Cursor IDE Layout Inconveniences

Support Bug Reports
1

Hi,

I am new to Cursor and I’m having trouble with customising the side panel layouts. I am using Cursor both on Windows and Mac and here are the issues I’m having:

Windows:

When I open Cursor in Editor Mode, the Primary Sidebar (File Explorer, Git, etc.) is on the LEFT side and the Chat is on the RIGHT, this is where I want them. Closing the IDE and reopening does not affect this. However, switching to Agent Mode and then back to Editor Mode swaps the positions of these sidebars for some reason. I then have to go back into the settings and manually switch them again. The sidebar positioning in Agent Mode is fine.

Mac:

When I open Cursor in Editor Mode, the Primary Sidebar is on the RIGHT and the Chat is on the LEFT, when I go into settings to swap these around, the changes are made, however if I close and reopen the IDE they revert back to their original positions and this is really annoying.

I have tried editing the User Settings JSON file, it makes changes in the moment however when I close and relaunch the application the settings don’t seem to save.

I would really appreciate if I could get some help with this or be informed if this is a known issue and is currently being worked on. I have been very excited to try out Cursor but this inital experience has been quite dissapointing.

Below are my answers to the Bug Report Template

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Sidebar Location settings not being saved

Steps to Reproduce

These are mentioned in the main body of my post

Expected Behavior

Sidebars should stay in their chosen position regardless of quitting and relaunching the application or switching between Editor and Agent modes.

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

Windows 10:


MacOS:


Operating System

Windows 10 and MacOS

Version Information

Windows 10:

Version: 2.4.21 (system setup)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: dc8361355d709f306d5159635a677a571b277bc0
Date: 2026-01-22T16:57:59.675Z
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: Windows_NT x64 10.0.19045

MacOS:

Version: 2.4.22
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: 618c607a249dd7fd2ffc662c6531143833bebd40
Date: 2026-01-26T22:51:47.692Z
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 24.6.0

Does this stop you from using Cursor?

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

2

Hi there!

We detected that this may be a bug report, so we’ve moved your post to the Bug Reports category.

To help us investigate and fix this faster, could you edit your original post to include the details from the template below?

Bug Report Template - Click to expand

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

  • Cursor IDE
  • Cursor CLI
  • Background Agent (GitHub, Slack, Web, Linear)
  • BugBot
  • Somewhere else…

Describe the Bug
A clear and concise description of what the bug is.

Steps to Reproduce
How can you reproduce this bug? We have a much better chance at fixing issues if we can reproduce them!

  1. …
  2. …
  3. …

Expected Behavior
What is meant to happen here that isn’t working correctly?

Screenshots / Screen Recordings
If applicable, attach images or videos (.jpg, .png, .gif, .mp4, .mov)

Operating System

  • Windows 10/11
  • MacOS
  • Linux

Version Information

  • For Cursor IDE: Menu → About Cursor → Copy
  • For Cursor CLI: Run agent about in your terminal
IDE:
Version: 2.xx.x
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: ......

CLI:
CLI Version 2026.01.17-d239e66

For AI issues: which model did you use?
Model name (e.g., Sonnet 4, Tab…)

For AI issues: add Request ID with privacy disabled
Request ID: f9a7046a-279b-47e5-ab48-6e8dc12daba1
For Background Agent issues, also post the ID: bc-…

Additional Information
Add any other context about the problem here.

Does this stop you from using Cursor?

  • Yes - Cursor is unusable
  • Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor
  • No - Cursor works, but with this issue

The more details you provide, the easier it is for us to reproduce and fix the issue. Thanks!

4

Hey, thanks for the report and the video. It really helps.

This is a known issue that other users have seen too. I get how frustrating it is to hit this on your first day using Cursor.

Try this workaround:

  1. Open settings.json (CMD/CTRL + Shift + P > “Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)”)
  2. Add:
"workbench.sideBar.location": "left"

(or "right", depending on where you want the Primary Sidebar)

  1. Important: open the Layout menu (top right) and move the “Agent Sidebar” to the opposite side. They need to be on different sides. If the Primary Sidebar is on the left, the Agent Sidebar should be on the right, and vice versa.

  2. Restart Cursor.

Honestly: this workaround doesn’t work reliably for every user, but it’s worth a try. If it doesn’t work, let me know.

About the Windows issue where positions switch when toggling Editor/Agent modes: the team is aware, but there’s no fix timeline yet.

Related threads from other users, in case you find more solutions there:

5

Hi, thank you for your reponse.

That workaround doesn’t seem to be working for me unfortunately. I think I will continue using Cursor on my Windows PC for now and not switch too much between Editor and Agent.

Hope you guys manage to fix it soon!

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