diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 8c00ccef..b07f82e5 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2365,6 +2365,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "ron",
  "serde",
  "serde-wasm-bindgen",
+ "serde_json",
  "wasm-bindgen",
  "wasm-bindgen-futures",
  "web-sys",
diff --git a/desktop/src/app.rs b/desktop/src/app.rs
index bec70c35..761d97a6 100644
--- a/desktop/src/app.rs
+++ b/desktop/src/app.rs
@@ -214,6 +214,15 @@ impl WinitApp {
 					self.dispatch_desktop_wrapper_message(message);
 				}
 			}
+			DesktopFrontendMessage::PersistenceWritePreferences { preferences } => {
+				self.persistent_data.write_preferences(preferences);
+			}
+			DesktopFrontendMessage::PersistenceLoadPreferences => {
+				if let Some(preferences) = self.persistent_data.load_preferences() {
+					let message = DesktopWrapperMessage::LoadPreferences { preferences };
+					self.dispatch_desktop_wrapper_message(message);
+				}
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/desktop/src/consts.rs b/desktop/src/consts.rs
index ee241ba6..c4f6e4fb 100644
--- a/desktop/src/consts.rs
+++ b/desktop/src/consts.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 pub(crate) static APP_NAME: &str = "Graphite";
 pub(crate) static APP_ID: &str = "rs.graphite.GraphiteEditor";
+
 pub(crate) static APP_DIRECTORY_NAME: &str = "graphite-editor";
-pub(crate) static APP_AUTOSAVE_DIRECTORY_NAME: &str = "documents";
+pub(crate) static APP_STATE_FILE_NAME: &str = "state.ron";
+pub(crate) static APP_PREFERENCES_FILE_NAME: &str = "preferences.ron";
+pub(crate) static APP_DOCUMENTS_DIRECTORY_NAME: &str = "documents";
 
 // CEF configuration constants
 pub(crate) const CEF_WINDOWLESS_FRAME_RATE: i32 = 60;
diff --git a/desktop/src/dirs.rs b/desktop/src/dirs.rs
index af693efb..94f62c68 100644
--- a/desktop/src/dirs.rs
+++ b/desktop/src/dirs.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use std::fs::create_dir_all;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 
-use crate::consts::{APP_AUTOSAVE_DIRECTORY_NAME, APP_DIRECTORY_NAME};
+use crate::consts::{APP_DIRECTORY_NAME, APP_DOCUMENTS_DIRECTORY_NAME};
 
 pub(crate) fn ensure_dir_exists(path: &PathBuf) {
 	if !path.exists() {
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ pub(crate) fn graphite_data_dir() -> PathBuf {
 }
 
 pub(crate) fn graphite_autosave_documents_dir() -> PathBuf {
-	let path = graphite_data_dir().join(APP_AUTOSAVE_DIRECTORY_NAME);
+	let path = graphite_data_dir().join(APP_DOCUMENTS_DIRECTORY_NAME);
 	ensure_dir_exists(&path);
 	path
 }
diff --git a/desktop/src/persist.rs b/desktop/src/persist.rs
index 6b4e6590..c47ad862 100644
--- a/desktop/src/persist.rs
+++ b/desktop/src/persist.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use graphite_desktop_wrapper::messages::{Document, DocumentId};
+use graphite_desktop_wrapper::messages::{Document, DocumentId, Preferences};
 
 #[derive(Default, serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize)]
 pub(crate) struct PersistentData {
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ pub(crate) struct PersistentData {
 	current_document: Option<DocumentId>,
 	#[serde(skip)]
 	document_order: Option<Vec<DocumentId>>,
+	preferences: Option<Preferences>,
 }
 
 impl PersistentData {
@@ -72,21 +73,37 @@ impl PersistentData {
 		self.flush();
 	}
 
