Prevent MATLAB from creating a new file when it can't find the file I want to open

Question

I will often attempt to open an existing MATLAB file from the MATLAB command window using something like:

edit exampleFile

Alternatively, I may press cmd + shift + D with the name of a function to be opened highlighted in the editor.

However, if the function I wish to open is not on the path when using either of these methods, MATLAB will irritatingly create a new blank file exampleFile.m in the current folder. This is extremely annoying. Is there a way to stop this? Ideally, MATLAB would prompt to see if I wanted to create a new file before actually doing it.

Answer 1

In File -> Preferences -> General -> Confirmation Dialogs, there is a checkbox that says "prompt when editing a file that does not exist". Check it.