diff --git a/packages/kbn-unified-doc-viewer/src/components/doc_viewer/__snapshots__/doc_viewer.test.tsx.snap b/packages/kbn-unified-doc-viewer/src/components/doc_viewer/__snapshots__/doc_viewer.test.tsx.snap
index 3bbf6a09a5019..582f07fbeb950 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-unified-doc-viewer/src/components/doc_viewer/__snapshots__/doc_viewer.test.tsx.snap
+++ b/packages/kbn-unified-doc-viewer/src/components/doc_viewer/__snapshots__/doc_viewer.test.tsx.snap
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ exports[`<DocViewer /> Render <DocViewer/> with 3 different tabs 1`] = `
 >
   <EuiTabbedContent
     autoFocus="initial"
+    onTabClick={[Function]}
     size="s"
     tabs={
       Array [
diff --git a/packages/kbn-unified-doc-viewer/src/components/doc_viewer/doc_viewer.test.tsx b/packages/kbn-unified-doc-viewer/src/components/doc_viewer/doc_viewer.test.tsx
index f40b15b90571b..6b34ed1ef9cbb 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-unified-doc-viewer/src/components/doc_viewer/doc_viewer.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/kbn-unified-doc-viewer/src/components/doc_viewer/doc_viewer.test.tsx
@@ -8,11 +8,28 @@
 
 import React from 'react';
 import { mount, shallow } from 'enzyme';
-import { DocViewer } from './doc_viewer';
+import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
 import { findTestSubject } from '@elastic/eui/lib/test';
-import type { DocViewRenderProps } from '../../types';
 import { buildDataTableRecord } from '@kbn/discover-utils';
+import { DocViewer, INITIAL_TAB } from './doc_viewer';
+import type { DocViewRenderProps } from '../../types';
 import { DocViewsRegistry } from '../..';
+import { dataViewMock, esHitsMockWithSort } from '@kbn/discover-utils/src/__mocks__';
+
+const records = esHitsMockWithSort.map((hit) => buildDataTableRecord(hit, dataViewMock));
+
+const mockSetLocalStorage = jest.fn();
+const mockLocalStorageKey = INITIAL_TAB;
+let mockTestInitialLocalStorageValue: string | undefined;
+
+jest.mock('react-use/lib/useLocalStorage', () => {
+  return jest.fn((key: string, initialValue: number) => {
+    if (key !== mockLocalStorageKey) {
+      throw new Error(`Unexpected key: ${key}`);
+    }
+    return [mockTestInitialLocalStorageValue ?? initialValue, mockSetLocalStorage];
+  });
+});
 
 describe('<DocViewer />', () => {
   test('Render <DocViewer/> with 3 different tabs', () => {
@@ -59,4 +76,57 @@ describe('<DocViewer />', () => {
     const errorMsgComponent = findTestSubject(wrapper, 'docViewerError');
     expect(errorMsgComponent.text()).toMatch(new RegExp(`${errorMsg}`));
   });
+
+  test('should save active tab to local storage', () => {
+    const registry = new DocViewsRegistry();
+    registry.add({ id: 'test1', order: 10, title: 'Render function', render: jest.fn() });
+    registry.add({ id: 'test2', order: 20, title: 'Render function', render: jest.fn() });
+
+    render(<DocViewer docViews={registry.getAll()} hit={records[0]} dataView={dataViewMock} />);
+
+    expect(screen.getByTestId('docViewerTab-test1').getAttribute('aria-selected')).toBe('true');
+    expect(screen.getByTestId('docViewerTab-test2').getAttribute('aria-selected')).toBe('false');
+
+    screen.getByTestId('docViewerTab-test2').click();
+
+    expect(screen.getByTestId('docViewerTab-test1').getAttribute('aria-selected')).toBe('false');
+    expect(screen.getByTestId('docViewerTab-test2').getAttribute('aria-selected')).toBe('true');
+    expect(mockSetLocalStorage).toHaveBeenCalledWith('kbn_doc_viewer_tab_test2');
+
+    screen.getByTestId('docViewerTab-test1').click();
+
+    expect(screen.getByTestId('docViewerTab-test1').getAttribute('aria-selected')).toBe('true');
+    expect(screen.getByTestId('docViewerTab-test2').getAttribute('aria-selected')).toBe('false');
+    expect(mockSetLocalStorage).toHaveBeenCalledWith('kbn_doc_viewer_tab_test1');
+  });
+
+  test('should restore active tab from local storage', () => {
+    const registry = new DocViewsRegistry();
+    registry.add({ id: 'test1', order: 10, title: 'Render function', render: jest.fn() });
+    registry.add({ id: 'test2', order: 20, title: 'Render function', render: jest.fn() });
+
+    mockTestInitialLocalStorageValue = 'kbn_doc_viewer_tab_test2';
+
+    render(<DocViewer docViews={registry.getAll()} hit={records[0]} dataView={dataViewMock} />);
+
+    expect(screen.getByTestId('docViewerTab-test1').getAttribute('aria-selected')).toBe('false');
+    expect(screen.getByTestId('docViewerTab-test2').getAttribute('aria-selected')).toBe('true');
+
+    mockTestInitialLocalStorageValue = undefined;
+  });
+
+  test('should not restore a tab from local storage if unavailable', () => {
+    const registry = new DocViewsRegistry();
+    registry.add({ id: 'test1', order: 10, title: 'Render function', render: jest.fn() });
+    registry.add({ id: 'test2', order: 20, title: 'Render function', render: jest.fn() });
+
+    mockTestInitialLocalStorageValue = 'kbn_doc_viewer_tab_test3';
+
+    render(<DocViewer docViews={registry.getAll()} hit={records[0]} dataView={dataViewMock} />);
+
+    expect(screen.getByTestId('docViewerTab-test1').getAttribute('aria-selected')).toBe('true');
+    expect(screen.getByTestId('docViewerTab-test2').getAttribute('aria-selected')).toBe('false');
+
+    mockTestInitialLocalStorageValue = undefined;
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/kbn-unified-doc-viewer/src/components/doc_viewer/doc_viewer.tsx b/packages/kbn-unified-doc-viewer/src/components/doc_viewer/doc_viewer.tsx
index 74fbfcf0a6133..b139fae0b3f18 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-unified-doc-viewer/src/components/doc_viewer/doc_viewer.tsx
+++ b/packages/kbn-unified-doc-viewer/src/components/doc_viewer/doc_viewer.tsx
@@ -6,11 +6,14 @@
  * Side Public License, v 1.
  */
 
