Hey, this is a known issue that was fixed a few months ago. If this happened to you - Cursor deleted itself after you restarted.
Here are some possible reasons:
Antivirus/Windows Defender - they might’ve flagged the update as suspicious and removed the app. Check your antivirus logs and add Cursor to your exclusions.
Low disk space - if you didn’t have much free space, the update could’ve gotten cleaned up along with the app.
What to do:
Check C:\Users\[your_username]\AppData\Local\Programs\cursor - is there anything still there?
I do not believe this issue was ever fixed. Or perhaps it was but has been resurrected. I encountered it today as well on a fairly fresh install of Windows (installed only a couple of months ago). And I have encountered it fairly regularly for the last year (or longer).
I am not running any antivirus other than Windows Defender – or whatever they call it now – and that has not run since 01/29/2026 (days before the issue). It also shows no quarantined files.
I believe the issue occurs due to Cursor removing the EXE while the update install occurs. That install is often triggered upon close of the application. It sometimes asks to update when opening Cursor, and I click to “postpone”; however, it appears to sometimes just do the update anyway.
The root of the problem here is that the update is silent and sneaky, so if I shut my computer down right after closing out of Cursor (as I usually do), then the update is cut short before restoring the EXE.
My suggestion for the Cursor team is add an update installer UI to be shown while the update is running as to mitigate instances where users shut their system down while the update process is active.
You’re right to bring this up again. Your diagnosis about an interrupted update makes sense. The EXE gets deleted, shutdown interrupts the process, and that’s it.
I’ll pass your report and diagnosis to the team. Your suggestion about showing UI during the update makes sense, so users don’t shut down in the middle of it.
For now, the workaround is to wait 30 to 60 seconds after closing Cursor before shutting down, so the update can finish. Not ideal, I know, but it’s something.
Can you share:
After reinstalling, what Cursor version shows up in About?
I am not certain on exactly how often. I will usually click to postpone the updates, so it is only when an update sneaks in w/out my knowing. I primarily develop w/ a Linux boot – which I do not believe I have seen this issue there – so the opportunity window for it to occur is few and far between for when I am developing w/ a Windows boot. So, the best I can give is “every once in a while.”
Yeah, this is a bug that should’ve been fixed, but it looks like it either regressed or the fix didn’t fully work. Your diagnosis is spot on: the updater deletes the EXE when starting an update, usually when Cursor is closed, and if shutdown interrupts the process, the EXE doesn’t get restored.
The current workaround is to wait 30 to 60 seconds after closing Cursor before shutting down your system so the update can finish. I know that’s inconvenient.
I’ll pass your report and diagnosis to the team with the details. Your suggestion about showing UI during the update makes sense, at least users would know not to turn off their computer.
Thanks for the version info (2.4.27) and the frequency. Let me know if it happens again.
Just documenting that this did happen again between yesterday and today. I waited ~1 min after closing Cursor before shutting down the computer (although, I didn’t actually time it). I suppose I could wait longer, but having to wait for extended/unknown periods of time before I can safely turn my computer off is a bit of a nuisance.
today again - wanted to show my boss the recent state, opened my notebook aaaaaaaaaand its gone.
we got a saying in germany “Andere Mütter haben auch schöne Töchter” directly translated “There are other mothers with beautiful daughters” → a light reminder that the one girlfriend might not be the only one….