I’m a Windows user and frequently rely on shortcuts like Ctrl+Backspace to delete a word while editing text. However, I’ve run into a frustrating issue with Cursor that’s disrupting my workflow.
In Cursor, when I have a change waiting to be accepted, if it’s not perfect, I’ll start writing another prompt in the input box to tweak it. While typing in the input box, I’ll instinctively press Ctrl+Backspace to delete a word. Instead of deleting the word, this shortcut declines all pending changes. This happens way too often, and it’s honestly enraging because I lose work or have to redo steps unnecessarily.
I am using Restore checkpoint but it’s time consuming and frustrating nonetheless.
Has anyone else encountered this? Is there a way to remap or disable this specific shortcut behavior in Cursor? I’d love to keep using Ctrl+Backspace for deleting words without it interfering with the change acceptance flow. Any suggestions or workarounds would be greatly appreciated!
I agree with you. However which system and IDE keyboards should they preserve and which can be reused?
With hundreds of IDEs and OS related shortcuts on CTRL/CMD or OPTION/ALT,… im getting conflicts with several apps where i keep just their defaults. so i change it in the app I added last.
However you are right that perhaps the first time someone uses a KB shortcut set by Cursor it might be good to show a info box.
I don’t think this is a keyboard shortcut issue. I still need the “cancel generation” shortcut as Ctrl + Backspace, but it should have lower priority than “deleting a word in the chat text input area.” This isn’t even a “keyboard shortcut priority” thing—Ctrl + Backspace to delete a word is just how it works in Windows.
In the previous version, when I focused on the chat input, Ctrl + Backspace would delete a word at a time. Once the text area was empty, it would then trigger “cancel generation.” I think 0.47.5 broke something
Same frustrating issue on Arch Linux/GNOME. Ctrl+Backspace is essential to my workflow, but Cursor keeps discarding my changes when I use it to delete words.
I agree that this needs fixing - either make Ctrl+Backspace work normally for text editing, provide a way to disable it as a “decline changes” shortcut, or add a confirmation before discarding changes.
@Grafto In the future, make sure to post all the information that fixed your problem when you accept an answer. It makes it easier for people like me to make the same fixes.
For anyone else who runs into this terrible default, the setting you want to change is “Cursor: Cancel composer”
If you try to find this on your own, you will find that Cursor overloads Ctrl+backspace with like 8 different commands depending on the context of the editor.
