doc requires admin in windows

Since the last update (approx 14 December 2025), both R2024B and R2025B under Windows on my laptop will not show documentation. The doc command does nothing. If I run as administrator, the doc command works. Similarly, I cannot update or change toolboxes unless running as administrator. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling. I tried installing into a new directory I created and have full privleges over. Nope. Just won't go.

On the other hand, on my Windows workstation, doc and such work perfectly. Any ideas?????

Answer 1

[Neil Judell]

Turns out to be a bug introduced in the Windows versions of R2024b update 7 and R2025b update 2. If your PATH environment uses expansion of %SYTSTEMROOT% - i.e. contains things like %SYSTEMROOT%\System32, then these updates no longer correctly expand. Therefore, internal calls to things like cmd.exe and rundll.exe will fail. Since this is the mechanism used by Matlab to call up the browser for the doc command, then the doc command fails.

The workaround is to edit your PATH environment variable, and explicityly expand the use of %SYSTEMROOT%, so that your path variable explicitly contains C:\Windows\System32 and others, as appropriate to your particular Windows installation.

That fixed the problem for me. Bug reported.

Answer 2

[Ayush]

Hi Neil,

I understand that MATLAB s not showing documentation or allowing toolbox updates unless you run it as administrator. This usually points to a permissions or security setting issue on your laptop, possibly triggered by a recent Windows or antivirus update.

Here are a few things you can try:

• Check Windows security settings: Sometimes, features like Controlled Folder Access or antivirus software can block MATLAB from accessing certain folders. Try turning off these features temporarily or adding MATLAB as an exception.
• Verify folder permissions: Make sure your user account has full control over the MATLAB installation folder and your MATLAB user folders (like Documents\MATLAB and AppData\MathWorks).
• Delete MATLAB preferences: Corrupted preference files can cause issues. Try closing MATLAB, deleting or renaming your "%APPDATA%\MathWorks\MATLAB\R2025b" folder, and restarting MATLAB.
• Test with a new Windows user account: This can help determine if the issue is specific to your user profile.

Hope it helps!