Cursor Tab Completion Not Working? Complete Troubleshooting Guide with 7 Solutions

It was 3 PM, and I was staring at the blinking cursor on my screen. My finger hit the Tab key out of habit.

Nothing happened.

I pressed it again. Still nothing.

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You know that feeling? It’s like suddenly discovering your house key won’t open your door—it worked fine yesterday, so why not today? When Cursor’s Tab completion suddenly stops working, your entire coding rhythm gets thrown off. I was genuinely worried at the time. After getting used to having an AI assistant, losing this “right-hand helper” instantly cuts your efficiency in half.

Honestly, the first time this happened, I spent ages searching online only to find incredibly scattered answers. Some said it was quota depletion, others suggested clearing cache, and still others blamed IME conflicts… I tried every suggestion and spent nearly an hour before finding the real cause.

Later, I discovered that Cursor Tab completion failures are actually quite common, with a variety of causes. But the good news is that in most cases, you can resolve it quickly. I’ve put together this troubleshooting guide, organized from “most likely to least likely” causes, to help you identify the problem in minimal time.

Bottom line first: 70% of Tab completion issues can be fixed in just 2 minutes.

Quick Checks - Settings and Status Verification (Solves 70% of Problems in 2 Minutes)

Check if Cursor Tab is Disabled

This is the easiest problem to overlook. Sometimes you might accidentally click something, or trigger a shortcut by mistake, and Tab completion gets turned off.

Look at the status bar in the bottom-right corner of the editor and find the “Cursor Tab” indicator. If it shows as gray or has a disabled icon next to it, that’s it—you’ve found the problem.

Click this indicator and a small menu will pop up. Focus on the “Disable Globally” option. If it’s checked, uncheck it. I’ve seen this several times where people spent ages clearing cache and reinstalling software, only to find it was just this switch being turned off. Really awkward.

Quick steps:

1. Find the “Cursor Tab” indicator in the bottom-right corner
2. Click it
3. Make sure “Disable Globally” is not checked
4. If the status bar shows a green/blue icon, the feature is enabled

Try typing a few characters in your code to see if completion is back.

Verify Quota Hasn’t Run Out

This issue is particularly frustrating. Cursor’s free tier has a quota limit, roughly 500 completion calls, and once you’re out, that’s it. Unlike GitHub Copilot which auto-renews monthly, when Cursor’s free quota runs out, it’s gone—it won’t automatically restore.

The first time I encountered this, I was completely confused because it worked fine the day before and suddenly stopped the next day. I later learned the quota was depleted.

How to check remaining quota:

1. Open Cursor Settings
2. Find “Usage & Limits”
3. Look at the used/total quota numbers displayed

If your quota has hit the limit, you have a few options:

Option 1: Upgrade to Pro (recommended)
Let’s be real, if you’re using Cursor to write code every day, the paid version is worth it. Unlimited completion quota means you don’t have to worry about it suddenly stopping mid-work. The monthly fee is around $20, which isn’t much for the productivity boost.

Option 2: Register a new account
Some people use this as a temporary workaround. But honestly, this is just a stopgap measure, and frequently switching accounts is quite annoying. If you rely on Cursor long-term, I’d recommend supporting the official version.

The Restart Method

Don’t laugh, this really works.

Often, Cursor’s background service or language server gets stuck. You can’t see it on the surface, but Tab completion just won’t work. Restart once, and these temporary state issues get cleared.

Two restart methods:

Quick Reload (try this first):

• Windows: Ctrl + Shift + P → type “Reload Window”
• Mac: Cmd + Shift + P → type “Reload Window”

This method only reloads the window without closing all your open tabs and projects—it’s gentler.

Full Restart:
Just quit Cursor entirely, then reopen it. Some deeper issues can only be resolved with a complete restart.

My experience: if quick reload doesn’t work, completely quit and restart. Success rate is pretty high—it solves about 30% of problems.

If your Tab completion is back at this point, congratulations! You can skip the rest. If not, keep reading—next we’ll troubleshoot the Chinese-specific IME conflict issue.

Chinese Environment-Specific Issue - IME Conflicts (20% of Chinese Users Encounter This)

IME Intercepting Tab Key

This issue is really subtle. I spent ages troubleshooting before discovering the IME was the culprit.

