How to find the Process ID (PID) in matlab

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Is there any function or method in matlab to find the process ID (PID) of the program in the task manager ?

Accepted Answer

MathWorks Support Team
MathWorks Support Team on 18 Aug 2025 at 0:00
Starting in R2025a, you can obtain the PID of a MATLAB process with the MATLAB command:
>> matlabProcessID
This function returns the PID as a uint64 variable.
In earlier versions of MATLAB, you can obtain the PID of a MATLAB process with the MATLAB command:
>> feature('getpid')
This returns the PID as a double variable. Please note that the use of the "feature" function is undocumented, meaning that it can be removed or changed at any time.

More Answers (5)

Kaustubha Govind
Kaustubha Govind on 8 Jun 2012
There is an undocumented (but relatively well-known) function:
>> feature getpid
  2 Comments
Muharrem Askin
Muharrem Askin on 11 Jun 2012
Actually I would like to get the PID of another programs when they are running at the time I check it. Simply, I would not only want to get the PID of matlab but also the others listed on the task manager. Do you know how can I do that ?
Kaustubha Govind
Kaustubha Govind on 11 Jun 2012
I think you might need to figure out a Windows shell command that does that and use the SYSTEM function to call into the shell.

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William Stevenson
William Stevenson on 3 Jan 2013
To find the running tasks: [response,tasks] = system('tasklist');
e.g. to find Excel [response,tasks] = system('tasklist/fi "imagename eq Excel.exe"')

Jim Hokanson
Jim Hokanson on 11 Oct 2016
Edited: Jim Hokanson on 11 Oct 2016
A .NET solution:
name = 'excel'; %for example
p = System.Diagnostics.Process.GetProcessesByName(name);
if p.Length == 1
pid = p(1).Id; %You must index into p (not p.Id), as this changes the class type
end

Yair Altman
Yair Altman on 9 Jun 2012
  2 Comments
Muharrem Askin
Muharrem Askin on 11 Jun 2012
Actually I would like to get the PID of another programs when they are running at the time I check it. Simply, I would not only want to get the PID of matlab but also the others listed on the task manager. Do you know how can I do that ?
Eddy Philippe
Eddy Philippe on 23 Jun 2020
Try [~,result] = system('tasklist');

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Pierre Harouimi
Pierre Harouimi on 3 Jun 2025
Since the R2025a release, you have now the matlabProcessID function.

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