely use the Variable Editor, so it has not been a big deal.)

UPDATE: My particular problem does seem to be specifically related to MATLAB Schemer (and presumably not related to the original question here).

[曾]

The problem is I did not see few elements, it was actually no elements, only grey blocks. In the earlier version (2021b 2022a) I did not encounter such problems. Even I reduce dimension, let's say 5*5 I still see no elements. It's really strange.

[John D'Errico]

As I said, you need to tell us information, because at this point, all we can say is it does work for us.

So which release are you using? What computer OS?

You may need to contact tech support, but we are not tech support. And tech support will definitely need the exact information (and more) as I asked for. But for now, if you want help, then you need to make it possible to get help. And that can only start by telling us which release you have.

[曾]

Sorry, I thought I provided the version of MATLAB on the page I answered this question. The version I used is 2025a, on windows 11 professional. The problem is any vector or matrix will not show any elements when I double clicks it on workspace (I can see them on workspace though if they are short enough). Please tell me any other thing you need and forgive my poor English.

[Jacob Mathew]

I tried to replicate this in MATLAB R2025a and unable to do so even with rand(10000,10000) size. It could be transient error in the UI. Did you try restarting MATLAB to see if it fixes it? And are you able to access the element's of the array i.e. a(1,1) for example?

[曾]

I have tried to restart MATLAB or restart my PC for several times and it did not fix the problem. Also, I have tried the array with size 1*1, the elements still not showed up when I double clicked it (But I can see the element on the workspace directly due to the small size)

[John D'Errico]

It is an interesting problem. I'm not terribly certain it is worth trying to track down for you. As you should see, others cannot replicate the issue. And that implies it is specific to you. It works for me, but I'm using a Mac, so my testimony may be of little value. (It would be useful if someone who also uses the same Windows OS is seeing the same problem.)

What would I do? I'd start by installing an earlier release. Since installing another release is an almost trivial thing to do as long as you have a current license, it will not be difficult. A matter of minutes. You don't need to worry about paths, preferences, or anything. Just install it, then test to see if this works. If it works in perhaps R2024b, then you have some specific information that would prove of great value. In any case, immediately after you do the old install and test, you can always just delete it.

I might next decide to re-install R2025a. Perhaps there was some glitch that happened in your install. If you did this, I would first save your search path, using my export_search_path utility (on the FEX.) That would allow you to recover your search path in the re-install.

Next, I would consider if there was something strange about your system. Are you using some utility that others would not have on their computers? Again, Windows 11 professional is itself a strange thing to me, as I refuse to touch the stuff. But many others will have better experience in that respect.

At some point, you would want to discuss this with tech support.

In the end though, you need to decide how far down into this rabbit hole you want to chase, since I don't see this as a disabling problem, but more of an irritating quirk.

[Image Analyst]

What @Jacob Mathew meant was if you did something like

> a(1,1)

in the command window, does it respond with the value of that element? I think it would. And I agree with @John D'Errico that you should just call tech support and say it's an installation issue since eveidently something is not installed correctly - just for you because it works for the rest of us.

[Steven Lord]

Can you take a picture/screenshot of the Workspace window and post it as a comment on this post, so we can see exactly what you're seeing?

[Adam]

I seem to be getting this regularly when I use the variable editor, as one of many odd behaviours since upgrading to R2025a and its new interface. I get this blank view of a variable in the editor or sometimes, after closing and re-opening it I get two tabs of the same variable, one with a busy cursor, as though it is trying to load, the other just showing blank.

If I weren't getting show-stopping issues with App Designer in R2024a I'd downgrade again instantly!

[Arthur Sherman]

In my experience, it depends on how fast you double-click. If the second click is too slow, it goes into the mode for renaming the variable. I don't know if this is determined by the system settings for the mouse/trackpad or Matlab's own settings. Previous versions also allowed this functionality, but the parameters for clicking speed seem to have changed in a way that makes it harder to display the variable but easier to rename the variable.

[Oleg S]

I also get this regularly, as if the Variable Viewer crashes. Both in 2025a and 2025b.

I usually have tables collected in a struct and Variable Viewer typically stops opening some of the tables. For example, data(1).tab doesn't open but data(1).tab2 does. Additionally, using openvar data(1).tab doesn't work, while openvar data(1).tab2 does.

The issue isn't limited to struct variables, however, it's just how I discovered it.

The only other clue is that when the Variable Viewer stops opening the variables, at least in the tables in a struct case, the Variable tab of the top menu message switches from "No plots for selection" to "Select variable to plot".

Restarting Matlab solves it but eventually it starts again. I tried regenerating the preferences folder as suggested by Govind KM below, doesn't help.

[Gary]

I am also experiencing this with both 2025a and 2025b on both Mac and Windows. The behavior is very inconsistent. For some variables, I can initially open them from the workspace by double clicking. A few minutes into my session, I will be unable to open the variables by double clicking. Sometimes when doing this, it will open a variable viewer window and not show anything (it seems to be stuck on loading the actual content of the variable). Other times, double clicking a variable does absolutely nothing. I've tried resintalling, regenerating my preferences folder, etc. Nothing seems to fix this. Until this is resolved, all 2025 versions are completely unusable for me.

Answer 1

[Govind KM]

Hi @曾,

Similar to the comments, I was also not able to reproduce this issue in MATLAB R2025a on Windows 11.

This issue might be caused due to a corrupted MATLAB Preferences file. Kindly try regenerating the MATLAB preferences using the steps mentioned in the following MATLAB answer: https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/99625-how-do-i-regenerate-my-matlab-preferences

It is also possible that there is either a variable in your workspace, or a function/script in your current folder/path that has the same name as an internal MATLAB function, leading to the issue. Kindly use the "restoredefaultpath" and "rehashtoolboxcache" functions to perform initial troubleshooting, using the steps mentioned in the following MATLAB answer: https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/2052722-how-can-i-perform-initial-troubleshooting-of-matlab-or-simulink-errors

[Maksim]

Even if it is, then Matlab corrupts this file very easily. I found it is enough to change position of any Matlab GUI elements, like close tabs in editor or reposition any toolbars, to have this situation when I cannot view content of cell arrays. It seems as if the pref file is corrupted by Matlab itself. Seems like a bug to me.