diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ec4ccf74ded..ba56421cb76 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ focalboard*.db
 mac/resources/config.json
 mac/temp
 mac/dist
+mac/*.xcodeproj/**/xcuserdata
 linux/bin
 linux/dist
 linux/temp
diff --git a/mac/Focalboard/AppDelegate.swift b/mac/Focalboard/AppDelegate.swift
index 8e86221893f..5c2440cd918 100644
--- a/mac/Focalboard/AppDelegate.swift
+++ b/mac/Focalboard/AppDelegate.swift
@@ -32,10 +32,8 @@ class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {
 
 	@IBAction func openNewWindow(_ sender: Any?) {
 		let mainStoryBoard = NSStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)
-		let tabViewController = mainStoryBoard.instantiateController(withIdentifier: "ViewController") as? ViewController
 		let windowController = mainStoryBoard.instantiateController(withIdentifier: "WindowController") as! NSWindowController
 		windowController.showWindow(self)
-		windowController.contentViewController = tabViewController
 	}
 
 	private func showWhatsNewDialogIfNeeded() {
diff --git a/mac/Focalboard/ViewController.swift b/mac/Focalboard/ViewController.swift
index 8bd5bfe9ee1..e1f1571208b 100644
--- a/mac/Focalboard/ViewController.swift
+++ b/mac/Focalboard/ViewController.swift
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ import WebKit
 class ViewController:
 	NSViewController,
 	WKUIDelegate,
-	WKNavigationDelegate {
+	WKNavigationDelegate,
+	WKScriptMessageHandler {
 	@IBOutlet var webView: WKWebView!
 	private var refreshWebViewOnLoad = true
 
@@ -19,14 +20,15 @@ class ViewController:
 		webView.navigationDelegate = self
 		webView.uiDelegate = self
 		webView.isHidden = true
+		webView.configuration.userContentController.add(self, name: "nativeApp")
 
 		clearWebViewCache()
 
 		// Load the home page if the server was started, otherwise wait until it has
 		let appDelegate = NSApplication.shared.delegate as! AppDelegate
 		if (appDelegate.isServerStarted) {
-			self.updateSessionToken()
-			self.loadHomepage()
+			updateSessionTokenAndUserSettings()
+			loadHomepage()
 		}
 
 		// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
@@ -38,6 +40,11 @@ class ViewController:
 		self.view.window?.makeFirstResponder(self.webView)
 	}
 
+    override func viewWillDisappear() {
+        super.viewWillDisappear()
+        persistUserSettings()
+    }
+
 	override var representedObject: Any? {
 		didSet {
 			// Update the view, if already loaded.
@@ -64,20 +71,55 @@ class ViewController:
 	@objc func onServerStarted() {
 		NSLog("onServerStarted")
 		DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 0.5) {
-			self.updateSessionToken()
+			self.updateSessionTokenAndUserSettings()
 			self.loadHomepage()
 		}
 	}
 
-	private func updateSessionToken() {
+	private func persistUserSettings() {
+		let semaphore = DispatchSemaphore(value: 0)
+
+		webView.evaluateJavaScript("Focalboard.exportUserSettingsBlob();") { result, error in
+			defer { semaphore.signal() }
+			guard let blob = result as? String else {
+				NSLog("Failed to export user settings: \(error?.localizedDescription ?? "?")")
+				return
+			}
+			UserDefaults.standard.set(blob, forKey: "localStorage")
+			NSLog("Persisted user settings: \(Data(base64Encoded: blob).flatMap { String(data: $0, encoding: .utf8) } ?? blob)")
+		}
+
+		// During shutdown the system grants us about 5 seconds to clean up and store user data
+		let timeout = DispatchTime.now() + .seconds(3)
+		var result: DispatchTimeoutResult?
+
+		// Busy wait because evaluateJavaScript can only be called from *and* signals on the main thread
+		while (result != .success && .now() < timeout) {
+			result = semaphore.wait(timeout: .now())
+			RunLoop.current.run(mode: .default, before: Date())
+		}
+
+		if result == .timedOut {
+			NSLog("Timed out trying to persist user settings")
+		}
+	}
+
+	private func updateSessionTokenAndUserSettings() {
 		let appDelegate = NSApplication.shared.delegate as! AppDelegate
-		let script = WKUserScript(
+		let sessionTokenScript = WKUserScript(
 			source: "localStorage.setItem('focalboardSessionId', '\(appDelegate.sessionToken)');",
 			injectionTime: .atDocumentStart,
 			forMainFrameOnly: true
 		)
+		let blob = UserDefaults.standard.string(forKey: "localStorage") ?? ""
+		let userSettingsScript = WKUserScript(
+			source: "const NativeApp = { settingsBlob: \"\(blob)\" };",
+			injectionTime: .atDocumentStart,
+			forMainFrameOnly: true
+		)
 		webView.configuration.userContentController.removeAllUserScripts()
-		webView.configuration.userContentController.addUserScript(script)
+		webView.configuration.userContentController.addUserScript(sessionTokenScript)
+		webView.configuration.userContentController.addUserScript(userSettingsScript)
 	}
 
