I’m currently using Cursor 3.7.42.
Within Cursor’s “Install Updates” process, it is prompting me to Install an update to the latest version, which seems to be 3.8.11.
Upon clicking “Install Update” (or whatever the button says), it closes Cursor, and starts the update process. The update process reliably fails. Along the way, it gives messages about being unable to read some file/folder, and then complains about Antivirus or other unrelated processes). Upon failure of the update, I cannot use Cursor…
So, I restarted my computer, go to the official Cursor download page, download the installer, and get Cursor up and running again… Only to once again be told that there’s an update available. So, I try installing the update again, and it fails again.
Epic fail.
The installer from the Cursor official download page seems to be 3.7.42.
Potentially helpful info (but maybe not):
Windows 11 Pro
Relatively clean system, just got this computer a week or two ago - so not many other programs installed.
Apologies if this is discussed in other threads. I didn’t have time to go searching through the forum - but I wanted to get bug info in a place where Cursor team has visibility, incase this is a new/arising bug.
(Btw, I’ve had many past similar problems with the Cursor update process. It is a real pain in the ass to update Cursor, and I view it as unreliable. That’s frustrating given how often updates are released… The Cursor team seems to certainly be “Moving fast and breaking things”)
Adding some follow-up details here.
Even if I just Close Cursor I’m running into this bug. It is a REAL pain in the ass.
Upon closing Cursor, it looks like it tries to install an update that is queued. But that update fails for similar reasons as described in the original post.
Thus, simply closing the Cursor app causes it to become completely broken. Then I have to reinstall it.
So, I’m stuck in a very annoying loop. Reinstall Cursor, use it for a while, close it, break it, reinstall it.
Until the day I die (or until you fix it - hopefully soon!
If you have a wishlist of diagnostic info that you “wish” you had, just leave that wishlist in a post here. The next time I run into the bug I can gather the data/context you need.
To immediately unblock you from running into this for too much longer, the 3.8 builds should be on Cursor · Download now! Can you download and install one of those builds directly and let me know if you run into any issue? My suspicion is that you were running into your Windows Defender blocking the installation of 3.8 (by way of our updater - whenever we try to install 3.8 for you, AV blocks based on your comment). Would love to see if this manifests as another error
I installed 3.8 via the download page. Install went successfully from the 3.8.11 executable downloaded from the downloads page.
(But that was not the pain point in the past - it was the pathway of installing via the “Install Update” from within Cursor itself)
Next time I am prompted to install an update within Cursor, I’ll collect rigorous screenshots/documentation and post it here - but for now I’m up and running with 3.8.11.
Incase I run into the issue again - do you have documentation on how to work around your hypothesized root cause of interference by Windows Defender / AV? If helpful for you, I can test out any instructions you provide - assuming I run into the issue again at the next update release.
and see if there is any activity there related to Cursor. If there is, the easiest thing is to tell Windows Defender it’s not a virus from the Virus and Protection UI if it’s listed under “Current Threats”. Additionally, you can go to "Virus and thread protection settings → manage settings → and set your cursor directory path (%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\cursor)onto the exclusion path. You may need to double check that’s the path that cursor installs to on your machine first. Then try the updater again. Feel free to then remove us from the exclusion list afterwards as you feel necessary. The goal is to eliminate Windows Defender as the culprit blocking the update specifically
If you do all of this, and you still run into problems (we’ve eliminated Windows Defender as the culprit), please reach out!
Gotcha - Those instructions are crystal clear.
One clarification: To properly isolate the root cause, I think your instructions should be run BEFORE I install the next Cursor update via the “Install Update” path from within Cursor.
In other words, the next time I get an update notification, I would first run the step you outlined, then run the update. If the update still fails from the same root cause, it means that Windows Defender is NOT the source of the bug - and then your dev team will have to continue toiling to find the true root cause.
Am I understanding this correctly?
I’m on a pressing deadline until about Tues 06/23, so I’ll keep using my currently stable environment until then.
After the deadline passes, if useful for your team, I can hop on a Zoom call and use screenshare so you can collect live diagnostics. I can downgrade back to v. 3.7.42 so that Cursor immediately tries to push an update onto me, and we can execute the steps you’re suggesting.
If not helpful, feel free to disregard.
Thx again for your responsiveness.
After my deadlines pass, I’ll run some tests to see if I can reliably reproduce the issue. Will reach out with the results, and we can take next steps accordingly.
More in a few days.
One clarifying question so I don’t mess up my dev environment while trying to reproduce the aforementioned issues:
If I Uninstall Cursor (currently v.3.8.11) [I.e. via Windows Add/Remove programs] so that I can downgrade back to v.3.7.42, so that I can try to reproduce the upgrade bug - Will I lose my Cursor settings? (e.g. Installed extensions, preferences, etc.) Those settings are all preserved when I just directly reinstall Cursor (or after a successful upgrade)… But I’ve never tried the “Uninstall” pathway - so wanted to double check.
If you don’t mind and given we’re releasing more frequently, I might recommend you wait for the next release to test with rather than uninstalling and verifying with the older build! Windows Defender seems to be most sensitive to new builds that recently release. Over time the issues no longer seem to reproduce on older builds. This would also mitigate risk that an uninstall impacts your settings in unexpected ways!
Following up here: I have been running Cursor 3.8.11 for the last few days.
I received an update notification yesterday (I think) within the app.
I deliberately ignored it, since I needed a stable environment.
I tried to restart my computer earlier today (10 min before running a demo). I think Cursor tried to install an update itself when I closed Cursor (to restart my computer)… As a result of the attempt to auto-update, Cursor stopped working. I had to re-install it from a clean copy from your downloads page… All 10 min before a demo.
I did not have time to gather diagnostic data to isolate the root cause of this issue when it occurred.
I will be able to circle back soon to gather diagnostics more carefully.
For the benefit of Cursor’s dev team, I just want to articulate that this is a severe bug. The program completely stops working, forcing a clean install, at unpredictable times (you can’t always control when you need to restart your computer).
If I didn’t love using Cursor so much (nice work, Cursor team), I would’ve ditched it for a competitor by now.
End rant. Will respond back with more useful intel when I can circle back to gather it.
I am seeing this issue too. Has there been any resolution? I have noticed in my installation that Node.js seems to block until it is force quit. But the regular installer handles it better, so it just ends up being a minor inconvenience.
