diff --git a/spec/app/config-view-spec.coffee b/spec/app/config-view-spec.coffee
index 5defd234a..0952fe3d9 100644
--- a/spec/app/config-view-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/app/config-view-spec.coffee
@@ -7,6 +7,23 @@ describe "ConfigView", ->
   beforeEach ->
     configView = new ConfigView
 
+  describe "serialization", ->
+    it "remembers which panel was visible", ->
+      configView.showPanel('Editor')
+      newConfigView = deserialize(configView.serialize())
+      configView.remove()
+      newConfigView.attachToDom()
+      expect(newConfigView.activePanelName).toBe 'Editor'
+
+    it "shows the previously active panel if it is added after deserialization", ->
+      configView.addPanel('Panel 1', $$ -> @div id: 'panel-1')
+      configView.showPanel('Panel 1')
+      newConfigView = deserialize(configView.serialize())
+      configView.remove()
+      newConfigView.attachToDom()
+      newConfigView.addPanel('Panel 1', $$ -> @div id: 'panel-1')
+      expect(newConfigView.activePanelName).toBe 'Panel 1'
+
   describe ".addPanel(name, view)", ->
     it "adds a menu entry to the left and a panel that can be activated by clicking it", ->
       configView.addPanel('Panel 1', $$ -> @div id: 'panel-1')
diff --git a/spec/app/window-spec.coffee b/spec/app/window-spec.coffee
index 108b5ed3f..a173689c7 100644
--- a/spec/app/window-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/app/window-spec.coffee
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ describe "Window", ->
     projectPath = project.getPath()
 
   afterEach ->
-    window.shutdown()
+    window.unloadEditorWindow()
     $(window).off 'beforeunload'
 
   describe "when the window is loaded", ->
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ describe "Window", ->
       removeStylesheet(cssPath)
       expect($(document.body).css('font-weight')).not.toBe("bold")
 
-  describe ".shutdown()", ->
+  describe ".unloadEditorWindow()", ->
     it "saves the serialized state of the window so it can be deserialized after reload", ->
       projectPath = project.getPath()
       expect(atom.getWindowState()).toEqual {}
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ describe "Window", ->
       projectState = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(project.serialize()))
       syntaxState = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(syntax.serialize()))
 
-      window.shutdown()
+      window.unloadEditorWindow()
 
       windowState = atom.getWindowState()
       expect(windowState.rootView).toEqual rootViewState
@@ -145,14 +145,14 @@ describe "Window", ->
       rootView.getActivePane().splitRight()
       expect(window.rootView.find('.editor').length).toBe 2
 
-      window.shutdown()
+      window.unloadEditorWindow()
 
       expect(buffer.subscriptionCount()).toBe 0
 
     it "only serializes window state the first time it is called", ->
 
-      window.shutdown()
-      window.shutdown()
+      window.unloadEditorWindow()
+      window.unloadEditorWindow()
       expect(atom.saveWindowState.callCount).toBe 1
 
   describe ".installAtomCommand(commandPath)", ->
diff --git a/src/app/atom.coffee b/src/app/atom.coffee
index b73a58ff7..caa871506 100644
--- a/src/app/atom.coffee
+++ b/src/app/atom.coffee
@@ -251,12 +251,16 @@ _.extend atom,
       null
 
   getSavedWindowState: ->
-    if pathToOpen = window.location.params.pathToOpen
-      localStorage[pathToOpen]
+    storageKey = switch @windowMode
+      when 'editor' then window.location.params.pathToOpen
+      when 'config' then 'config'
+    localStorage[storageKey] if storageKey
 
   saveWindowState: ->
-    if pathToOpen = @getPathToOpen()
-      localStorage[pathToOpen] = JSON.stringify(@getWindowState())
+    storageKey = switch @windowMode
+      when 'editor' then @getPathToOpen()
+      when 'config' then 'config'
+    localStorage[storageKey] = JSON.stringify(@getWindowState())
 
