How do I reset Cursor to default settings?
Resetting via Command Palette
Cursor is built on VS Code, so it includes many of the same commands. Open the Command Palette with Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+P (Mac), then type 'Reset Settings' or 'Preferences: Open Settings (JSON)' to manually clear your settings. However, Cursor-specific settings may not be covered by this method.
For a full reset, you'll need to delete Cursor's configuration folders. These are typically located in your user home directory. On Windows, check %APPDATA%\Cursor; on macOS, ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor; on Linux, ~/.config/Cursor. Deleting these folders will remove all customizations, extensions, and cached data.
- Back up your settings before deleting anything.
- Close Cursor completely before deleting configuration folders.
- After deletion, restart Cursor to regenerate default files.
- Note that this will also remove your login session and extensions.
What Gets Reset
Resetting will revert all settings, keybindings, and UI customizations to their default values. It will also remove any installed extensions and clear your recent files list. Your actual code projects are not affected, as they are stored separately.
If you only want to reset specific settings, you can edit the settings.json file directly or use the Settings UI to change individual options back to default. This is less drastic and preserves your other customizations.
Common mistakes
- Deleting the wrong folder and losing important data; always double-check the path.
- Forgetting to back up custom keybindings or snippets before resetting.
- Expecting a reset to fix performance issues; it may not address the root cause.
