How to uninstall Cursor on Windows

Removing Cursor and clearing its editor data are separate decisions. Settings, workspace state, extensions and MCP configuration live in your user profile, and none of it goes away when you uninstall the app. Back it up first if you might reinstall. This guide covers Cursor installed per-user from the Anysphere.Cursor winget package, and keeps your project folders untouched.

Quit Cursor first

Save open files and any uncommitted work. Cursor runs several processes, one per window plus helpers, so check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for any Cursor.exe still listed before you uninstall.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

Go to Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find Cursor, and choose Uninstall, or run:

winget uninstall --id Anysphere.Cursor

Back up before you remove data

Copy %APPDATA%\Cursor to keep settings and workspace state, and %USERPROFILE%\.cursor to keep extensions, MCP configuration and rules, before you clear either one.

Where the data lives

Location	What it holds	What to do
`%APPDATA%\Cursor`	Settings, workspace state and the editor's own caches	Back this up first; the uninstaller does not remove it
`%USERPROFILE%\.cursor`	Extensions, MCP configuration and rules	Back up if you want to reinstall the same setup
`.cursor` inside a project	Project-level rules and configuration	Belongs with that project; removing the editor does not touch it

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

Get-Process Cursor -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
winget list --id Anysphere.Cursor
Test-Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\cursor"
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\Cursor"
Test-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.cursor"

No output from Get-Process only means this query observed no matching process; a suppressed error leaves the running state unknown. A listed process means a window or helper is still open.
A completed winget list query with no match means the package record is gone; a matching row means the uninstall did not finish.
The first Test-Path returning False means the program folder is gone; True means files remain there.
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\Cursor" returning True means your settings and workspace state are still there, which is expected unless you removed them yourself.
Test-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.cursor" returning True means your extensions and MCP configuration are still there; remove it yourself once you have backed it up, if you want a clean start.

If you installed it with winget

winget uninstall runs the same uninstaller Settings › Apps uses and removes the same program files; it does not touch %APPDATA%\Cursor or %USERPROFILE%\.cursor on its own.

Account and subscription

Uninstalling does not cancel a paid Cursor plan or sign you out of your account. Check your subscription in Cursor's own account settings separately.

What Mole lists

For Cursor installed per-user from winget:

The program folder and both Start Menu shortcuts are selected by default.
%APPDATA%\Cursor is listed but not selected, since it holds your settings and workspace state. The caches inside it (Cache, Code Cache, GPUCache and the like) are listed on their own and selected.
%USERPROFILE%\.cursor is listed but not selected.
If a cursor:// link or another registration still points at the removed program, Mole lists it too and backs it up to a .reg file before removing it. File types other editors also open are left alone.

Projects on disk, and their own .cursor folders, are not part of this list.

What this test covered

Tested with Cursor 3.19.7 installed through winget, per-user scope. The test installed it from an elevated session, so its uninstaller asked for administrator access; a normal per-user install does not. A signed-in account was not tested.