 	private func loadHomepage() {
@@ -219,5 +261,13 @@ class ViewController:
 	@IBAction func navigateToHome(_ sender: NSObject) {
 		loadHomepage()
 	}
+
+	func userContentController(_ userContentController: WKUserContentController, didReceive message: WKScriptMessage) {
+		guard let body = message.body as? [String: String], let type = body["type"], let blob = body["settingsBlob"] else {
+			NSLog("Received unexpected script message \(message.body)")
+			return
+		}
+		NSLog("Received script message \(type): \(Data(base64Encoded: blob).flatMap { String(data: $0, encoding: .utf8) } ?? blob)")
+	}
 }
 
diff --git a/webapp/src/app.tsx b/webapp/src/app.tsx
index adf38501942..3d3cb0122f1 100644
--- a/webapp/src/app.tsx
+++ b/webapp/src/app.tsx
@@ -19,8 +19,11 @@ import RegisterPage from './pages/registerPage'
 import {IUser} from './user'
 import {Utils} from './utils'
 import CombinedProviders from './combinedProviders'
+import {importNativeAppSettings} from './nativeApp'
 
 const App = React.memo((): JSX.Element => {
+    importNativeAppSettings()
+
     const [language, setLanguage] = useState(getCurrentLanguage())
     const [user, setUser] = useState<IUser|undefined>(undefined)
     const [initialLoad, setInitialLoad] = useState(false)
diff --git a/webapp/src/nativeApp.ts b/webapp/src/nativeApp.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e46900b71ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/webapp/src/nativeApp.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2015-present Mattermost, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+// See LICENSE.txt for license information.
+
+import {importUserSettingsBlob} from './userSettings'
+
+declare interface INativeApp {
+    settingsBlob: string | null;
+}
+
+declare const NativeApp: INativeApp
+
+export function importNativeAppSettings() {
+    if (typeof NativeApp === 'undefined' || !NativeApp.settingsBlob) {
+        return
+    }
+    const success = importUserSettingsBlob(NativeApp.settingsBlob)
+    const messageType = success ? 'didImportUserSettings' : 'didNotImportUserSettings'
+    postWebKitMessage({type: messageType, settingsBlob: NativeApp.settingsBlob})
+    NativeApp.settingsBlob = null
+}
+
+function postWebKitMessage(message: any) {
+    const webkit = (window as any).webkit
+    if (typeof webkit === 'undefined') {
+        return
+    }
+    const handler = webkit.messageHandlers.nativeApp
+    if (typeof handler === 'undefined') {
+        return
+    }
+    handler.postMessage(message)
+}
diff --git a/webapp/src/userSettings.ts b/webapp/src/userSettings.ts
index 55126f1c983..188fcb072aa 100644
--- a/webapp/src/userSettings.ts
+++ b/webapp/src/userSettings.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2015-present Mattermost, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 // See LICENSE.txt for license information.
 
-class UserSettings {
+export class UserSettings {
     static get prefillRandomIcons(): boolean {
         return localStorage.getItem('randomIcons') !== 'false'
     }
@@ -11,4 +11,39 @@ class UserSettings {
     }
 }
 
-export {UserSettings}
+const keys = ['language', 'theme', 'lastBoardId', 'lastViewId', 'emoji-mart.last', 'emoji-mart.frequently']
+
+export function exportUserSettingsBlob(): string {
+    return window.btoa(exportUserSettings())
+}
+
+function exportUserSettings(): string {
+    const settings = Object.fromEntries(keys.map((key) => [key, localStorage.getItem(key)]))
+    settings.timestamp = `${Date.now()}`
+    return JSON.stringify(settings)
+}
+
+export function importUserSettingsBlob(blob: string): boolean {
+    return importUserSettings(window.atob(blob))
+}
+
+function importUserSettings(json: string): boolean {
+    const settings = parseUserSettings(json)
+    const timestamp = settings.timestamp
+    const lastTimestamp = localStorage.getItem('timestamp')
+    if (!timestamp || (lastTimestamp && Number(timestamp) <= Number(lastTimestamp))) {
+        return false
+    }
+    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(settings)) {
+        localStorage.setItem(key, value as string)
+    }
+    return true
+}
+
+function parseUserSettings(json: string): any {
+    try {
+        return JSON.parse(json)
+    } catch (e) {
+        return {}
+    }
+}
diff --git a/webapp/webpack.common.js b/webapp/webpack.common.js
index 8214f8ca2a4..0503e2c9061 100644
--- a/webapp/webpack.common.js
+++ b/webapp/webpack.common.js
@@ -92,10 +92,9 @@ function makeCommonConfig() {
                 publicPath: '{{.BaseURL}}/',
             }),
         ],
-        entry: {
-            main: './src/main.tsx',
-        },
+        entry: ['./src/main.tsx', './src/userSettings.ts'],
         output: {
+            library: 'Focalboard',
             filename: 'static/[name].js',
             path: outpath,
         },