All instances of Cursor closing on File > Exit

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

When using “File > Exit” or “CTRL + Q”, all windows close instead of just that window.

Steps to Reproduce

Open multiple windows and close one of them through “File > Exit” or “CTRL + Q”

Expected Behavior

Only the active Cursor project window closes.

Operating System

Linux

Version Information

Version: 3.9.8
VS Code Extension API: 1.105.1
Commit: 4aa8ff1b7877ed7bd01bcba308698f71a6735380
Date: 2026-06-25T01:39:30.490Z
Layout: editor
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 40.10.5
Chromium: 144.0.7559.236
Node.js: 24.15.0
V8: 14.4.258.32-electron.0
xterm.js: 6.1.0-beta.256
OS: Linux x64 7.1.1-2-cachyos

Additional Information

I have been closing cursor through the file > exit method as closing through the top right cross or it closing by my machine restarting with cursor still open, lead to the disappearance of the chats completely. Now i can’t have 1 window closed, because I don’t trust the “close window” option, as it shows the “Alt+F4” combo, which i feel could remove all my chats again.
No confirmation on that, because I can’t risk that right now.

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

Hey, thanks for the report. This isn’t actually a bug, it’s expected behavior inherited from VS Code and Electron.

  • File > Exit and Ctrl+Q are the quit app command, it fully quits Cursor and closes all windows. That’s by design.
  • To close only the current window, use File > Close Window Ctrl+Shift+W or Alt+F4.

About the chat concern, Close Window only closes one window and does not delete history. Chats are stored in storage whether a window is open or not. If you see Alt+F4 there, it’s just an alternative shortcut for the same close window command, it’s not related to chat deletion. So it’s safe to close windows via Close Window.

The chat loss you mentioned after a sudden restart or a crash is a separate issue and not related to closing a window. If you hit missing history again specifically after a crash, please post a separate report with your version and steps if possible, and we’ll take a closer look.

Thank you for the quick reply.
I know for sure that the exit didn’t close every window before. Because it was you who even told me to use it to make sure the window closed gracefully and chats didn’t disappear.
I have no clue how the status is on that bug. But because the exit changed I was confused.
And i really don’t like VSCode, and now i don’t like it even more. It is the very first time I ever heard the exit option closes all instances of a program. Only Microsoft can come up with that stuff XD

Anyway. good to know it’s not a bug at least.