Here’s what happens: Some Chinese IMEs (especially third-party ones like Sogou, Baidu, and QQ Pinyin) use the Tab key as their own function key—for example, to switch between candidate words. The problem is these IMEs often have higher priority than the IDE, so they intercept the Tab key first, and Cursor never receives the keystroke.

Quick test method:
Switch to English input (or press Shift to switch to English mode), then try pressing Tab again. If completion works normally at this point, you can basically confirm it’s an IME conflict.

Solutions (From Simple to Comprehensive)

Option 1: Temporarily Switch IME
When writing code, just switch to English input. Simple, crude, and immediately effective. The downside is if you need to write Chinese comments or variable names, you’ll have to switch frequently, which is a bit annoying.

Option 2: Modify IME Hotkey Settings
Go into your IME settings, find “Key Settings” or “Hotkey Configuration,” and disable Tab key-related functions. Each IME’s settings location is slightly different:

• Sogou IME: Right-click IME icon → Settings → Keys
• Microsoft Pinyin: Settings → Time & Language → Language → Preferred language → Options → Keyboard

Honestly, this method is a bit tedious, and different IME versions have quite different interfaces.

Option 3: Switch to System Default IME
This is what I ultimately went with. Just switch to Windows’ built-in Microsoft Pinyin or Mac’s system IME. These system-level IMEs usually have better compatibility with IDEs and are less likely to have hotkey conflicts.

Microsoft Pinyin isn’t actually as bad as people think. Its intelligence isn’t quite on par with Sogou, but it’s stable and won’t clash with development tools.

Option 4: Disable Cursor’s “Embedded Input Method” (Ultimate Solution)
Cursor has a “Use Embedded Input Method” setting. In some cases, disabling it can resolve conflicts:

1. Open Settings
2. Search for “input method”
3. Find the “Use Embedded Input Method” option
4. Uncheck it

This method works wonders for certain IME conflicts, but isn’t 100% guaranteed.

By the way, here’s a detail many overlook: if Tab doesn’t respond while in Chinese IME mode, remember to press Esc to exit the input candidate state first, then try again. Sometimes it’s just the IME not cleanly exiting.

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Keybinding Conflicts and Configuration Issues (Advanced Troubleshooting)

Keybinding Conflicts

This issue is more subtle and usually occurs after installing other extensions.

The most typical case is the GitHub Copilot extension. If you previously used Copilot in VSCode and migrated to Cursor, you might have brought the Copilot extension along. The result is two AI completion tools fighting over the Tab key, neither yielding.

Troubleshooting method:

1. Press Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + P to open the command palette
2. Type “Keyboard Shortcuts” to open keyboard settings
3. Type “tab” in the search box
4. Check if multiple functions are bound to the Tab key

If you find conflicts, the simplest solution is to disable the extension you don’t need. Especially Copilot—if you’re already using Cursor’s built-in AI completion, the Copilot extension can be completely turned off.

How to disable extensions:

1. Open the Extensions panel
2. Find GitHub Copilot
3. Click “Disable”
4. Restart the editor

Users have reported that after disabling Copilot, Cursor Tab immediately returned to normal.

Project-Level Configuration Issues

Sometimes the problem isn’t in global settings but in the specific project.

Cursor reads the .cursor/config.json file in the project root. If this config file has errors, or certain settings override global config, it could cause Tab completion to fail.

Quick test method:
Create a new blank project (or open a simple HTML file) and see if Tab completion works normally. If it works fine in a new project, you can basically confirm the original project’s configuration has issues.

Possible configuration problems:

• .cursor/config.json has disabled completion for certain languages
• tsconfig.json, jsconfig.json misconfigured, causing language server to fail understanding code
• .gitignore or other config files too restrictive, preventing Cursor from reading necessary files

Honestly, these problems are harder to pinpoint. If you suspect configuration issues, try temporarily renaming the .cursor folder (e.g., rename to .cursor_backup), let Cursor regenerate default config, and see if the problem is resolved.

Network and Service Issues (10% Probability but Good to Know)

Network Connection Problems

Cursor’s Tab completion relies on cloud AI services. This means if your network has issues, completion functionality will stop working.

