PDFs are stale in the Cursor browser

Support Bug Reports
,
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Cursor IDE PDF preview cache bug

The PDFs show updated correctly when I view outside of Cursor, but inside Cursor it’s old versions i’m seeing. I already cleared the Cursor cache. I am using the Refresh button in the toolbar, and also closing the file in the Cursor browser and reopening it. The error persists.

Steps to Reproduce

I work mostly with PDF files in Cursor, every once in a while suddenly none of the changes that the chat says it’s making are showing in the PDF I view in Cursor. Today I checked the PDF file outside of Cursor and what do you know, the change is there. It’s just not showing the latest updated PDF file correctly in Cursor. I already cleared my Cursor cache, but it didn’t help.

Expected Behavior

the PDF files should show the latest updated version when I push the Refresh button in the Cursor browser, the PDF file should match in Cursor what I show when I open the PDF file outside of Cursor

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

Cursor_PDF_preview_bug_side_by_side.png
Cursor_PDF_preview_bug_side_by_side.png1380×1132 78.9 KB

Operating System

Linux

Version Information

Version: 3.2.21
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: 806df57ed3b6f1ee0175140d38039a38574ec720
Date: 2026-05-03T01:46:14.413Z
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: Linux x64 6.17.0-23-generic

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

7

This is a caching bug with the built-in PDF viewer. We’ve identified the root cause and filed it with our engineering team.

Workaround: Click the toolbar refresh button (circular arrow icon in the browser toolbar) instead of using the keyboard shortcut. The toolbar button does a hard reload that bypasses the cache, while the keyboard shortcut does a normal reload that serves cached content.

If that still doesn’t work in some cases, closing and reopening the PDF tab will force a completely fresh load.

Thanks for the detailed report and screenshot — it made tracking this down much easier!

8

I was using the Refresh button in the toolbar, as well as closing and reopening the file in the Cursor browser. Neither solution works, which is why I must change my workflow and open the PDF outside of Cursor. I have updated my post to reflect these assumed details.

10

Thanks for confirming, Miriam, and you’re right that the toolbar refresh and close/reopen don’t resolve this.

A couple of things that should force a genuinely fresh load in the meantime:

  • Open the updated PDF under a new filename (or save a copy with a new name). The viewer caches per file path, so a different name loads the current version.
  • Use the Clear Cache option in the browser tab’s toolbar menu, then reload.

This is a confirmed caching bug on our side. If the new-filename trick also comes up stale, a short screen recording of the toolbar refresh not updating would help us pin down what’s happening on your setup. No pressure though, opening the PDF outside Cursor (as you’re doing) is a perfectly reliable fallback.