Cursor update stuck on file handle error

Support Help
1

@deanrie @David_Gomes @Colin

The cursor can’t update itself. Facing this issue again. The only workaround for this is to uninstall it from the system and download it again

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Mar 06 05:38:10.709 INFO Starting: C:\Program Files\cursor\Cursor.exe, true, Updating Cursor...
Mar 06 05:38:10.709 INFO Checking for running Cursor.exe processes... (attempt 1)
Mar 06 05:38:10.719 INFO Cursor.exe is running, wait a bit
Mar 06 05:38:11.219 INFO Checking for running Cursor.exe processes... (attempt 2)
Mar 06 05:38:11.231 INFO Cursor.exe is running, wait a bit
Mar 06 05:38:11.731 INFO Checking for running Cursor.exe processes... (attempt 3)
Mar 06 05:38:11.746 INFO Cursor.exe is not running
Mar 06 05:38:11.746 INFO Checking for possible conflicting running processes... (attempt 1)
Mar 06 05:38:11.762 INFO Inno Updater v0.13.0
Mar 06 05:38:11.762 INFO Starting update, silent = true
Mar 06 05:38:11.767 INFO do_update: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe", _
Mar 06 05:38:11.767 INFO move_update: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\unins000.dat", _
Mar 06 05:38:11.767 INFO Reading directory: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor"
Mar 06 05:38:11.768 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\chrome_100_percent.pak" (attempt 1)
Mar 06 05:38:11.768 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\chrome_200_percent.pak" (attempt 1)
Mar 06 05:38:11.768 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 1)
Mar 06 05:38:11.819 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 2)
Mar 06 05:38:12.020 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 3)
Mar 06 05:38:12.470 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 4)
Mar 06 05:38:13.271 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 5)
Mar 06 05:38:14.522 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 6)
Mar 06 05:38:16.324 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 7)
Mar 06 05:38:18.775 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 8)
Mar 06 05:38:21.976 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 9)
Mar 06 05:38:26.026 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 10)
Mar 06 05:38:31.027 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 11)
Mar 06 05:38:37.078 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 12)
Mar 06 05:38:44.278 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 13)
Mar 06 05:38:52.729 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 14)
Mar 06 05:39:02.530 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 15)
Mar 06 05:39:13.781 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 16)
Mar 06 05:39:17.377 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 1)
Mar 06 05:39:17.428 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 2)
Mar 06 05:39:17.628 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 3)
Mar 06 05:39:18.079 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 4)
Mar 06 05:39:18.881 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 5)
Mar 06 05:39:20.131 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 6)
Mar 06 05:39:21.933 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 7)
Mar 06 05:39:24.384 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 8)
Mar 06 05:39:27.585 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 9)
Mar 06 05:39:31.636 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 10)
Mar 06 05:39:36.636 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 11)
Mar 06 05:39:42.687 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 12)
Mar 06 05:39:49.888 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 13)
Mar 06 05:39:58.339 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 14)
Mar 06 05:40:08.141 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 15)
Mar 06 05:40:19.392 INFO Get file handle: "C:\\Program Files\\cursor\\Cursor.exe" (attempt 16)
Mar 06 05:40:52.901 ERRO Failed to create file handle: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.

Version: 2.6.11 (system setup)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: 8c95649f251a168cc4bb34c89531fae7db4bd990
Date: 2026-03-03T18:57:48.001Z
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 39.6.0
Chromium: 142.0.7444.265
Node.js: 22.22.0
V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200

2

Any updates? @Colin

Still can’t update the cursor, open multiple chats.

4

Hi Ayush,

Looking at your screenshot and logs together, here’s what’s going on:

The updater confirms Cursor.exe is no longer running, and it successfully gets file handles on other files (like chrome_100_percent.pak), but then fails specifically on Cursor.exe. In your Task Manager, you can see two “Cursor Setup (32 bit)” background processes still running at 0% CPU – these are leftovers from a previous update attempt that didn’t fully exit, and they’re most likely the processes holding a lock on Cursor.exe.

Immediate fix:

  1. Open Task Manager

  2. Right-click each of the two “Cursor Setup (32 bit)” processes and select End task

  3. Close Cursor completely

  4. Reopen Cursor and try updating again (Help > Check for Updates)

Since you mentioned this keeps happening (“again”), the orphaned processes are likely being caused by something interrupting the update each time. The most common cause on Windows is antivirus / Windows Defender real-time protection locking Cursor.exe while scanning it during the update. To prevent this from recurring:

  • Add C:\Program Files\cursor\ to your antivirus exclusion list

  • If you’re using Windows Defender: Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Manage settings > Exclusions > Add exclusion > Folder and add C:\Program Files\cursor\

Also, since this is a system setup install (in C:\Program Files), updates require admin permissions. Try right-clicking the Cursor shortcut and selecting “Run as administrator” before checking for updates.

If none of the above works, you can always download the latest version directly from cursor.com/downloads – this bypasses the auto-updater entirely.

Regarding not being able to open multiple chats – could you share more details on what you’re seeing there? That may be a separate issue, or it might resolve once you’re on the latest version.

This is a known issue with the Windows updater that our team is tracking. Let me know how it goes!

Best,
Mohit

6

So the “open multiple chats” issue is resolved in the new release, I guess. Not facing as of now.

I always try the first option. Close any type of cursor service, then I open a fresh cursor and try to update, but it spins up multiple updates, I guess.

It is update specific. After some updates, I’m facing this. So it’s not like I’m not getting kind of update and had to reinstall every time.

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