There are several common network problems:

Proxy Configuration Errors
If your company or school network requires a proxy, but Cursor’s proxy settings are incorrect, it can’t connect to AI services. I encountered this once at the office—after switching to a new VPN, Tab completion failed.

Checking method:

1. Open Settings → Search “proxy”
2. Check if proxy settings match system proxy
3. Try temporarily disabling proxy and using direct connection (if network environment allows)

DNS Resolution Issues
Sometimes DNS problems prevent Cursor from finding the server address. This is rare but does happen.

Quick test: Open a browser and visit cursor.com to see if it loads normally. If the website won’t open, it’s likely a network-level problem.

Firewall Blocking
Corporate network firewalls might block Cursor’s AI service requests. In this case, you may need to contact IT to add Cursor’s domains to the whitelist.

Honestly, network issues are hard to troubleshoot yourself. If you suspect network causes, the simplest test is to try a different network—like using your phone’s hotspot or switching to home WiFi. If switching networks fixes it, it’s definitely a network configuration issue.

Language Server (LSP) Not Loaded

This sounds a bit technical, but it’s actually not complicated.

The Language Server (LSP) is like Cursor’s “translator”—it’s responsible for understanding your code, analyzing context, then telling the AI how to complete. If this translator goes on strike, no matter how smart the AI is, it’s useless.

How to determine if LSP is normal:

1. Look at the bottom-right corner—is there a language indicator (like “TypeScript”, “JavaScript”)?
2. Try hovering your mouse over code to see if type hints appear
3. Press F12 (Go to Definition) to see if it jumps

If these functions aren’t working, LSP likely has problems.

Restart Language Server:

1. Press Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + P
2. Type “Restart Language Server”
3. Press Enter to execute

View logs to troubleshoot:

1. Open the Output panel
2. In the top-right dropdown menu, select the corresponding language server (e.g., “TypeScript”)
3. Check for error messages

I’ve seen cases where someone’s Node.js version was too old, causing the TypeScript language server to fail starting, and naturally Tab completion wouldn’t work. After updating Node.js, the problem was resolved.

Ultimate Solutions - Clear Cache and Reinstall (Last Resort)

Clear Cache

If you’ve tried all the previous methods and it still doesn’t work, Cursor’s cache might be corrupted.

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Cache is like software’s “temporary memory,” used to speed up startup and responsiveness. But sometimes cache data gets corrupted and actually causes various weird problems.

Cache locations (different paths for different systems):

Windows:

C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Cursor\Cache
C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Cursor\models

Mac:

~/Library/Application Support/Cursor/Cache
~/Library/Application Support/Cursor/models

Linux:

~/.config/Cursor/Cache
~/.config/Cursor/models

Clearing steps:

1. First, completely quit Cursor (ensure the process is fully closed)
2. Find the cache directory for your system above
3. Delete the Cache and models folders (or rename them first for backup, like Cache_old)
4. Restart Cursor

After restarting, Cursor will re-download necessary model files. This process may take a few minutes depending on your internet speed.

A friend of mine previously had Tab completion always giving weird suggestions. After clearing cache, it was fixed. Likely the cached model files were corrupted.

Notes:

• Clearing cache won’t delete your code or project files—safe to proceed
• But it will clear some of Cursor’s temporary settings and downloaded AI models
• First startup will be slightly slower because it needs to reinitialize

Reinstall Cursor

This is the last resort. If even clearing cache doesn’t work, you can only reinstall.

When you need to reinstall:

• All methods tried, problem still persists
• Cursor crashes on startup, won’t even open
• Suspect installation files themselves have issues

Preparation before reinstalling:

Backup your configuration (optional but recommended):

1. Settings → Export Settings
2. Save config file to a safe location
3. Record your installed extensions list (or take a screenshot)

Uninstall steps:

Windows:

1. Control Panel → Programs and Features
2. Find Cursor and uninstall
3. After uninstalling, manually delete C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Cursor folder (complete cleanup)

Mac:

1. Drag Cursor from Applications to Trash
2. Empty Trash
3. Delete ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor folder

Reinstall:

1. Go to Cursor’s official website and download the latest installer
2. Install
3. Log back into your account
4. If you backed up settings earlier, you can import them

Honestly, reinstalling is a fairly heavy operation—generally not recommended unless absolutely necessary. But if you really reach this step, it often completely resolves the issue.

