Why My Cursor IDE Kept Freezing and How I Fixed It with a Simple Script

I use Cursor IDE every day for coding, but things got messy when it started freezing constantly. That “Cursor is not responding” message became my worst nightmare. After weeks of frustration on Linux, I finally discovered a fix that actually works. Let me share what happened and how I got my workflow back.

The Core Problem: Endless Freezes and Disk Overload

On my Linux machine, Cursor would freeze every few minutes during heavy use. The interface locked up completely while my disk activity went crazy. I tracked it down to one file writing non-stop: ~/.config/Cursor/User/globalStorage/state.vscdb-journal. This made Cursor nearly unusable – I almost gave up on it entirely. The problem felt worse on Wayland than Xorg, and kept happening across versions like 0.50.7 and 1.0.0.

My Initial Attempts That Fell Short

Before finding the real solution, I tried several dead ends:

• Deleting state.vscdb: Bought me a few minutes before freezes returned
• Downgrading SQLite: Version 3.49.0 changed nothing during heavy writes
• Wiping the config folder: ~/.config/Cursor deletion didn’t help
• Older Cursor versions: Version 0.48.9 was stable but lacked newer features I needed

These just left me stuck in reboot cycles.

The Breakthrough Solution: Moving Files to RAM

Everything changed when I shifted the problematic file to RAM using symlinks and a backup script. No more disk bottlenecks or freezes. Here’s exactly what I did:

1. Create a script: Save this as cursor_fix.sh in your home directory:

#!/bin/bash

# Where files live
BACKUP_DIR="$HOME/.config/Cursor/User/globalStorage"
SOURCE_FILE="${BACKUP_DIR}/state.vscdb"
TEMP_DIR="/tmp/cursor_state"
TEMP_FILE="$TEMP_DIR/state.vscdb"
BACKUP_FILE="$BACKUP_DIR/state.vscdb_backup"

# Backup creator
create_backup() {
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
backup_file="$BACKUP_DIR/state.vscdb_backup"
cp "$TEMP_FILE" "$backup_file"
echo "Backup created: $backup_file"
}

# Make temp spot
mkdir -p "$TEMP_DIR"

# Find existing file to copy
if [ -f "$BACKUP_FILE" ]; then
cp "$BACKUP_FILE" "$TEMP_FILE"
elif [ -f "$SOURCE_FILE" ]; then
cp "$SOURCE_FILE" "$TEMP_FILE"
else
echo "Error: No file found to copy"
exit 1
fi

# Remove old symlink if it's there
if [ -L "$SOURCE_FILE" ]; then
rm "$SOURCE_FILE"
fi

# Create new symlink
ln -s "$TEMP_FILE" "$SOURCE_FILE"
echo "Cursor state file moved to $TEMP_FILE and symlinked"

# Run backups in background
while true; do
create_backup
sleep 600 # Back up every 10 minutes
done &

2. Make it executable: Run chmod +x cursor_fix.sh in terminal
3. Auto-start on boot: Add to system startup via cron or systemd

By using RAM for constant writes, my disk finally caught a break. Zero freezes since implementing this.

Extra Tips for Smooth Sailing

While testing, I found these helped too:

• Windows users: If you’re freezing on Windows, oversized chat histories might be the culprit. Try starting fresh chats or cleaning out AppData\Roaming\Cursor\User\workspaceStorage (backup first!)
• Large pastes: Dumping huge logs into chat can freeze things. Chop them into smaller pieces
• Stay updated: Newer Cursor versions might include fixes, so keep an eye out

This script saved my coding workflow. If you’re fighting similar freezes, try it – I went from constant frustration back to productive coding.