   update: ->
     @sendMessageToBrowserProcess('update')
diff --git a/src/app/config-view.coffee b/src/app/config-view.coffee
index ac51ca99a..db557cee0 100644
--- a/src/app/config-view.coffee
+++ b/src/app/config-view.coffee
@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@ EditorConfigPanel = require 'editor-config-panel'
 
 module.exports =
 class ConfigView extends View
+  registerDeserializer(this)
+
+  @deserialize: ({activePanelName}) ->
+    view = new ConfigView()
+    view.showPanel(activePanelName)
+    view
+
   @content: ->
     @div id: 'config-view', =>
       @ol id: 'panel-menu', outlet: 'panelMenu'
@@ -25,10 +32,22 @@ class ConfigView extends View
     panel.hide()
     @panelsByName[name] = panel
     @panels.append(panel)
-    @showPanel(name) if _.values(@panelsByName).length == 1
+    @showPanel(name) if @getPanelCount() is 1 or @panelToShow is name
+
+  getPanelCount: ->
+    _.values(@panelsByName).length
 
   showPanel: (name) ->
-    @panels.children().hide()
-    @panelMenu.children('.active').removeClass('active')
-    @panelsByName[name].show()
-    @panelMenu.children("[name='#{name}']").addClass('active')
+    if @panelsByName[name]
+      @panels.children().hide()
+      @panelMenu.children('.active').removeClass('active')
+      @panelsByName[name].show()
+      @panelMenu.children("[name='#{name}']").addClass('active')
+      @activePanelName = name
+      @panelToShow = null
+    else
+      @panelToShow = name
+
+  serialize: ->
+    deserializer: @constructor.name
+    activePanelName: @activePanelName
diff --git a/src/app/window.coffee b/src/app/window.coffee
index 5438fa6d4..4f382b040 100644
--- a/src/app/window.coffee
+++ b/src/app/window.coffee
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ window.startEditorWindow = ->
   else
     console.warn "Failed to install `atom` binary"
 
+  atom.windowMode = 'editor'
   handleWindowEvents()
   handleDragDrop()
   config.load()
@@ -53,10 +54,11 @@ window.startEditorWindow = ->
   atom.activatePackages()
   keymap.loadUserKeymaps()
   atom.requireUserInitScript()
-  $(window).on 'beforeunload', -> shutdown(); false
+  $(window).on 'beforeunload', -> unloadEditorWindow(); false
   $(window).focus()
 
 window.startConfigWindow = ->
+  atom.windowMode = 'config'
   handleWindowEvents()
   config.load()
   keymap.loadBundledKeymaps()
@@ -65,8 +67,10 @@ window.startConfigWindow = ->
   deserializeConfigWindow()
   atom.activatePackageConfigs()
   keymap.loadUserKeymaps()
+  $(window).on 'beforeunload', -> unloadConfigWindow(); false
+  $(window).focus()
 
-window.shutdown = ->
+window.unloadEditorWindow = ->
   return if not project and not rootView
   atom.setWindowState('pathToOpen', project.getPath())
   atom.setWindowState('project', project.serialize())
@@ -99,6 +103,14 @@ window.installAtomCommand = (commandPath, done) ->
             else
               fs.chmod(commandPath, 0o755, commandPath)
 
+window.unloadConfigWindow = ->
+  return if not configView
+  atom.setWindowState('configView', configView.serialize())
+  atom.saveWindowState()
+  configView.remove()
+  window.configView = null
+  $(window).off('focus blur before')
+
 window.handleWindowEvents = ->
   $(window).command 'window:toggle-full-screen', => atom.toggleFullScreen()
   $(window).on 'focus', -> $("body").removeClass('is-blurred')
@@ -143,7 +155,8 @@ window.deserializeEditorWindow = ->
 
 window.deserializeConfigWindow = ->
   ConfigView = require 'config-view'
-  window.configView = new ConfigView()
+  windowState = atom.getWindowState()
+  window.configView = deserialize(windowState.configView) ? new ConfigView()
   $(rootViewParentSelector).append(configView)
 
 window.stylesheetElementForId = (id) ->