One file shows phantom modifications

Support Bug Reports
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Bug Report Summary: Phantom File Modifications in Cursor
Problem Description
File: frontend/src/components/Quiz.tsx
Symptom: Cursor shows the file as modified when reopening, even after clicking “No” to save. The “Keep All” and “Undo All” buttons in the diff review UI do nothing.
Scope: Only affects Quiz.tsx; other files are fine.
Verification Steps
Git status: git status --porcelain shows no modifications
Git diff: git diff shows no changes
File encoding: UTF-8 without BOM, LF line endings
File hash: Consistent before/after (SHA256: CB25F1D172823D64E72180E52903FE11A6D770EE3C81944ADCC8EFB8890688F6)
Attempted Fixes (All Failed)
Renamed workspaceStorage folder
Identified workspace: 34a4617b7b0c5d1e16a40c49cc7ed645
Renamed to .bak and reopened Cursor
Result: Problem persisted
Renamed Backups folder
Renamed %APPDATA%\Cursor\Backups to Backups.bak
Result: Problem persisted
Git reset
Ran git checkout – frontend/src/components/Quiz.tsx
Result: File reset, but Cursor still shows modifications on reopen
File: Revert File command
Command Palette → “File: Revert File”
Result: No effect
Developer: Reload Window
Command Palette → “Developer: Reload Window”
Result: Problem persisted
Checked for formatters/configs
No .editorconfig, Prettier, or ESLint configs affecting the file
Result: No formatter interference found
Searched for Cursor state files
Checked workspaceStorage, Backups, Local Storage for cached diff state
Result: No obvious state files found
Environment
OS: Windows 10 (Build 26200)
Shell: PowerShell
Project: React/TypeScript (Vite frontend)
Git: File tracked, no actual changes detected
Expected Behavior
File should not show as modified if Git shows no changes
“Keep All” / “Undo All” should clear the diff review state
Clearing workspace storage should reset file state
Actual Behavior
File shows as modified on every reopen
“Keep All” / “Undo All” buttons are non-functional
Clearing workspace storage does not resolve the issue
Additional Notes
The diff review UI appears (green bar with “Keep All” / “Undo All”), suggesting Cursor thinks there are changes, but Git shows none
This appears to be a stuck AI diff review state that cannot be cleared through normal means

Steps to Reproduce

I don’t know how to reproduce

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Version: 2.3.21 (user setup)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: 68e0a0385b87408d050869ea543e3778ad53f780
Date: 2026-01-02T23:46:13.381Z
Electron: 37.7.0
Chromium: 138.0.7204.251
Node.js: 22.20.0
V8: 13.8.258.32-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

2

Hey, thanks for the report.

This is a known issue - the AI diff review state gets stuck and the Keep All/Undo All buttons stop working.

Workaround that worked for other users with the same problem:

  1. Copy the entire file content to clipboard
  2. Press Ctrl+Z repeatedly until the file reverts to a state before the stuck diff appeared
  3. Paste back the copied code

This should remove the phantom green diff highlights. See the related discussion: Phantom Diff Changes That Wont Go Away

Let me know if this helps.

3

that worked. thanks.