How to uninstall Cursor on Mac

Removing Cursor, clearing editor data, and uninstalling Cursor Agent CLI are separate tasks. Before you start, save open work and back up ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor and ~/.cursor if you want to keep settings and extensions. This guide covers the Mac desktop app downloaded from Cursor and the Homebrew cask cursor, while preserving projects and command-line tools you still use.

Save your work and quit Cursor

Save open files and uncommitted work. Quit through the Cursor application menu, then search Activity Monitor for Cursor and check that the desktop app’s processes have exited.

Move Cursor from Finder’s Applications folder to Trash. This is the Mac removal method in Cursor’s current official instructions. If macOS says it is in use, address the corresponding process first; deleting its data is not a way to make it quit safely.

If you installed it with Homebrew

Mole skips --zap when its list reaches unchecked or shared data, or cannot be fully checked, and still cleans the leftovers you selected.

The cursor cask’s zap list includes ~/.cursor (user configuration and extensions), ~/.cursor-tutor and ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor (settings and local editor state), along with caches, logs and preferences. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap cursor yourself moves all of them to the Trash, whatever you selected in Mole.

To keep your editor setup, back up those two folders first, or remove only the app:

brew uninstall --cask cursor

The cask also links a cursor command, which Homebrew removes with the app. It does not install or remove Cursor Agent CLI.

Separate app data, caches, and projects

Press Shift + Command + G in Finder and inspect the paths below. Skip missing directories. Do not create them or delete every similarly named file to make the search results empty.

These are inspected locations, not an exhaustive list for every version. Check ownership and contents before deleting other caches or support files. A matching name alone is not enough.

Handle Cursor Agent CLI separately

Cursor’s official CLI has a separate installation process. Its launcher sits in ~/.local/bin and its own files in ~/.local/share/cursor-agent. When removing only the desktop editor, keep the CLI and configuration you still use. Do not delete the whole ~/.local/bin directory or project configuration.

Check the result

These read-only commands show what remains:

pgrep -lf Cursor.app
command -v cursor
command -v agent
ls -d ~/.cursor "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Cursor" ~/.local/share/cursor-agent

• No output from pgrep means no process is running from Cursor.app. A listed process means the editor or one of its helpers is still open; quit it before deleting data.
• No output from command -v means the command was not found in this shell’s PATH, not that every related file has been removed. An error message does not confirm removal; check the reported error first.
• Output from command -v means a command resolves to a location, not that the desktop app is running. A name alone also does not establish that the command belongs to Cursor. If cursor points to the removed app, inspect whether that exact path is a symbolic link and check its target before removing the stale entry individually.
• ls -d prints each folder that still exists and reports “No such file or directory” for the rest. A surviving ~/.local/share/cursor-agent belongs to the CLI and is expected if you kept it.

Also check that Cursor is absent from Applications. Keeping projects, backups, or an independently used CLI is expected, not a failed uninstall.

Removing the editor does not cancel a subscription. If you no longer want a paid service, check the subscription in your account settings separately.

For other AI coding tools and their caches, see Clean Up AI Coding Tools on Mac: Caches, CLIs, Transcripts.

If settings do not return after reinstalling

Check whether your backup includes both ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor and the parts of ~/.cursor you used. Then inspect themes, key bindings, and extensions in the new installation. Project-level .cursor files belong with each project; a copy of user settings does not replace them, and project rules do not replace global editor settings.

For a troubleshooting reinstall, keep these folders first. Determine whether the issue follows the app or a particular setting before resetting that setting.

What Mole lists

The unselected data rows below assume Remove data and settings with apps is off, the default. Turning it on can select eligible app-owned review rows; keep wanted data unchecked. Shared stores and protected data retain individual review or protection.

For a Cursor app installed from Cursor’s download:

• ~/.cursor and ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor are listed but not selected.
• ~/Library/Caches/cursor-compile-cache and the caches, preferences, web storage and saved window state filed under Cursor’s bundle ID are selected by default.
• ~/.local/share/cursor-agent and the CLI launcher are not listed. They belong to Cursor Agent CLI, which you remove separately.

What this test covered

On October 3, 2026, a Mole development build removed the official-download Cursor 3.23.12 desktop app bundle. All 25 reviewed data paths were unchecked and confirmed retained, along with Cursor Agent CLI data. This verified app-bundle removal only, not user-data cleanup or backup restoration. Homebrew cask removal, CLI removal and signed-in account state were not tested. The October 4 review reused this record without reinstalling or uninstalling Cursor again.