Cursor Disk Space on Mac: Clear Caches Without Losing Chat History
Cursor keeps its caches right next to your chat and workspace data. If you delete the biggest folder without telling them apart, you can lose records you wanted to keep. Start by finding out what each folder holds.
Where Cursor’s disk space goes
Start with ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor. Installed extensions usually live elsewhere, in ~/.cursor/extensions, and they’re your tools, not a cache. Your project folders can get big too, from build output, node_modules or datasets, but this guide covers Cursor’s own data.
Inside that Application Support folder, User/globalStorage/state.vscdb is a SQLite database that can hold chat history and app state. The layout can change between Cursor versions, so use these paths as places to look, not as a fixed map.
User/workspaceStorage/<id>/ can hold workspace state, local databases and chat images in images/. These folders can stay behind after a project moves or is gone. If a folder has a workspace.json file, it helps you tell which project the folder belongs to, but don’t assume each project has exactly one folder.
Four cache folders sit directly under ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor: Cache, CachedData, Code Cache and GPUCache. They’re separate from the chat and state locations above. Quit Cursor before you look through them.
Clearing the caches by hand
- Quit Cursor completely.
- In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder and enter ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor. Check how big the four cache folders are. If Finder doesn’t show folder sizes, use Get Info.
- Move only Cache, CachedData, Code Cache and GPUCache to the Trash, whichever of them exist. Don’t delete the whole Cursor folder.
- Reopen Cursor and check your chats and projects before you decide whether to empty the Trash. The caches can be recreated as needed. Moving files to the Trash doesn’t free their space on its own.
What to keep out of a cache cleanup
Don’t delete the whole Cursor root folder, which can take your local settings, state and chat data with it. Leave state.vscdb alone while Cursor is running, and don’t run VACUUM on a database that’s in use. This guide doesn’t cover database maintenance.
Moving a project into an archive folder doesn’t back up its chats. A leftover workspaceStorage folder can still hold chats, images or editor state you need. Check which project it maps to and save the records you need before you remove anything.
What Mint adds
Mint shows Cursor’s storage in the Disk tab and lists the cleanup candidates it recognizes for you to review. What a folder uses isn’t the same as what you can get back. Chat databases and workspace history aren’t disposable cache, so check each item and how it would be handled before you act.
Frequently asked questions
Does clearing Cursor’s cache delete my chats?
The four cache folders are separate from the chat and state locations described above. Quit Cursor first and clear only those folders. Don’t remove the parent folder or workspace history.
Is it safe to delete a workspaceStorage folder?
If it has a workspace.json, use that to find its project. Then make sure you no longer need its chats, images and editor state. A project that moved or was deleted isn’t enough reason on its own.
How much space do extensions take?
It varies. Look at the folder sizes in ~/.cursor/extensions instead of assuming the installed size matches the download size.
See what Cursor has left on your Mac
Run a scan and look for Cursor in the Disk tab.