Reactivating MATLAB Home after OS reinstall

I have MATLAB R2023a Home, which I have installed and activated on the maximum 2 machines permitted. I would like to wipe and reinstall MacOS on one of the machines. Can the MathWorks server determine that it is the same machine as before (perhaps by some hardware based hash)? Or would I need to ring MathWorks to get it reactivated post reinstall?

Many thanks

Answer 1

[Niranjan Sundararajan]

The algorithm for determining the license is not publically disclosed. However, it seems likely that it should recognize it as the same computer. In case after reinstallation you are unable to access MATLAB, you can always call MathWorks.

Answer 2

[Jack Hunt]

I would like to revisit this question in the hope that Mathworks might reconsider the strict twice-a-year activation policy on home users (I suspect there aren’t that many of us). Naturally, as my copy of Matlab et al is for personal, recreational use it stands to reason that I am a person that likes tinkering, so perhaps reactivation is necessary more often.

I wanted to switch the laptop I have Matlab on to Linux from Windows (I have many computers). I thought this should be easy as it’s the same hardware, but I read elsewhere on the forum that the means of identifying the machine is different on Windows vs Linux, so would not recognise that it’s the same machine. As such, I need to wait a year to change the OS on this particular laptop (somebody from Mathworks was kind enough to reset my activations as per the O.P).

So, if anybody involved in Mathworks licensing stumbles across this, perhaps the idea of more liberal reactivations for home users could be floated.

[Steven Lord]

Please send this feedback on the licensing policy to Customer Service directly using this link.

[Jack Hunt]

Hi Steven, I cannot see any email addresses or links just for feedback; it seems all the contacts are for technical requests. Many thanks, Jack