Annoying sidebar does not move to its default position

Support Bug Reports
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

View > Appearnce > Move Primary Side Bar Left (this one works but I have to do this every single time I open the IDE as it does not save this config)

This does not work in settings.json

“workbench.sideBar.location”: “left”,
}

It’s annoying as hell, I had to report it. Im using macOS.

Steps to Reproduce

View > Appearnce > Move Primary Side Bar Left (this one works but I have to do this every single time I open the IDE as it does not save this config)

This does not work in settings.json

“workbench.sideBar.location”: “left”,
}

It’s annoying as hell, I had to report it. Im using macOS.

Operating System

MacOS

Version Information

Version: 2.4.28 (Universal)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: f3f5cec40024283013878b50c4f9be4002e0b580
Date: 2026-02-03T00:56:18.293Z
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 39.2.7
Chromium: 142.0.7444.235
Node.js: 22.21.1
V8: 14.2.231.21-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 24.5.0

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor

3

Hey, this is a known issue. There’s already a big thread about it here: Primary Side Bar forgets its position

Try this workaround, it helped a few users:

  1. In settings.json, add "workbench.sideBar.location": "left"
  2. Open the layout menu (top-right corner of the UI)
  3. Find the “Agent Sidebar” setting and switch it to “Right” (the opposite side from the primary sidebar)
  4. Restart Cursor

These two settings work together. If the primary sidebar is on the left, the agent sidebar should be on the right, and vice versa.

If that doesn’t work, you can also try via the Command Palette: CMD + Shift + P > “View: Toggle Primary Side Bar Position”

The team is aware of the issue. Let me know if the workaround doesn’t help.

4

A post was merged into an existing topic: Primary Side Bar forgets its position