I am using multiple windows with different projects open.
Tried to reproduce it, but haven’t yet seen what triggers it. It just happens at random, and pretty often.
In short, chat data is saved to disk, but after a restart the UI might not reload it. Using multiple windows at the same time can make it worse because the workspace ID can change between sessions.
If you send a new request in an “empty” chat, the model still sees the previous context. Not ideal, but the data isn’t lost.
The team is aware. Your report helps with prioritization.
I see you’ve got a different case. Your chats disappear completely, not just failing to load in the UI.
Can you clarify: when the chats “disappear,” do they vanish from the chat list in the sidebar entirely? Or does the chat still show up in the list, but it’s empty inside?
Also, if you open that “empty” chat and send a new message, does the model remember the previous context, or does it respond like it’s starting from scratch?
This will help us figure out whether the data is actually getting lost, or if it’s an issue with the workspace ID mapping when using multiple windows. The team is aware of this class of bugs, but your multi-window scenario might be a separate issue. I want to make sure we’re tracking the right thing.
At random, when I open Cursor the sidebar is empty like there were never any chats.
There are no chats to open.
It basically looks like I just installed it and opened it for the first time.
Starting a new chat doesn’t really do anything and it could very well disappear the next time I start the application after a reboot or just closing it.
There is little difference.
I had everything disappear after updates, normal close and start, or after reboots of my os.
I have the same issue on Linux as well as windows.
1 lost all chats (about 10 in the history) the second window retained chats (2 of them)
I tried to look for special circumstances for either window, but it is just started normally, opened a project folder.
Both windows had the file explorer, chat and chat history panel open en the terminal.
I see the screenshot. The sidebar is completely empty, like after a fresh install.
Thanks for the repro details, that’s helpful. Especially the part where, with two windows open at the same time, one window lost all chats and the other didn’t. That narrows it down to how the workspace ID gets mapped in multi-window use.
This is a known issue, and the team is aware. Your case with specific repro steps will help with prioritization.
For now, as a workaround, if this is critical, you can try using only one Cursor window at a time. Not ideal, but it may reduce the chance of losing history.
Let me know if you notice any other patterns while reproducing it.
Hey there,
Just wanted to update this after having used the 3.x updates.
Today i was using a single window Cursor in this version:
Version: 3.0.12 (system setup)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: a80ff7dfcaa45d7750f6e30be457261379c29b00
Date: 2026-04-04T00:13:18.452Z
Layout: editor
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 39.8.1
Chromium: 142.0.7444.265
Node.js: 22.22.1
V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26100
I had to restart my pc for something and just clicked restart while apps were open.
Note that no agents were running, they were all done.
After restart all chats were gone again, just like discussed before.
There wasn’t anything else going on. I just restarted, which might have causes it, I don’t know.
I wil do a test later to see if i can reproduce it.
Small update,
Without knowing, I did a test run on restarting Windows while Cursor was running.
I had to restart, so when it got back up, I started it again.
Seems the chats were gone again. So, at least that does give some more credence to the idea that a Windows restart is something that can replicate the issue.
I can now confirm that when Windows restarts, and a Cursor window is open, it loses all chats.
It seems like the shutdown process is in play here.
Just to be clear, this is not a 100% certainty, but I keep losing chats after restarts without closing Cursor first. I don’t know if this is the only situation in which this happens either; it’s just the only one I found.
