diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/watcher/__jest__/client_integration/watch_create_json.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/watcher/__jest__/client_integration/watch_create_json.test.ts
index 2096c0dd61bd8..47de4548898cf 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/watcher/__jest__/client_integration/watch_create_json.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/watcher/__jest__/client_integration/watch_create_json.test.ts
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ describe('<JsonWatchEdit /> create route', () => {
               name: watch.name,
               type: watch.type,
               isNew: true,
+              isActive: true,
               actions: [
                 {
                   id: DEFAULT_LOGGING_ACTION_ID,
@@ -185,6 +186,7 @@ describe('<JsonWatchEdit /> create route', () => {
             id,
             type,
             isNew: true,
+            isActive: true,
             actions: [],
             watch: defaultWatchJson,
           };
@@ -246,6 +248,7 @@ describe('<JsonWatchEdit /> create route', () => {
             id,
             type,
             isNew: true,
+            isActive: true,
             actions: [],
             watch: defaultWatchJson,
           };
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/watcher/__jest__/client_integration/watch_create_threshold.test.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/watcher/__jest__/client_integration/watch_create_threshold.test.tsx
index 943233d3c14ed..e5bdcbbfb82cf 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/watcher/__jest__/client_integration/watch_create_threshold.test.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/watcher/__jest__/client_integration/watch_create_threshold.test.tsx
@@ -244,6 +244,7 @@ describe('<ThresholdWatchEdit /> create route', () => {
             name: WATCH_NAME,
             type: WATCH_TYPES.THRESHOLD,
             isNew: true,
+            isActive: true,
             actions: [
               {
                 id: 'logging_1',
@@ -314,6 +315,7 @@ describe('<ThresholdWatchEdit /> create route', () => {
             name: WATCH_NAME,
             type: WATCH_TYPES.THRESHOLD,
             isNew: true,
+            isActive: true,
             actions: [
               {
                 id: 'index_1',
@@ -376,6 +378,7 @@ describe('<ThresholdWatchEdit /> create route', () => {
             name: WATCH_NAME,
             type: WATCH_TYPES.THRESHOLD,
             isNew: true,
+            isActive: true,
             actions: [
               {
                 id: 'slack_1',
@@ -448,6 +451,7 @@ describe('<ThresholdWatchEdit /> create route', () => {
             name: WATCH_NAME,
             type: WATCH_TYPES.THRESHOLD,
             isNew: true,
+            isActive: true,
             actions: [
               {
                 id: 'email_1',
@@ -540,6 +544,7 @@ describe('<ThresholdWatchEdit /> create route', () => {
             name: WATCH_NAME,
             type: WATCH_TYPES.THRESHOLD,
             isNew: true,
+            isActive: true,
             actions: [
               {
                 id: 'webhook_1',
@@ -629,6 +634,7 @@ describe('<ThresholdWatchEdit /> create route', () => {
             name: WATCH_NAME,
             type: WATCH_TYPES.THRESHOLD,
             isNew: true,
+            isActive: true,
             actions: [
               {
                 id: 'jira_1',
@@ -709,6 +715,7 @@ describe('<ThresholdWatchEdit /> create route', () => {
             name: WATCH_NAME,
             type: WATCH_TYPES.THRESHOLD,
             isNew: true,
+            isActive: true,
             actions: [
               {
                 id: 'pagerduty_1',
@@ -772,6 +779,7 @@ describe('<ThresholdWatchEdit /> create route', () => {
             name: WATCH_NAME,
             type: WATCH_TYPES.THRESHOLD,
             isNew: true,
+            isActive: true,
             actions: [],
             index: MATCH_INDICES,
             timeField: WATCH_TIME_FIELD,
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/watcher/__jest__/client_integration/watch_edit.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/watcher/__jest__/client_integration/watch_edit.test.ts
index 51285a5786b00..ced06562b1d20 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/watcher/__jest__/client_integration/watch_edit.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/watcher/__jest__/client_integration/watch_edit.test.ts
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ describe('<WatchEdit />', () => {
             name: EDITED_WATCH_NAME,
             type: watch.type,
             isNew: false,
+            isActive: true,
             actions: [
               {
                 id: DEFAULT_LOGGING_ACTION_ID,
@@ -191,6 +192,7 @@ describe('<WatchEdit />', () => {
             name: EDITED_WATCH_NAME,
             type,
             isNew: false,
+            isActive: true,
             actions: [],
             timeField,
             triggerIntervalSize,
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/watcher/public/application/models/watch/base_watch.js b/x-pack/plugins/watcher/public/application/models/watch/base_watch.js
index 3fe4fb006d241..af2e45b35501e 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/watcher/public/application/models/watch/base_watch.js
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/watcher/public/application/models/watch/base_watch.js
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ export class BaseWatch {
     this.isSystemWatch = Boolean(get(props, 'isSystemWatch'));
     this.watchStatus = WatchStatus.fromUpstreamJson(get(props, 'watchStatus'));
     this.watchErrors = WatchErrors.fromUpstreamJson(get(props, 'watchErrors'));
+    this.isActive = this.watchStatus.isActive ?? true;
 
