Bug: when I launch Cursor, my RAM gradually increases until it reaches 100%, and it doesn’t reset even after closing the software. It only happens when Cursor is running.
Hey, thanks for the report. Memory gradually climbing to 100% and not freeing after you close Cursor is a known pattern on Windows. It’s usually caused by either a memory leak in the renderer process, extension host processes not shutting down properly, or both.
Let’s figure out what’s happening in your case:
Open Process Explorer: Ctrl+Shift+P > “Developer: Open Process Explorer”
Check which process is using the memory (renderer, extensionHost, ptyHost, etc.).
Test without extensions: run cursor --disable-extensions in a terminal and see if the leak still happens.
After closing Cursor, open Task Manager and check if any Cursor-related processes are still running. If yes, that would explain why RAM doesn’t free up.
Thanks for the screenshots. It’s interesting that Cursor doesn’t show up in the Processes tab, while RAM is sitting at 93%. The visible apps are only using about 2 to 3 GB out of your 32 GB, so something else is holding the rest of the memory.
A few things to try:
Check the Details tab in Task Manager, not Processes. Look for Cursor.exe or Code.exe. The Processes tab groups items and can hide background processes.
Open Resource Monitor (search resmon in Start) and go to the Memory tab. Check Standby and Modified. This will show whether memory is truly in use or if Windows is just caching it.
Update to the latest version. You’re on 2.5.20, and there are memory-related fixes in newer builds.
As a quick workaround, after closing Cursor, run this in PowerShell to force-close any leftover processes:
Also note that you’re on Windows 11 Build 26200 (Insider or Dev channel). Memory behavior can differ on Insider builds. If you can test on a stable Windows build, that’ll help narrow it down.
The team is aware of memory issues on Windows. Your report helps us prioritize. Let me know what you see in the Details tab and in Resource Monitor.
3.I was already on the latest update, but I downgraded to see if it would fix my issue.
4.No change after using the command.
5.I updated my Windows version to the latest version. still same problem
I would also like to mention that explorer.exe crashes even when my RAM usage is not at 100%. As soon as I close Cursor, Windows Explorer.exe immediately restarts.
This is an interesting situation. In Resource Monitor and Task Manager Details there are no Cursor processes, but RAM is still in use. That means the issue is most likely not Cursor leaving processes running after you close it, but Windows not releasing memory from the Standby or Modified pools.
One more important detail: explorer.exe crashes when you close Cursor. That’s not typical and could point to an issue with GPU shared memory or COM objects.
Let’s dig deeper:
Download RAMMap from Sysinternals and run it while Cursor is running and RAM is high. Please share a screenshot of the Use Counts tab. It’ll show where the memory is going (Active, Standby, Modified, Driver Locked, etc.).
While Cursor is running (before closing it), open Cursor Process Explorer (Ctrl+Shift+P → “Developer: Open Process Explorer”) and share a screenshot. We need to see which internal Cursor process is using the memory.
Check the GPU: I can see NVIDIA Overlay in your process list. Run nvidia-smi in cmd, or check GPU Memory in Task Manager → Performance → GPU. Shared GPU memory can eat into system RAM.
You’re on Windows 11 Build 26200, which is Insider Dev channel. Did you have memory issues before installing Cursor? Insider builds sometimes have their own memory management bugs.
Let me know what you find and we can narrow down the real source.
4.It happens when Cursor is running, after having chatted with an agent, the software’s usage never spikes suddenly — it just increases percentage by percentage until it reaches 100% and never goes back down.
I’ve already tried: empty system working set, empty standby list.
Hey guys, just wanna flag I’m experiencing the same issue on Windows 11 Pro; I can provide screenshots too, but everything I’ve read here at a glance is 1:1 the problem I’m dealing with (same symptoms, same ram map, etc.)
As a short-term solution, I just restart my PC after a cursor session if I want to utilize other applications that require high memory usage. No pressure, though. I know you guys are doing your best, and just wanted to bump this