-import React from 'react';
-import { EuiTabbedContent } from '@elastic/eui';
+import React, { useCallback } from 'react';
+import { EuiTabbedContent, EuiTabbedContentTab } from '@elastic/eui';
+import useLocalStorage from 'react-use/lib/useLocalStorage';
 import { DocViewerTab } from './doc_viewer_tab';
 import type { DocView, DocViewRenderProps } from '../../types';
 
+export const INITIAL_TAB = 'unifiedDocViewer:initialTab';
+
 export interface DocViewerProps extends DocViewRenderProps {
   docViews: DocView[];
 }
@@ -26,7 +29,7 @@ export function DocViewer({ docViews, ...renderProps }: DocViewerProps) {
     .filter(({ enabled }) => enabled) // Filter out disabled doc views
     .map(({ id, title, render, component }: DocView) => {
       return {
-        id: `kbn_doc_viewer_tab_${id}`,
+        id: `kbn_doc_viewer_tab_${id}`, // `id` value is used to persist the selected tab in localStorage
         name: title,
         content: (
           <DocViewerTab
@@ -41,6 +44,16 @@ export function DocViewer({ docViews, ...renderProps }: DocViewerProps) {
       };
     });
 
+  const [initialTabId, setInitialTabId] = useLocalStorage<string>(INITIAL_TAB);
+  const initialSelectedTab = initialTabId ? tabs.find(({ id }) => id === initialTabId) : undefined;
+
+  const onTabClick = useCallback(
+    (tab: EuiTabbedContentTab) => {
+      setInitialTabId(tab.id);
+    },
+    [setInitialTabId]
+  );
+
   if (!tabs.length) {
     // There's a minimum of 2 tabs active in Discover.
     // This condition takes care of unit tests with 0 tabs.
@@ -49,7 +62,12 @@ export function DocViewer({ docViews, ...renderProps }: DocViewerProps) {
 
   return (
     <div className="kbnDocViewer" data-test-subj="kbnDocViewer">
-      <EuiTabbedContent size="s" tabs={tabs} />
+      <EuiTabbedContent
+        size="s"
+        tabs={tabs}
+        initialSelectedTab={initialSelectedTab}
+        onTabClick={onTabClick}
+      />
     </div>
   );
 }
diff --git a/src/plugins/unified_doc_viewer/public/components/doc_viewer_table/table.tsx b/src/plugins/unified_doc_viewer/public/components/doc_viewer_table/table.tsx
index b6183c496342e..283c00eabae27 100644
--- a/src/plugins/unified_doc_viewer/public/components/doc_viewer_table/table.tsx
+++ b/src/plugins/unified_doc_viewer/public/components/doc_viewer_table/table.tsx
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ const DEFAULT_PAGE_SIZE = 25;
 const PINNED_FIELDS_KEY = 'discover:pinnedFields';
 const PAGE_SIZE = 'discover:pageSize';
 const SEARCH_TEXT = 'discover:searchText';
-const HIDE_NULL_VALUES = 'discover:hideNullValues';
+const HIDE_NULL_VALUES = 'unifiedDocViewer:hideNullValues';
 
 const GRID_COLUMN_FIELD_NAME = 'name';
 const GRID_COLUMN_FIELD_VALUE = 'value';