diff --git a/modules/shared.py b/modules/shared.py
index f712f7f8..2e500779 100644
--- a/modules/shared.py
+++ b/modules/shared.py
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ settings = {
     'mode': 'instruct',
     'chat_style': 'cai-chat',
     'chat-instruct_command': 'Continue the chat dialogue below. Write a single reply for the character "<|character|>".\n\n<|prompt|>',
+    'enable_web_search': False,
+    'web_search_pages': 3,
     'prompt-default': 'QA',
     'prompt-notebook': 'QA',
     'character': 'Assistant',
diff --git a/modules/ui.py b/modules/ui.py
index 89bbbdb6..db3adf0f 100644
--- a/modules/ui.py
+++ b/modules/ui.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import copy
+import threading
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import gradio as gr
@@ -7,6 +8,16 @@ import yaml
 import extensions
 from modules import shared
 from modules.chat import load_history
+from modules.utils import gradio
+
+# Global state for auto-saving UI settings with debouncing
+_auto_save_timer = None
+_auto_save_lock = threading.Lock()
+_last_interface_state = None
+_last_preset = None
+_last_extensions = None
+_last_show_controls = None
+_last_theme_state = None
 
 with open(Path(__file__).resolve().parent / '../css/NotoSans/stylesheet.css', 'r') as f:
     css = f.read()
@@ -334,6 +345,101 @@ def save_settings(state, preset, extensions_list, show_controls, theme_state):
     return yaml.dump(output, sort_keys=False, width=float("inf"), allow_unicode=True)
 
 
+def store_current_state_and_debounce(interface_state, preset, extensions, show_controls, theme_state):
+    """Store current state and trigger debounced save"""
+    global _auto_save_timer, _last_interface_state, _last_preset, _last_extensions, _last_show_controls, _last_theme_state
+
+    if shared.args.multi_user:
+        return
+
+    # Store the current state in global variables
+    _last_interface_state = interface_state
+    _last_preset = preset
+    _last_extensions = extensions
+    _last_show_controls = show_controls
+    _last_theme_state = theme_state
+
+    # Reset the debounce timer
+    with _auto_save_lock:
+        if _auto_save_timer is not None:
+            _auto_save_timer.cancel()
+
+        _auto_save_timer = threading.Timer(2.0, _perform_debounced_save)
+        _auto_save_timer.start()
+
+
+def _perform_debounced_save():
+    """Actually perform the save using the stored state"""
+    global _auto_save_timer
+
+    try:
+        if _last_interface_state is not None:
+            contents = save_settings(_last_interface_state, _last_preset, _last_extensions, _last_show_controls, _last_theme_state)
+            settings_path = Path('user_data') / 'settings.yaml'
+            settings_path.parent.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+            with open(settings_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+                f.write(contents)
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"Auto-save failed: {e}")
+    finally:
+        with _auto_save_lock:
+            _auto_save_timer = None
+
+
+def setup_auto_save():
+    """Attach auto-save to key UI elements"""
+    if shared.args.multi_user:
+        return
+
+    change_elements = [
+        # Chat tab (ui_chat.py)
+        'start_with',
+        'enable_web_search',
+        'web_search_pages',
+        'mode',
+        'chat_style',
+        'chat-instruct_command',
+        'character_menu',
+        'name1',
+        'user_bio',
+        'custom_system_message',
+        'chat_template_str',
+
+        # Parameters tab (ui_parameters.py)
+        'preset_menu',
+        'max_new_tokens',
+        'prompt_lookup_num_tokens',
+        'max_tokens_second',
+        'auto_max_new_tokens',
+        'ban_eos_token',
+        'add_bos_token',
+        'enable_thinking',
+        'skip_special_tokens',
+        'stream',
+        'static_cache',
+        'seed',
+        'custom_stopping_strings',
+        'custom_token_bans',
+        'negative_prompt',
+
+        # Default tab (ui_default.py)
+        'prompt_menu-default',
+
+        # Notebook tab (ui_notebook.py)
+        'prompt_menu-notebook',
+
+        # Session tab (ui_session.py)
+        'show_controls',
+        'theme_state',
+    ]
+
+    for element_name in change_elements:
+        if element_name in shared.gradio:
+            shared.gradio[element_name].change(
+                gather_interface_values, gradio(shared.input_elements), gradio('interface_state')).then(
+                store_current_state_and_debounce, gradio('interface_state', 'preset_menu', 'extensions_menu', 'show_controls', 'theme_state'), None, show_progress=False)
+
+
 def create_refresh_button(refresh_component, refresh_method, refreshed_args, elem_class, interactive=True):
     """
     Copied from https://github.com/AUTOMATIC1111/stable-diffusion-webui
diff --git a/modules/ui_session.py b/modules/ui_session.py
index a4eba667..4ed740cd 100644
--- a/modules/ui_session.py
+++ b/modules/ui_session.py
@@ -10,11 +10,10 @@ def create_ui():
     with gr.Tab("Session", elem_id="session-tab"):
         with gr.Row():
             with gr.Column():
-                shared.gradio['reset_interface'] = gr.Button("Apply flags/extensions and restart", interactive=not mu)
                 with gr.Row():
                     shared.gradio['toggle_dark_mode'] = gr.Button('Toggle 💡')
-                    shared.gradio['save_settings'] = gr.Button('Save UI defaults to user_data/settings.yaml', interactive=not mu)
 
+                shared.gradio['reset_interface'] = gr.Button("Apply flags/extensions and restart", interactive=not mu)
                 with gr.Row():
                     with gr.Column():
                         shared.gradio['extensions_menu'] = gr.CheckboxGroup(choices=utils.get_available_extensions(), value=shared.args.extensions, label="Available extensions", info='Note that some of these extensions may require manually installing Python requirements through the command: pip install -r extensions/extension_name/requirements.txt', elem_classes='checkboxgroup-table')
@@ -42,20 +41,6 @@ def create_ui():
             lambda x: 'dark' if x == 'light' else 'light', gradio('theme_state'), gradio('theme_state')).then(
             None, None, None, js=f'() => {{{ui.dark_theme_js}; toggleDarkMode()}}')
 
-        shared.gradio['save_settings'].click(
-            ui.gather_interface_values, gradio(shared.input_elements), gradio('interface_state')).then(
-            handle_save_settings, gradio('interface_state', 'preset_menu', 'extensions_menu', 'show_controls', 'theme_state'), gradio('save_contents', 'save_filename', 'save_root', 'file_saver'), show_progress=False)
-
-
-def handle_save_settings(state, preset, extensions, show_controls, theme):
-    contents = ui.save_settings(state, preset, extensions, show_controls, theme)
-    return [
-        contents,
-        "settings.yaml",
-        "user_data/",
-        gr.update(visible=True)
-    ]
-
 
 def set_interface_arguments(extensions, bool_active):
     shared.args.extensions = extensions
diff --git a/server.py b/server.py
index 99d2e171..3be4c27c 100644
--- a/server.py
+++ b/server.py
@@ -150,6 +150,9 @@ def create_interface():
         ui_parameters.create_event_handlers()
         ui_model_menu.create_event_handlers()
 
+        # UI persistence events
+        ui.setup_auto_save()
+
         # Interface launch events
         shared.gradio['interface'].load(
             None,