+	pub(crate) fn write_preferences(&mut self, preferences: Preferences) {
+		let Ok(preferences) = ron::ser::to_string_pretty(&preferences, Default::default()) else {
+			tracing::error!("Failed to serialize preferences");
+			return;
+		};
+		std::fs::write(Self::preferences_file_path(), &preferences).unwrap_or_else(|e| {
+			tracing::error!("Failed to write preferences to disk: {e}");
+		});
+	}
+
+	pub(crate) fn load_preferences(&self) -> Option<Preferences> {
+		let data = std::fs::read_to_string(Self::preferences_file_path()).ok()?;
+		let preferences = ron::from_str(&data).ok()?;
+		Some(preferences)
+	}
+
 	fn flush(&self) {
-		let data = match ron::to_string(self) {
+		let data = match ron::ser::to_string_pretty(self, Default::default()) {
 			Ok(d) => d,
 			Err(e) => {
 				tracing::error!("Failed to serialize persistent data: {e}");
 				return;
 			}
 		};
-		if let Err(e) = std::fs::write(Self::persistence_file_path(), data) {
+		if let Err(e) = std::fs::write(Self::state_file_path(), data) {
 			tracing::error!("Failed to write persistent data to disk: {e}");
 		}
 	}
 
 	pub(crate) fn load_from_disk(&mut self) {
-		let path = Self::persistence_file_path();
+		let path = Self::state_file_path();
 		let data = match std::fs::read_to_string(&path) {
 			Ok(d) => d,
 			Err(e) if e.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => {
@@ -108,9 +125,15 @@ impl PersistentData {
 		*self = loaded;
 	}
 
-	fn persistence_file_path() -> std::path::PathBuf {
+	fn state_file_path() -> std::path::PathBuf {
 		let mut path = crate::dirs::graphite_data_dir();
-		path.push(format!("{}.ron", crate::consts::APP_AUTOSAVE_DIRECTORY_NAME));
+		path.push(crate::consts::APP_STATE_FILE_NAME);
+		path
+	}
+
+	fn preferences_file_path() -> std::path::PathBuf {
+		let mut path = crate::dirs::graphite_data_dir();
+		path.push(crate::consts::APP_PREFERENCES_FILE_NAME);
 		path
 	}
 }
diff --git a/desktop/wrapper/src/handle_desktop_wrapper_message.rs b/desktop/wrapper/src/handle_desktop_wrapper_message.rs
index 66ad7cd7..c5cfa32e 100644
--- a/desktop/wrapper/src/handle_desktop_wrapper_message.rs
+++ b/desktop/wrapper/src/handle_desktop_wrapper_message.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use graphene_std::Color;
 use graphene_std::raster::Image;
 use graphite_editor::messages::app_window::app_window_message_handler::AppWindowPlatform;
-use graphite_editor::messages::prelude::{AppWindowMessage, DocumentMessage, PortfolioMessage};
+use graphite_editor::messages::prelude::{AppWindowMessage, DocumentMessage, PortfolioMessage, PreferencesMessage};
 
 use crate::messages::Platform;
 
@@ -140,5 +140,9 @@ pub(super) fn handle_desktop_wrapper_message(dispatcher: &mut DesktopWrapperMess
 			let message = PortfolioMessage::SelectDocument { document_id: id };
 			dispatcher.queue_editor_message(message.into());
 		}
+		DesktopWrapperMessage::LoadPreferences { preferences } => {
+			let message = PreferencesMessage::Load { preferences };
+			dispatcher.queue_editor_message(message.into());
+		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/desktop/wrapper/src/intercept_frontend_message.rs b/desktop/wrapper/src/intercept_frontend_message.rs
index 26a6a4f1..1b6bed3e 100644
--- a/desktop/wrapper/src/intercept_frontend_message.rs
+++ b/desktop/wrapper/src/intercept_frontend_message.rs
@@ -107,6 +107,12 @@ pub(super) fn intercept_frontend_message(dispatcher: &mut DesktopWrapperMessageD
 		FrontendMessage::TriggerLoadRestAutoSaveDocuments => {
 			dispatcher.respond(DesktopFrontendMessage::PersistenceLoadRemainingDocuments);
 		}
+		FrontendMessage::TriggerSavePreferences { preferences } => {
+			dispatcher.respond(DesktopFrontendMessage::PersistenceWritePreferences { preferences });
+		}
+		FrontendMessage::TriggerLoadPreferences => {
+			dispatcher.respond(DesktopFrontendMessage::PersistenceLoadPreferences);
+		}
 		m => return Some(m),
 	}
 	None
diff --git a/desktop/wrapper/src/messages.rs b/desktop/wrapper/src/messages.rs
index b4db4613..c335b78d 100644
--- a/desktop/wrapper/src/messages.rs
+++ b/desktop/wrapper/src/messages.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 pub use graphite_editor::messages::prelude::DocumentId;
 use graphite_editor::messages::prelude::FrontendMessage;
-pub(crate) use graphite_editor::messages::prelude::Message as EditorMessage;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 
+pub(crate) use graphite_editor::messages::prelude::Message as EditorMessage;
+
+pub use graphite_editor::messages::prelude::PreferencesMessageHandler as Preferences;
+
 pub enum DesktopFrontendMessage {
 	ToWeb(Vec<FrontendMessage>),
 	OpenFileDialog {
@@ -48,6 +51,10 @@ pub enum DesktopFrontendMessage {
 	PersistenceUpdateDocumentsList {
 		ids: Vec<DocumentId>,
 	},
+	PersistenceWritePreferences {
+		preferences: Preferences,
+	},
+	PersistenceLoadPreferences,
 	CloseWindow,
 }
 