     const actions = get(props, 'actions', []);
     this.actions = actions.map(Action.fromUpstreamJson);
@@ -115,6 +116,7 @@ export class BaseWatch {
       name: this.name,
       type: this.type,
       isNew: this.isNew,
+      isActive: this.isActive,
       actions: map(this.actions, action => action.upstreamJson),
     };
   }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/watcher/server/lib/elasticsearch_js_plugin.ts b/x-pack/plugins/watcher/server/lib/elasticsearch_js_plugin.ts
index c592385f72a8a..1a1993aacc1fb 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/watcher/server/lib/elasticsearch_js_plugin.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/watcher/server/lib/elasticsearch_js_plugin.ts
@@ -175,6 +175,10 @@ export const elasticsearchJsPlugin = (Client: any, config: any, components: any)
         name: 'master_timeout',
         type: 'duration',
       },
+      active: {
+        name: 'active',
+        type: 'boolean',
+      },
     },
     url: {
       fmt: '/_watcher/watch/<%=id%>',
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/watcher/server/routes/api/watch/register_save_route.ts b/x-pack/plugins/watcher/server/routes/api/watch/register_save_route.ts
index 61d167bb9bbcd..10ee0c4857862 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/watcher/server/routes/api/watch/register_save_route.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/watcher/server/routes/api/watch/register_save_route.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
  */
 
 import { schema } from '@kbn/config-schema';
-import { IScopedClusterClient } from 'kibana/server';
 import { i18n } from '@kbn/i18n';
 import { WATCH_TYPES } from '../../../../common/constants';
 import { serializeJsonWatch, serializeThresholdWatch } from '../../../../common/lib/serialization';
@@ -21,23 +20,11 @@ const bodySchema = schema.object(
   {
     type: schema.string(),
     isNew: schema.boolean(),
+    isActive: schema.boolean(),
   },
   { unknowns: 'allow' }
 );
 
-function fetchWatch(dataClient: IScopedClusterClient, watchId: string) {
-  return dataClient.callAsCurrentUser('watcher.getWatch', {
-    id: watchId,
-  });
-}
-
-function saveWatch(dataClient: IScopedClusterClient, id: string, body: any) {
-  return dataClient.callAsCurrentUser('watcher.putWatch', {
-    id,
-    body,
-  });
-}
-
 export function registerSaveRoute(deps: RouteDependencies) {
   deps.router.put(
     {
@@ -49,12 +36,16 @@ export function registerSaveRoute(deps: RouteDependencies) {
     },
     licensePreRoutingFactory(deps, async (ctx, request, response) => {
       const { id } = request.params;
-      const { type, isNew, ...watchConfig } = request.body;
+      const { type, isNew, isActive, ...watchConfig } = request.body;
+
+      const dataClient = ctx.watcher!.client;
 
       // For new watches, verify watch with the same ID doesn't already exist
       if (isNew) {
         try {
-          const existingWatch = await fetchWatch(ctx.watcher!.client, id);
+          const existingWatch = await dataClient.callAsCurrentUser('watcher.getWatch', {
+            id,
+          });
           if (existingWatch.found) {
             return response.conflict({
               body: {
@@ -92,7 +83,11 @@ export function registerSaveRoute(deps: RouteDependencies) {
       try {
         // Create new watch
         return response.ok({
-          body: await saveWatch(ctx.watcher!.client, id, serializedWatch),
+          body: await dataClient.callAsCurrentUser('watcher.putWatch', {
+            id,
+            active: isActive,
+            body: serializedWatch,
+          }),
         });
       } catch (e) {
         // Case: Error from Elasticsearch JS client