Cursor: fix 'Waiting for extension host' hang

A troubleshooting guide details how to resolve Cursor's "Waiting for extension host" hang, starting with running "Developer: Restart Extension Host" from the command palette, which clears most transient startup failures. Further steps include relaunching with `cursor --disable-extensions` to isolate a culprit extension, deleting the corrupt SQLite state file at the platform-specific globalStorage path, and updating the editor, with aggressive indexing on large folders, stale WSL or Remote-SSH mounts, and antivirus locks cited as repeat offenders.

Cursor stuck on "Waiting for extension host"? Extensions dead, AI panel spinning, Git features gone? Work through this list top to bottom. The first step fixes most cases in under a minute. Open the command palette Ctrl+Shift+P , or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS and run Developer: Restart Extension Host . This kills and relaunches the host process without closing your files. Transient startup failures clear here. Quit Cursor and relaunch from a terminal with cursor --disable-extensions . If the hang is gone, one extension is the culprit. Re-enable in batches until the hang returns, then leave that one disabled and check for an update. Cursor keeps session state in a SQLite file. A corrupt entry blocks the host from loading: %APPDATA%\Cursor\User\globalStorage\state.vscdb ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor/User/globalStorage/state.vscdb ~/.config/Cursor/User/globalStorage/state.vscdb Delete or rename it and restart. You will need to sign back in. Update to the latest version first. After that, the repeat offenders are aggressive indexing on huge folders, WSL or Remote-SSH mounts that went stale, and antivirus holding the host process open. Full guide with the WSL-specific path and prevention steps: https://automatelab.tech/blog/ai-coding/cursor-waiting-extension-host-fix/ https://automatelab.tech/blog/ai-coding/cursor-waiting-extension-host-fix/