Can't open mp4 video in Cursor editor mode

Support Bug Reports
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

When I try to play a vidoe in my ide, it does not play it

Steps to Reproduce

Just put a video in your directory and open it in your Cursor IDE and you will see it won’t play it.

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Version Information

Version: 3.2.21 (user setup)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: 806df57ed3b6f1ee0175140d38039a38574ec720
Date: 2026-05-03T01:46:14.413Z
Layout: editor
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 39.8.1
Chromium: 142.0.7444.265
Node.js: 22.22.1
V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Yes - Cursor is unusable

3

Screenshot (196)
Screenshot (196)2560×1440 213 KB

5
  1. mp4
  2. what for
8

Hey. From the screenshot, it looks like you’re in a WSL workspace landing-page [WSL: UBUNTU], and the error “An error occurred while loading the video file” usually means Chromium or Electron can’t decode that specific codec, or the webview has an issue loading the resource via WSL.

A couple things to check:

  • What codec is the file? Run this in WSL:
    ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=codec_name "public/2026-05-04 16-18-58.mp4"
    If it’s H.265/HEVC, VP9, or something unusual, the built-in video preview won’t play it. You’ll need to re-encode to H.264 + AAC.
  • Copy the file to a local Windows folder, for example C:\Users\<you>\Desktop\test.mp4, and open it in a normal Cursor window without WSL. If it still doesn’t play, it’s the codec. If it plays, it’s likely WSL remote streaming.
  • Does the file open in Windows Media Player or VLC?

Send the results here and I can tell more clearly if this is a bug or a codec limitation.

9

It does open in windows yes but takes too long to open. The video is also playable as I recorded it myself with OBS. I also copied the video from windows to wsl ubuntu and it opened. Previusly I dragged it what is why it didn’t open. The thing is on both systems it takes too long to open. Also when trying to play the video the editor slows down

10

Got it, thanks for the details. Drag and drop not working in WSL is a known quirk with path routing between the Windows and WSL filesystems, so copying the file or opening it via Explorer in WSL is more reliable.

About the slow opening, the video preview in the editor runs through a webview (HTML5 <video>), and the file is loaded via a special resource protocol. For large videos or when using WSL, this can be noticeably slower, especially if the file is on the Windows side (/mnt/c/...) and is being read from the Linux environment. Cross-filesystem I/O in WSL2 can be significantly slower.

To figure out if this is expected or if there’s something we can fix, please share:

  • The file size and duration
  • Output of ffprobe -v error -show_format -show_streams "filename.mp4" (codec, bitrate, resolution)
  • Where the file is located, in WSL ext4 (~/...) or on the Windows side (/mnt/c/...)

If the file is large (hundreds of MB) or uses a heavy codec (H.265, high bitrate), webview preview can genuinely lag. That’s an Electron and Chromium limitation, not Cursor-specific. In those cases it’s often faster to open the video in an external player like VLC or MPV.