Cursor Settings — Models, Rules, Privacy and Shortcuts Explained

Where to find them

Two places to look

Cursor keeps AI-specific options in its own panel, opened with Ctrl+Shift+J (⌘+Shift+J on Mac) or the gear icon in the top-right corner.

Classic editor preferences — font, theme, formatting, extensions — still live in the standard settings view inherited from VS Code, opened with Ctrl+,.

Settings sync

Sign in once and your Cursor settings follow you between machines, so a new laptop is ready right after install.

// Cursor Settings
General      account, privacy, sync
Models       enabled models, API keys
Tab          completions, partial accepts
Chat         default mode, auto-run
Rules        user + project rules
Indexing     codebase, docs, ignore
MCP          external tool servers
Beta         experimental features

Key sections

The Cursor settings worth changing first

Models

Pick models per job

Turn on only the models you actually use so the picker stays short. Keep a quick model for inline edits and a deeper reasoning model for agent runs. You can also plug in your own API key for supported providers.

Rules

User and project rules

User rules apply everywhere — for example “answer concisely, prefer TypeScript”. Project rules sit in the repository under a rules folder and can target file patterns, so test conventions apply only to test files.

Privacy

Privacy Mode

When enabled, code sent for completions and chat is not retained by model providers or used for training. Teams can enforce it so individual members cannot switch it off.

Indexing

Codebase index

Add build output, vendor folders and generated files to an ignore file. A lean index answers faster and avoids quoting minified code back at you.

Agent

Auto-run and safety

Decide whether the agent may run terminal commands without asking. An allowlist of safe commands like test runners gives speed without risky surprises.

MCP

Tool servers

Connect Model Context Protocol servers so the agent can query a database, read tickets or call internal APIs right from the chat panel.

Keyboard

Default shortcuts to remember

All of them can be remapped in Keyboard Shortcuts if they clash with habits from another editor.

Action	Windows / Linux	macOS
Open Cursor settings	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`J`	`⌘`+`Shift`+`J`
Inline edit	`Ctrl`+`K`	`⌘`+`K`
Toggle chat / agent panel	`Ctrl`+`L`	`⌘`+`L`
Accept Tab suggestion	`Tab`	`Tab`
Accept word by word	`Ctrl`+`→`	`⌘`+`→`
Classic editor settings	`Ctrl`+`,`	`⌘`+`,`

FAQ

Cursor settings questions

Open the classic settings JSON and remove the custom entries, or delete the user settings file while the editor is closed. AI options in the Cursor panel each have their own reset toggle.

Inside the repository, in a dedicated rules directory. Committing them means every teammate gets the same AI behavior.

Check that Tab is enabled in the settings panel, that the file type is not disabled, and that you have not reached the completion limit of your plan.

Yes, the Models section accepts keys for several providers. Requests then bill to your provider account, while some built-in features still use Cursor’s own models.

Need ready-made rules?

Start from tested rule sets for your framework instead of writing them from scratch.

Visit the library

Cursor settings that change how the AI works for you