An example method of cursor seek operations using deleted record spans in memory sub-systems comprises: receiving, by a processing device, a request to search for a first data element of a key-value data store, the request specifying a first key associated with the first data element; determining that the first key is within a range of deleted data elements comprising a plurality of deleted data elements of the key-value data store; identifying a tail key associated with a tail element of the range of deleted data elements; identifying a second data element in the key-value data store, wherein the second data element is associated with a second key that follows the tail key in a specified order of keys; and providing the second data element in response to the request.