In recent years MATLAB® has become a common software tool for general computational mathematics, in universities as well as in industry. In the field of noise and vibration analysis, MATLAB is very common in universities, but perhaps a little less common in the industrial world. In this article some ideas are presented on how MATLAB can be successfully used for analyzing experimental noise and vibration data. Through the introduction of toolboxes in this field, the less experienced user can take advantage of the powerful functionality of MATLAB, either as the main tool or as a complement to the many excellent menu driven systems available on the market. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of using MATLAB versus menu driven systems are also discussed.