Close all figures except those listed

Close all figures except those listed by the user.

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Editor's Note: This file was selected as MATLAB Central Pick of the Week

Currently, if you have many figures open at once, but decide you only want to keep one or two of them, you have to manually close all the other figures. This function is a simple tool for keeping the figures you want and closing all the others. Also, called with no arguments, 'cab' is a convenient, three-letter replacement for 'close all'.

Cite As

Karl (2026). Close all figures except those listed (https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/24420-close-all-figures-except-those-listed), MATLAB Central File Exchange. Retrieved .

General Information

MATLAB Release Compatibility

  • Compatible with any release

Platform Compatibility

  • Windows
  • macOS
  • Linux
Version Published Release Notes Action
1.1.0.0

Fixed 'last' option so it actually closes the last figure opened, rather than the current figure.

1.0.0.0