Share development between 2 PCs

Support Help
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1

I am partially disabled, and use 2 PCs, one when I’m able to sit at my desk, and another with a support over my bed.

I want to be able to carry on working on the same project on both PCs. I set as many setting as I could find and store files and folders in the Project folder on a shared drive but it’s not enough. There are still many things stored in C:\Users\Pete\…

Two questions; 1, can I move the last few files and folders to the shared drive, and 2, if I reinstall, can I configure Cursor better from scratch? If this is possible, I’d still like to recover the agent conversations in the new config.

Many thanks in advance.

5

Hey Pete. I’ll cover both questions. This is your follow-up to Trying to sync Cursor across 2 PCs, so I’ll also account for the same gotcha that blocked you last time.

Q1: Yes, you can move everything, including chats. No reinstall needed.

Instead of manually moving folders and using MKLINK symlinks, it’s better to launch Cursor with flags that tell it where to store its data:

--user-data-dir "Z:\CursorData" --extensions-dir "Z:\CursorExtensions"

Put this into the Target field of the desktop shortcut on both PCs. Replace Z: with your shared drive letter. This moves settings and all agent chats in one go, so you don’t need symlinks.

Important notes:

  • Never run Cursor at the same time on both PCs pointing to the same folders. The storage is SQLite, and parallel writes can corrupt it. If you only use one PC at a time, you’re fine.
  • SQLite on a network drive SMB or NAS is less reliable than local. Make regular backups of state.vscdb from the globalStorage folder.

The gotcha from last time, why chats looked like they disappeared on PC B: chats are tied to the project path. Both PCs must open the project using the exact same path, for example always Z:\Projects\Foo. If one PC uses a drive letter and the other uses a UNC path like \\nas\share\..., Cursor sees them as different paths and the chats look missing. They aren’t deleted, they just don’t attach. Map the same drive letter on both machines.

Q2: Reinstalling won’t do anything better.

The installer doesn’t let you choose the data location. A clean install will still use the default C:\Users\<name>. The flags in Q1 solve exactly what you were hoping a reinstall would solve.

If you want to move chats into any new install: fully close Cursor on both sides, then copy %APPDATA%\Cursor\User\globalStorage\state.vscdb plus the nearby -wal and -shm files if they exist, and also the workspaceStorage folder. Chats will attach only if the project path matches, as above.

What roams easiest: Cloud Agents. Their chats are stored server-side and are available from any PC and from iOS, which fits your two-workstation setup. Also durable context in the repo files like .cursor/rules and AGENTS.md, which you already use.

One more thing: there’s no built-in account-level sync for local chats right now. It’s a common request. Here are two threads where it’s discussed: Cloud sync for Agent/Chat history across devices (especially Remote SSH) and Make Project Chats and Context Portable (Store Them with the Project). I passed it along as feedback.

Let me know how it goes with the flags.

6

Thanks Dean,

So just those two parameters at startup will move all the current files. Once done, do I need the parameters on future starts (and on both PCs?).

There is no chance of anyone working on the 2 machines at once as there is only me (my dog might have a go but he prefers Claude lol)

It does seem too easy. Is there a way to backup everything in advance just in case?

Many thanks
Pete

7

Hey Pete. In order:

  1. Yep, the flags are needed on every launch. That’s why we put them in the shortcut Target field. Set it up once on each PC, then just launch Cursor using that shortcut and the params will apply automatically. Yep, you need to do it on both PCs separately. Each one has its own shortcut, but the flags are the same, they point to the same folder on the shared drive.

  2. You should definitely make a backup, especially before the first switch. Fully close Cursor on both PCs, then copy these to a safe place:

    • %APPDATA%\Cursor entire folder (the key part is User\globalStorage\state.vscdb along with the nearby -wal and -shm files if they exist, plus the workspaceStorage folder, this is where all settings and chats live)
    • C:\Users\Pete\.cursor (extensions, agent transcripts, CLI config)

Since the data will live on a network drive, I’d also make regular copies of state.vscdb. SQLite over SMB or NAS is less reliable than on a local disk, so a regular backup is your safety net.

It really is simple. The only main gotcha is that you must open the project on both PCs using the exact same path, same drive letter, not UNC. Let me know how it goes, and say hey to the dog, he’s got good taste in models.

8

Once again Dean, thanks very much.
This couldn’t be more timely as I need to switch PC’s in the next day or two , so just time to backup and setup.

Best regards

Pete