app designer won't open

I tried opening the app designer through the apps tab and through the home tab choosing new and then app, but in both cases the app designer does not open. Does anyone have any idea of what might be the problem?

P.S. I am using version R2020a-academic use

Answer 1

[Riya]

Hi ATHANASIOS,

I understand that you are facing an issue where App Designer does not open when accessed either from the Apps tab or through Home → New → App in MATLAB R2020a (Academic Use).

This issue can occur due to one of the following reasons:

1. Missing or corrupted App Designer installation files.
2. Some modified MATLAB path settings that prevent built-in apps from launching.
3. Corrupted MATLAB preferences or an incompatible Java environment.

To resolve this, kindly try the following steps:

% Step 1: Try opening App Designer directly from the command window 
appdesigner 

% Step 2: Restore MATLAB's default path and refresh toolbox cache 
restoredefaultpath 
rehash toolboxcache 
savepath 

% Step 3: Attempt to launch App Designer again 
Appdesigner 

If the above code workflow does not work, you may need to reset MATLAB preferences by renaming the R2020a folder in your preferences directory (e.g., "C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Roaming\MathWorks\MATLAB\R2020a" on Windows) to "R2020a_backup". Then, restart MATLAB and try opening App Designer again.

In cases where App Designer is not installed at all, you can verify by running:

matlab.apputil.getInstalledAppInfo 

If it’s missing, reinstall MATLAB or add the “App Designer” component using the MATLAB installer.

For further reference, please check the following official documentation:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/appdesigner.html