macOS 27.0.1 (26A434)
Every month I have to update Cursor manually because the updater seems to stall during the install process.
Going from 3.21.18 to 3.24.12. Tried twice, it says “Cursor couldn’t finish updating”.
Steps to Reproduce
Launch 3.21.18
Get asked to update, click the update button
Wait for install to complete
Realize it doesn’t complete
Hey @komocode, thanks for the report, and sorry you’ve had to install updates by hand every time.
This is an issue we’re tracking with updates on macOS 27: the update downloads, but the install step doesn’t finish, and Cursor reopens on the previous version. Installing from Cursor · Download , like you did, is the right workaround for now, and your settings and chats are kept when you do.
Since you’re on 3.24.12 now, could you check one macOS setting before the next update comes in?
Open System Settings.
Go to General > Login Items & Extensions.
Scroll to the “Allow in the Background” section.
Find Cursor (and any other Cursor entries in that list) and make sure they’re turned on.
Fully quit Cursor (Cursor > Quit Cursor) and reopen it.
Please also let me know whether Cursor was switched off in that list before you changed it. That detail really helps the team.
The next time Cursor offers an update, let it restart, then check Cursor > About Cursor and tell me which version it shows.
If the update fails again, feel free to send me a few small files in a private message that can help us look into this. In Finder, use Go > Go to Folder and paste each path below.
From ~/Library/Caches/com.todesktop.230313mzl4w4u92.ShipIt, these two files:
ShipIt_stderr.log
ShipItState.plist
Please don’t zip that whole folder, since it can contain a full copy of the update. This folder would also be helpful, zipped (right-click it and choose Compress):
