# The new Project menu disappears a few seconds after startup

**URL:** <https://forum.cursor.com/t/the-new-project-menu-disappears-a-few-seconds-after-startup/172980>\
**Category:** Bug Reports\
**Tags:** agents-window, layout\
**Created:** [September 25, 2026, 1:38pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/the-new-project-menu-disappears-a-few-seconds-after-startup/172980 "2026-09-25T13:38:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@Bit](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Bit)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2026, 1:38pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/the-new-project-menu-disappears-a-few-seconds-after-startup/172980/1 "2026-09-25T13:38:52Z")

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### Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

### Describe the Bug

When I open Cursor, the Project section initially appears in the left sidebar. After approximately 3 seconds, it disappears automatically.

### Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Cursor.
2. Wait approximately 3 seconds.
3. The Project section disappears from the left sidebar.

### Expected Behavior

The Project section should remain visible in the left sidebar.

### Operating System

Windows 10/11

### Version Information

Version: 3.22.7 (user setup)  
VS Code Extension API: 1.128.0  
Commit: 37076c6c3f9e253c0fa2305197e45befd13a2260  
Date: 2026-09-24T05:01:24.589Z  
Layout: Agent Window  
Build Type: Stable  
Release Track: Default  
Electron: 42.10.0  
Chromium: 148.0.7778.280  
Node.js: 24.18.1  
V8: 14.8.178.38-electron.0  
xterm.js: 6.1.0-beta.291  
OS: Windows\_NT x64 10.0.22631

### Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/colin/32/90452_2.png) [@Colin](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Colin)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2026, 1:55pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/the-new-project-menu-disappears-a-few-seconds-after-startup/172980/5 "2026-09-25T13:55:45Z")

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Hey @Bit, thanks for the report!

This is tied to your account’s privacy setting. Projects run their work on Cloud Agents, which need to store code on our servers, so they aren’t available while your account is on Privacy Mode (Legacy). At startup, Cursor shows the Projects section before it has finished loading your privacy setting, then hides it once it does. The section going away is expected with Legacy mode, but it shouldn’t flash on screen first, and I’ve passed that along to the team.

If you’d like to use Projects, you can switch to the standard Privacy Mode (your code is still never used for training):

1. Go to [cursor.com/dashboard](http://cursor.com/dashboard)
2. In the Privacy section, change “Privacy Mode (Legacy)” to “Privacy Mode”.
3. Fully quit Cursor and open it again.
4. Open Cursor Settings, go to the Privacy section, and check that it no longer says “(Legacy)”.

After that, the Projects section should stay in the sidebar. If it still disappears, or Cursor Settings still shows “(Legacy)” after step 4, reply here and let me know.