@@ -93,6 +100,9 @@ pub enum DesktopWrapperMessage {
 	SelectDocument {
 		id: DocumentId,
 	},
+	LoadPreferences {
+		preferences: Preferences,
+	},
 }
 
 #[derive(Clone, serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize, Debug)]
diff --git a/editor/src/messages/preferences/preferences_message.rs b/editor/src/messages/preferences/preferences_message.rs
index b8988fa3..00a6eca5 100644
--- a/editor/src/messages/preferences/preferences_message.rs
+++ b/editor/src/messages/preferences/preferences_message.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use crate::messages::prelude::*;
 #[derive(PartialEq, Clone, Debug, serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize)]
 pub enum PreferencesMessage {
 	// Management messages
-	Load { preferences: String },
+	Load { preferences: PreferencesMessageHandler },
 	ResetToDefaults,
 
 	// Per-preference messages
diff --git a/editor/src/messages/preferences/preferences_message_handler.rs b/editor/src/messages/preferences/preferences_message_handler.rs
index 214903b9..d0582938 100644
--- a/editor/src/messages/preferences/preferences_message_handler.rs
+++ b/editor/src/messages/preferences/preferences_message_handler.rs
@@ -50,15 +50,13 @@ impl MessageHandler<PreferencesMessage, ()> for PreferencesMessageHandler {
 		match message {
 			// Management messages
 			PreferencesMessage::Load { preferences } => {
-				if let Ok(deserialized_preferences) = serde_json::from_str::<PreferencesMessageHandler>(&preferences) {
-					*self = deserialized_preferences;
+				*self = preferences;
 
-					responses.add(PortfolioMessage::EditorPreferences);
-					responses.add(PortfolioMessage::UpdateVelloPreference);
-					responses.add(PreferencesMessage::ModifyLayout {
-						zoom_with_scroll: self.zoom_with_scroll,
-					});
-				}
+				responses.add(PortfolioMessage::EditorPreferences);
+				responses.add(PortfolioMessage::UpdateVelloPreference);
+				responses.add(PreferencesMessage::ModifyLayout {
+					zoom_with_scroll: self.zoom_with_scroll,
+				});
 			}
 			PreferencesMessage::ResetToDefaults => {
 				refresh_dialog(responses);
diff --git a/frontend/wasm/Cargo.toml b/frontend/wasm/Cargo.toml
index cdb0ad3e..e4105a53 100644
--- a/frontend/wasm/Cargo.toml
+++ b/frontend/wasm/Cargo.toml
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ math-parser = { workspace = true }
 wgpu = { workspace = true }
 web-sys = { workspace = true }
 ron = { workspace = true }
+serde_json = { workspace = true }
 
 [package.metadata.wasm-pack.profile.dev]
 wasm-opt = false
diff --git a/frontend/wasm/src/editor_api.rs b/frontend/wasm/src/editor_api.rs
index da190181..ea4b5d12 100644
--- a/frontend/wasm/src/editor_api.rs
+++ b/frontend/wasm/src/editor_api.rs
@@ -415,6 +415,11 @@ impl EditorHandle {
 
 	#[wasm_bindgen(js_name = loadPreferences)]
 	pub fn load_preferences(&self, preferences: String) {
+		let Ok(preferences) = serde_json::from_str(&preferences) else {
+			log::error!("Failed to deserialize preferences");
+			return;
+		};
+
 		let message = PreferencesMessage::Load { preferences };
 
 		self.dispatch(message);