diff --git a/e2e/playwright/snapshot-tests.spec.ts-snapshots/extrude-on-default-planes-should-be-stable-XY-1-Google-Chrome-linux.png b/e2e/playwright/snapshot-tests.spec.ts-snapshots/extrude-on-default-planes-should-be-stable-XY-1-Google-Chrome-linux.png
index 18b0f99dc..d2109c32c 100644
Binary files a/e2e/playwright/snapshot-tests.spec.ts-snapshots/extrude-on-default-planes-should-be-stable-XY-1-Google-Chrome-linux.png and b/e2e/playwright/snapshot-tests.spec.ts-snapshots/extrude-on-default-planes-should-be-stable-XY-1-Google-Chrome-linux.png differ
diff --git a/src/components/FileMachineProvider.tsx b/src/components/FileMachineProvider.tsx
index 59c5ba45c..b72027df7 100644
--- a/src/components/FileMachineProvider.tsx
+++ b/src/components/FileMachineProvider.tsx
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import { settingsActor, useSettings } from 'machines/appMachine'
 import { createRouteCommands } from 'lib/commandBarConfigs/routeCommandConfig'
 import { useToken } from 'machines/appMachine'
 import { createNamedViewsCommand } from 'lib/commandBarConfigs/namedViewsConfig'
+import { reportRejection } from 'lib/trap'
 
 type MachineContext<T extends AnyStateMachine> = {
   state: StateFrom<T>
@@ -60,6 +61,20 @@ export const FileMachineProvider = ({
     []
   )
 
+  // Write code mirror content to disk when the page is trying to reroute
+  // Our logic for codeManager.writeToFile has an artificial 1000ms timeout which
+  // won't run quickly enough so users can make an edit, exit the page and lose their
+  // progress within that 1000ms window.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const preventUnload = (event: BeforeUnloadEvent) => {
+      codeManager.writeToFileNoTimeout().catch(reportRejection)
+    }
+    window.addEventListener('beforeunload', preventUnload)
+    return () => {
+      window.removeEventListener('beforeunload', preventUnload)
+    }
+  }, [])
+
   useEffect(() => {
     // TODO: Engine feature is not deployed
     if (DEV) {
diff --git a/src/lang/codeManager.ts b/src/lang/codeManager.ts
index 4a36dac80..8dda76756 100644
--- a/src/lang/codeManager.ts
+++ b/src/lang/codeManager.ts
@@ -164,6 +164,32 @@ export default class CodeManager {
     }
   }
 
+  // When we unload the page via changing routes we want to instantly write to disk to save their progress
+  // There is a race condition in the system. writeToFile takes 1000ms to run, if they make an edit and leave within the 1000ms
+  // window they won't get their content saved. Use this to always save their file before rerouting
+  async writeToFileNoTimeout() {
+    if (isDesktop()) {
+      return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+        if (!this._currentFilePath)
+          return reject(new Error('currentFilePath not set'))
+
+        // Wait one event loop to give a chance for params to be set
+        // Save the file to disk
+        window.electron
+          .writeFile(this._currentFilePath, this.code ?? '')
+          .then(resolve)
+          .catch((err: Error) => {
+            // TODO: add tracing per GH issue #254 (https://github.com/KittyCAD/modeling-app/issues/254)
+            console.error('error saving file', err)
+            toast.error('Error saving file, please check file permissions')
+            reject(err)
+          })
+      })
+    } else {
+      safeLSSetItem(PERSIST_CODE_KEY, this.code)
+    }
+  }
+
   async updateEditorWithAstAndWriteToFile(ast: Program) {
     // We clear the AST when there it cannot be parsed, so if we are trying to write an empty AST, its
     // probably because of an earlier error. That's a bad state to be in and it's not going to be