A few weeks ago there was a big update to Cursor an the interface changed to a three panel (I think) design, which as nice and clean, hiding the code pages. But something happened and it was reverted somehow. Not sure if this was on Cursor’s side or mine, but I’d like to know how to get that clean design back. Any ideas?
From Claude:
What you’re describing sounds like the Cursor 3 “Agents Window”, which launched on April 2, 2026. It’s a brand-new interface built from scratch — cleaner, agent-focused, with the code files tucked away unless you want to dive into them.
Here’s how to get it back:
Re-enable the Agents Window:
Upgrade Cursor to the latest version, then open the Command Palette with Cmd+Shift+P and type “Agents Window”. You can switch back to the traditional IDE at any time, or have both open simultaneously.
Why it may have “reverted”:
The Agents Window and the traditional IDE are separate modes that can coexist. Cursor has four default layouts (agent, editor, zen, and browser), and you can switch between them with Cmd+Option+Tab. It’s possible you accidentally switched layout, or an update temporarily reset your preference.
Once you’re back in the Agents Window, the clean look you remember is the default — code files are hidden unless you choose to inspect them.
Hi @sparkzilla Yes it sounds like you’re talking about the new agents window!
you can access it by going to File - > New Agents Window.
Just a heads up you can currently only have 1 Agents window open at a time. So if the menu bar item is grayed out that means you have it open somewhere else on your system (and it may be hidden).
Let me know if this was not what you were thinking about.
Hi,
The issue is that (at least on Arch), I can’t make Cursor remember to open on the classic Editor view. It always opens in the Agents Window. Even I explicitly switch to the Editor, close the Agents Window, close the editor. Next time I open Cursor, it opens in the Agents Window.
Hi @Nibz, yes, this is expected behavior. It’s a slight nudge to encourage you to migrate over to agents view but of course you can always open the Editor view whenever you like.
I understand you want to encourage the usage of this product, but can’t we at least have a setting to chose our default view ? I’ve tried it, but I just don’t have any need for it.
Thanks !
Noted! Currently this is not a user selectable option but it could change in the future.
@RelevantUsername Has a good workaround, which is launch cursor with the command as follows
you can start Cursor in classic IDE mode from the terminal:
cursor . --classic
If the cursor command isn’t available and you’re using zsh, you can add Cursor’s CLI to your shell config:
export PATH="/Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin:$PATH"
Then reload your shell:
source ~/.zshrc
After that, cursor . --classic should open the current folder in the classic IDE view.