getcursor
Cursor AI IDE Disappeared from Folder
Body:
Description: I have been using the Cursor AI IDE for software development. Recently, I encountered an issue where the IDE disappeared from its installation folder unexpectedly. The folder that previously contained the IDE is now empty, and I cannot locate the IDE anywhere on my system.
Steps to Reproduce:
Installed Cursor AI IDE last month and have been using it for development.
- The IDE was functioning normally until one day it suddenly was not found in its installation directory.
- The directory that used to contain the IDE is now empty, with no trace of the IDE files.
Expected Behavior:
The IDE should remain in its designated installation folder and be accessible for use at any time.
Actual Behavior:
The IDE and all related files have vanished from the installation folder, making it impossible to launch or use the IDE.
Additional Information:
Operating System: Windows11 Cursor AI IDE Version: I don't know. No significant changes were made to the system or software setup that might explain this behavior. No error messages or warnings were observed prior to the disappearance.
Thank you for any help or guidance you can provide.
I also experience this issue. I have no idea what is causing this to happen as I dug through all my AV settings as well as local settings. It seems like I just have to re-install every. single. time.
Sometimes I have to re-install EVERY launch.
Just happened to me too. Went to work on my projects and cursor was just gone randomly. =/
I regularly encounter this issue as well. I simply resolve it by reinstalling the cursor; I'm not sure if it completes installation, but I regain the ability to open it again, and the settings seem to remain intact.
If you are affected by this issue, please remember to stop and appreciate how funny and absurd it is.
If you are a Cursor developer debugging this, the 'Date modified' on my empty cursor folder is the exact time that I shut down my Windows PC last night. Maybe this will help.
I just found a solution!
EDIT : The only steps you need to take are :
- Move the "cursor" folder from C:\Users
\AppData\Local\Programs to C:\Program Files - Delete the previous shortcut in C:\Users
\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs and create a new one in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
Initial reply :
The program is installed for the user only by default. So the start menu shortcut is located in C:\Users<user>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs, and the program itself is located in C:\Users<user>\AppData\Local\Programs.
Step 1: Delete the start menu shortcut in AppData Step 2: Move the "cursor" folder from C:\Users<user>\AppData\Local\Programs to C:\Program Files Step 3: Create a new shortcut for cursor.exe in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs Step 4: Delete the "Uninstall Cursor.exe" file inside of the cursor folder. (edit : useless)
You're good to go! At least for me personally it solved the issue and it's not uninstalling on every restart. Basically we've just moved the program from installed locally to globally, and deleted the utility tool to uninstall Cursor.
I hope this can help you guys!
I am also having this issue where after an install, the executable is placed in AppData\Local\Programs\cursor.
But the contents of this folder will just go missing! I run the installer and the contents come back, but why should they keep getting removed in the first place??
unbelievable bug. dealbreaker for me. Just logged in today on my windows machine and cursor is gone. NOt sure if you guys are getting sabotaged by msft trying to maintain the lead from VS Code, but that is unbelievably bad for the user.
it doesn't happen to me anymore. I noticed that when turning off the computer, Cursor is doing some updating installation, if I stop it, then it happens that it is no longer there and I have to install it again. But since I no longer interrupt him, but wait for him to finish, I have no more problems.
This issue occurs because the developers forget to create a Shortcut of the cursor exe. into the location from where the windows index file in the start menu.
So here how you can do it manually.
-
Just Create a Shortcut of the Cursor.exe file present in the location "C:\Users<YourUserName>\AppData\Local\Programs\cursor"
-
Now move this shortcut of Cursor.exe to the location "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"
OMG. The same problem. I should copy cursor folder before each closing
Happened to me again today. I think @Wiola09 is right about closing it as it is updating. I just opened the program and closed it after 30 seconds. When I tried to reopen it, the shortcuts were broken.
I have now tried @Gustqve solution, except for the last step of removing the uninstall.exe file.
Will update if this happens again.
@Gustqve Just had the same issue. But I didn't do this step: Step 4: Delete the "Uninstall Cursor.exe" file inside of the cursor folder. what is the point of this?
This also happened to me today
I found there was a folder on AppData/Local/ called cursor-updater. Inside there was a folder called pending with an executable. Just run it and everything is ok back again.
@Gustqve Just had the same issue. But I didn't do this step:
Step 4: Delete the "Uninstall Cursor.exe" file inside of the cursor folder.what is the point of this?
I did that just to be sure that it wouldn't be uninstalled. Honestly, I think that there is no point. The only steps you need to take are :
- Move the "cursor" folder from C:\Users
\AppData\Local\Programs to C:\Program Files - Delete the previous shortcut in C:\Users
\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs and create a new one in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
Ditto. Very disorienting. Crash to desktop after a merge to remote branch, then the shortcuts disappeared, and it seems the install folders also disappeared.
Running the steps from @PabloCanovas resolved the issue
same keeps happening to me and now when i try to download cursor it just doesnt work so i'm here just not able to code at all great might go back to vs code if i cant fix this
well, my guess is : cursor got a pending update and prepare it on the backend, but didn't finalize it (i didn't clicked on the cursor update pop up while working on cursor). And maybe, i closed it, and then cursor initiate the update at the same i did shutdown my PC. The next morning, cursor wasn't updated (only got the time to be deleted in the process of the update).
So we have to relaunch the update using https://github.com/getcursor/cursor/issues/1221#issuecomment-2620992351 PabloCanovas methodology :
This also happened to me today
I found there was a folder on AppData/Local/ called cursor-updater. Inside there was a folder called pending with an executable. Just run it and everything is ok back again.
same issue here, everyday! I have been doing the same as @PabloCanovas but got rather bored with it. This morning after re-installing, the location of the install is different: AppData\Local\Programs\cursor instead of AppData\Local\cursor. Simply moving the shortcut from Desktop to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs seems to do the trick
This is a incredibly stupid and infuriating bug, I do not want to waste the time having to reinstall this editor every other day.
Is this bug becoming more frequent? I have experienced this twice now and this seems like an urgent issue dev should work on.
