Cursor Initial Setup Repeats on Every Startup

Bug Reports
1

Bug Report: Cursor Initial Setup Repeats on Every Startup

:white_check_mark: Forum Check: I have checked the Cursor forum and haven’t found any reports of this specific issue.

:lady_beetle: Bug Description: Every time I open the Cursor application, I am presented with the initial setup page as if I am launching it for the first time. This occurs even after completing the setup, restarting the application, and even reinstalling Cursor.

:arrows_counterclockwise: Reproduction Steps:

  1. Open the Cursor application.
  2. The initial setup page appears, requesting keybinding preferences, extension import options, and privacy settings.
  3. Complete the setup process.
  4. Close and reopen Cursor.
  5. The initial setup page appears again.

:camera: Screenshots/Recordings:

Знімок екрана 2025-02-11 174700
Знімок екрана 2025-02-11 1747003839×2088 251 KB

:computer: System Information:

  • Operating System: Windows 11 Version 24H2
  • Cursor Version: 0.45.11
  • VS Code Integration: Previously used with VS Code (uninstalled while troubleshooting, version unknown)
  • Extensions:
    • blipn.terminal-icon (v1.0.2)
    • dbaeumer.vscode-eslint (v3.0.10)
    • esbenp.prettier-vscode (v11.0.0)
    • styled-components.vscode-styled-components (v1.7.8)
    • wilsonsio.color-vision (v0.1.0)
    • waderyan.gitblame (v11.1.1)
    • irongeek.vscode-env (v0.1.0)
    • wayou.vscode-todo-highlight (v1.0.5)
    • peterschmalfeldt.explorer-exclude (v1.3.2)
    • albbus.t4-app-tools (v1.1.10)
    • steoates.autoimport (v1.5.4)
    • robbowen.synthwave-vscode (v0.1.17)
    • tamasfe.even-better-toml (v0.21.2)
    • unifiedjs.vscode-mdx (v1.8.13)
    • davidanson.vscode-markdownlint (v0.58.2)
    • postman.postman-for-vscode (v1.7.0)
    • eamodio.gitlens (v16.2.2)
    • biomejs.biome (v2.3.2)
    • expo.vscode-expo-tools (v1.6.0)
    • redhat.vscode-yaml (v1.16.0)
    • vs-publisher-1448185.keyoti-changeallendoflinesequence (v0.0.4)

:no_entry_sign: Impact: This bug is disruptive as it forces me to go through the setup process every time I want to use Cursor.

Additional Notes:

  • I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling Cursor, but the issue persists.
  • I have also tried restarting my computer, but this did not resolve the problem.
  • I am not receiving any error messages.
  • I have previously used VS Code integration but uninstalled VS Code as part of troubleshooting.
  • During setup, I choose to import extensions and use privacy mode.
2

Hey, the issue might be related to insufficient permissions to create directories. Make sure the application has all the necessary permissions to modify and save data, as this could be related to your system’s security settings. Also, try installing Cursor without importing extensions to check if the settings are saved.

3

Hi! My security settings for both the Cursor folder and the Cursor.exe file have full access. I also tried running without extensions, but that didn’t help with the error.

Screenshot 2025-02-12 110631
Screenshot 2025-02-12 110631536×682 27.4 KB

Another strange thing I noticed is that all extensions have stopped working. Even if I import them, the extensions tab shows 0 and gets stuck in an endless loading state. Also, all the default keyboard shortcuts have stopped working.

4

Can you check if these two folders exist on your computer? If they don’t, try creating them manually and then attempt the installation again.

⁠%APPDATA%\Cursor and ⁠%USERPROFILE%\.cursor

5

Hi again! Just wanted to let you know that both of those directories (%APPDATA%\Cursor and %USERPROFILE%\.cursor) exist on my computer. I even tried unchecking the read-only attribute on those folders and files, then restarted Cursor, but that didn’t make any difference.

Interestingly, I tried running Cursor from a different user profile on my Windows machine, and it works perfectly there! So, it seems like the problem is somehow tied to my main user profile.

I just figured out a workaround. If I run Cursor as an administrator, the settings save correctly, and everything works as expected. Could this be a clue to what’s going wrong? Maybe there’s some kind of permission issue within my user profile that prevents Cursor from saving settings properly unless it’s running with elevated privileges?

6

The issue is likely related to access permissions. Do you have an antivirus or possibly Defender? It might be blocking access. Try completely uninstalling Cursor and deleting these two folders. Then run the Cursor installation as an administrator. This might help resolve the problem.

1 Like
7

Thanks for the suggestion! I don’t have any third-party antivirus software installed, and Defender is also disabled on my system.

However, reinstalling Cursor with administrator privileges did the trick! It’s working perfectly now, and I didn’t even have to delete those two folders.

I appreciate your help in getting this resolved!

1 Like
8

Hi, I’m experiencing the same issue but on Linux.

  • x86_64 GNU/Linux
  • Cursor Version: 0.45.11

The initial setup window keeps appearing every time I start Cursor, just like the original poster described

9

Hey, try these solutions:

1 Like
10

Thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately, this solution didn’t work in my case

11

I tried these commands again and solved the issue with Cursor’s repeating initial setup in Linux:

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER ~/.config/Cursor
sudo chmod -R 755 ~/.config/Cursor

Cursor no longer resets settings on restart. The problem is solved. Thank you very much!

1 Like