{"id":4421,"date":"2026-10-12T03:21:44","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T07:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/?p=4421"},"modified":"2026-10-12T03:21:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T07:21:44","slug":"enhanced-output-in-the-matlab-command-window-in-r2026b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/2026\/10\/12\/enhanced-output-in-the-matlab-command-window-in-r2026b\/","title":{"rendered":"Enhanced output in the MATLAB Command Window in R2026b"},"content":{"rendered":"
When using MATLAB, I have always been most at home in the command window. I'm kind of old-school that way which is why the release of <\/span>MATLAB's Terminal<\/span><\/a> made me so excited. Give me the command window, with the editor alongside it, and I shall move the world!<\/span><\/div>
As such, I was very happy when some of my fellow MathWorkers reached out to me and said 'The command window is evolving, go check it out.' So I did! <\/span><\/div>

Truncated Matrix Outputs<\/span><\/h2>
You know that feeling when you create an enormous matrix at the command line and forget to suppress output with a semicolon? <\/span><\/div>
a = rand(10000)<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
Millions of numbers scrolling by as you hammer CTRL+C to make it stop. Well, that simply doesn't happen any more. <\/span><\/div>
To demonstrate, I resized my command window so that it could only display a small number of rows and columns and created an enormous matrix.<\/span><\/div>
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As you can see, MATLAB displayed only the part of the matrix that fit into the window and then gave me the option to show everything. Click on the blue, underlined link and you'll get all of the numbers scrolling by; just like the old days. <\/span><\/div>
If you right click anywhere on the output you can also choose to copy it to the operating system clipboard or open in the MATLAB variables editor which is often far better than letting all of the numbers scroll by.<\/span><\/div>
\"\"<\/img><\/div>
The number of rows and columns shown before truncation depends on the size of your command window so it always looks 'just right'. Overall this is a small quality of life enhancement that has been a source of joy for many of us who use MATLAB daily.<\/span><\/div>

Markdown in the command window<\/span><\/h2>
The phrase 'This is a game-changer' is over used in the world of technical computing. Every new feature we want to discuss is a 'game-changer' and while this is technically true, some games are more important than others. <\/span><\/div>
I think this is a big one! The functionality is provided by the new <\/span>markdowndisp<\/span><\/a> function that takes Markdown as input and renders it in either the command line or Live Editor.<\/span><\/div>
Here's a screenshot from using it at the command window including lists, equations and formatted text.<\/span><\/div>
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Images are supported too! Here's my cat, Kiwi, posing in the MATLAB Command window courtesy of <\/span>markdowndisp<\/span><\/div>
\"\"<\/img><\/div>
The version of Markdown used is <\/span>GitHub flavored markdown<\/span><\/a> and many things are already supported. Tables, for example:<\/span><\/div>
\"\"<\/img><\/div>
For this first release, however, there are some gaps. Emojis, for example, are not supported<\/span><\/div>