A little tip: before reinstalling, first uninstall all extensions and test with a clean Cursor. Sometimes the problem is with a specific extension, and reinstalling the software is actually unnecessary.

Preventive Recommendations - Avoiding Recurrence

Establish a Troubleshooting Mental Model

After experiencing Tab completion failure once, I developed a habit—when encountering problems, don’t panic first; troubleshoot by priority one by one.

Recommended troubleshooting order (from fast to slow):

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1. Settings check (30 sec): See if Cursor Tab has been disabled
2. Quota verification (1 min): Check Usage & Limits
3. Restart method (1 min): Quick reload or full restart
4. IME test (30 sec): Switch to English input and try
5. Keybinding troubleshooting (2 min): Check for conflicts
6. Network test (1 min): Try different network or check proxy
7. Clear cache/reinstall (5-10 min): Last resort

Key principle: Change only one variable at a time.

What does this mean? Don’t change multiple settings at once—even if the problem is resolved, you won’t know which action worked. Try one method, if it doesn’t work try the next. This way you can accurately identify the problem.

Daily Usage Recommendations

Regularly Check Quota Usage
If you’re a free tier user, I recommend checking remaining quota weekly. Don’t wait until it’s depleted—that might be right when you’re rushing a project, which is frustrating.

My habit is to check once at the beginning of each month to have a sense. If I find quota depleting quickly, I consider upgrading to Pro or adjusting usage frequency.

Be Cautious Installing Third-Party Plugins
Plugins are good, but don’t install too many. Each plugin can potentially bring keybinding conflicts or performance issues.

Before installing a new plugin, ask yourself: Do I really need this feature? Can I replace it with Cursor’s built-in functionality?

After installing a new plugin, remember to test if Tab completion still works normally. If it suddenly fails, it’s likely the new plugin causing trouble.

Keep Cursor Updated to Latest Version
Software updates usually fix known bugs, including completion-related issues.

I generally update right away when I see update notifications. Although occasionally new versions have new bugs, overall, the latest version has better stability.

Backup Important Configurations
Develop a habit of regularly exporting settings. If you ever need to reinstall, having a backup lets you quickly restore your familiar work environment.

Settings → Export Settings, regularly export and save—doesn’t take much effort.

Maintain Your Own Problem Log
I have a little notebook (digital), specifically for recording problems encountered and solutions. Next time I encounter similar issues, flipping through notes often provides quick answers.

This habit is really useful. Sometimes after a few months you encounter the same problem again—without records, you’d have to troubleshoot from scratch.

Conclusion

Writing this, I’m reminded of that 3 PM scene—pressing Tab and nothing happening, that feeling of helplessness.

Fortunately, the vast majority of Tab completion problems aren’t serious issues. Looking back, 70% of cases only require checking three things: whether settings are disabled, whether quota is depleted, whether restarting resolves it. The remaining 20% might be IME conflicts, with only 10% involving deeper network, configuration, or cache issues.

Quick checklist (bookmark or print):

• ☐ Is Cursor Tab enabled in bottom-right corner?
• ☐ Settings → Usage & Limits quota sufficient?
• ☐ Try Reload Window or full restart
• ☐ Switch to English input and test
• ☐ Check keybinding conflicts (search “tab”)
• ☐ Try different network
• ☐ Clear cache folders
• ☐ Last resort: reinstall

Honestly, I rarely encounter Tab completion failures now. Not because Cursor has become more stable (though it certainly is improving), but because after mastering this troubleshooting approach, even when problems arise I can resolve them in minutes without panicking.

One final tip: When encountering problems, don’t rush to Google or ask people. First spend 2 minutes quickly running through the common causes checklist above. Often, the answer is right in front of you—you just didn’t think of it at the moment.

If this article helped you solve Tab completion issues, feel free to share it with friends also using Cursor. If you encounter other problems or have new discoveries, welcome to comment and discuss—your experience might help even more people.

By the way, are there other Cursor usage tips you’d like to learn about? Or any tough problems you want to discuss? See you in the comments.

15 min read · Published on: Jan 19, 2026 · Modified on: Feb 4, 2026

Easton

Technology