Reduce Cursor IDE's RAM usage:

How To
1

[From Perplexity:]

Reduce Cursor IDE’s RAM usage:

  1. Disable unused extensions: Many users have reported significant reductions in memory usage by disabling old or unused extensions1.

  2. Use safe mode: You can start Cursor in safe mode by entering the command “cursor --disable-extensions” in your terminal. This allows you to check if the high memory usage is caused by extensions5.

  3. Limit open windows and tabs: Keep the number of open Cursor windows to a minimum, and try to maintain fewer tabs per window.

  4. Restart the application: Some users have found that frequently restarting Cursor or closing it after making edits can help mitigate performance issues

  5. Monitor terminal processes: Check for any heavy terminal processes running within Cursor, as these could contribute to increased memory usage.

  6. Enable Privacy Mode: While primarily a data protection feature, enabling Privacy Mode in Cursor’s settings might indirectly help with resource usage by limiting data retention and processing.

It’s worth noting that the Cursor team is aware of these memory management issues and is actively working on improvements, including better reasoning models and refined code generation. However, if these workarounds don’t sufficiently address the problem, you may need to consider alternative IDEs or wait for future updates that specifically target memory optimization.