Why does MATLAB hang at splash screen and give "Failed to load nativecmdwin library: no nativecmdwin in java.library.path" error?

MATLAB hangs just after showing the splash screen. I get the following error dialog box when launching MATLAB:

 

ERROR: Failed to load nativecmdwin library: no nativecmdwin in java.library.path

This may be accompanied by a 'Error Starting Desktop' window containing:

 

ERROR: java.long.NullPointerException
com.mathworks.mde.desk.MLDesktop.createOnTopWindow(MLDesktop.java:1651)

MATLAB was working find a few days ago and then this issue suddenly started.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

This issue is related to a recent virus definition update that may corrupt some of MATLAB's internal files. Users of Avast anti-virus are particularly prone to this issue.

Reinstalling MATLAB should resolve the problem, as it will restore the file which Avast has removed. If the issue happens again you may need to make an exception in Avast so it does not quarantine MATLAB installation files.

If this does not resolve the issue, try performing a clean re-installation of MATLAB following the below support article:

How do I perform a clean installation of MATLAB on a Windows system? 

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/131519-how-do-i-perform-a-clean-installation-of-matlab

If you still experience issues, please contact MathWorks Support: https://www.mathworks.com/support/contact_us.html