Matlab reset preferences

Matlab preferences are stored in <prefdir>/matlab.mlsettings since Matlab R2020a. To reset Matlab preferences, one can rename / move this file–keep it for a backup. The location of <prefdir> can be found by running the following command in Matlab:

prefdir

After moving the matlab.mlsettings file, restart Matlab. Matlab will create a new matlab.mlsettings file with default preferences.

This is particularly helpful if Python is setup with a “bad” distribution that crashes Matlab upon Python py. commands in Matlab, and there isn’t another Python distribution available to switch to in Matlab’s preferences.

The matlab.mlsettings file is a ZIP file of XML and JSON files and folders.