diff --git a/src/plugins/saved_objects/public/saved_object/helpers/check_for_duplicate_title.ts b/src/plugins/saved_objects/public/saved_object/helpers/check_for_duplicate_title.ts
index 8895336aa9ffa1..0313b7978c5ab4 100644
--- a/src/plugins/saved_objects/public/saved_object/helpers/check_for_duplicate_title.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/saved_objects/public/saved_object/helpers/check_for_duplicate_title.ts
@@ -31,10 +31,13 @@ import { displayDuplicateTitleConfirmModal } from './display_duplicate_title_con
  * @param services
  */
 export async function checkForDuplicateTitle(
-  savedObject: SavedObject,
+  savedObject: Pick<
+    SavedObject,
+    'id' | 'title' | 'getDisplayName' | 'lastSavedTitle' | 'copyOnSave' | 'getEsType'
+  >,
   isTitleDuplicateConfirmed: boolean,
   onTitleDuplicate: (() => void) | undefined,
-  services: SavedObjectKibanaServices
+  services: Pick<SavedObjectKibanaServices, 'savedObjectsClient' | 'overlays'>
 ): Promise<true> {
   const { savedObjectsClient, overlays } = services;
   // Don't check for duplicates if user has already confirmed save with duplicate title
diff --git a/src/plugins/saved_objects/public/saved_object/helpers/display_duplicate_title_confirm_modal.ts b/src/plugins/saved_objects/public/saved_object/helpers/display_duplicate_title_confirm_modal.ts
index 0b02977830fda1..1b9e6fb6e996fd 100644
--- a/src/plugins/saved_objects/public/saved_object/helpers/display_duplicate_title_confirm_modal.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/saved_objects/public/saved_object/helpers/display_duplicate_title_confirm_modal.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import { confirmModalPromise } from './confirm_modal_promise';
 import { SavedObject } from '../../types';
 
 export function displayDuplicateTitleConfirmModal(
-  savedObject: SavedObject,
+  savedObject: Pick<SavedObject, 'title' | 'getDisplayName'>,
   overlays: OverlayStart
 ): Promise<true> {
   const confirmMessage = i18n.translate(
diff --git a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/vis_type_alias_registry.ts b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/vis_type_alias_registry.ts
index 6f18cbc5026ecf..73e3360004e5a7 100644
--- a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/vis_type_alias_registry.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/vis_type_alias_registry.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ export interface VisualizationListItem {
   stage: 'experimental' | 'beta' | 'production';
   savedObjectType: string;
   title: string;
+  description?: string;
   typeTitle: string;
 }
 
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/app_plugin/app.test.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/app_plugin/app.test.tsx
index 811f42590f07b9..53498a8e5afa1e 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/app_plugin/app.test.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/app_plugin/app.test.tsx
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
  */
 
 import React from 'react';
+import { Observable } from 'rxjs';
 import { ReactWrapper } from 'enzyme';
 import { act } from 'react-dom/test-utils';
 import { App } from './app';
@@ -13,8 +14,11 @@ import { AppMountParameters } from 'kibana/public';
 import { Storage } from '../../../../../src/plugins/kibana_utils/public';
 import { Document, SavedObjectStore } from '../persistence';
 import { mount } from 'enzyme';
+import {
+  SavedObjectSaveModal,
+  checkForDuplicateTitle,
+} from '../../../../../src/plugins/saved_objects/public';
 import { createMemoryHistory, History } from 'history';
-import { SavedObjectSaveModal } from '../../../../../src/plugins/saved_objects/public';
 import {
   esFilters,
   FilterManager,
@@ -28,10 +32,20 @@ const dataStartMock = dataPluginMock.createStartContract();
 import { navigationPluginMock } from '../../../../../src/plugins/navigation/public/mocks';
 import { TopNavMenuData } from '../../../../../src/plugins/navigation/public';
 import { coreMock } from 'src/core/public/mocks';
-import { Observable } from 'rxjs';
 
 jest.mock('../persistence');
 jest.mock('src/core/public');
+jest.mock('../../../../../src/plugins/saved_objects/public', () => {
+  // eslint-disable-next-line no-shadow
+  const { SavedObjectSaveModal, SavedObjectSaveModalOrigin } = jest.requireActual(
+    '../../../../../src/plugins/saved_objects/public'
+  );
+  return {
+    SavedObjectSaveModal,
+    SavedObjectSaveModalOrigin,
+    checkForDuplicateTitle: jest.fn(),
+  };
+});
 
 const navigationStartMock = navigationPluginMock.createStartContract();
 
@@ -644,6 +658,46 @@ describe('Lens App', () => {
         });
       });
 
+      it('checks for duplicate title before saving', async () => {
+        const args = defaultArgs;
+        args.editorFrame = frame;
+        (args.docStorage.save as jest.Mock).mockReturnValue(Promise.resolve({ id: '123' }));
+
+        instance = mount(<App {...args} />);
+
+        const onChange = frame.mount.mock.calls[0][1].onChange;
+        await act(async () =>
+          onChange({
+            filterableIndexPatterns: [],
+            doc: ({ id: '123', expression: 'valid expression' } as unknown) as Document,
+          })
+        );
+        instance.update();
+        await act(async () => {
+          getButton(instance).run(instance.getDOMNode());
+        });
+        instance.update();
+
+        const onTitleDuplicate = jest.fn();
+
+        await act(async () => {
+          instance.find(SavedObjectSaveModal).prop('onSave')({
+            onTitleDuplicate,
+            isTitleDuplicateConfirmed: false,
+            newCopyOnSave: false,
+            newDescription: '',
+            newTitle: 'test',
+          });
+        });
+
+        expect(checkForDuplicateTitle).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          expect.objectContaining({ id: '123' }),
+          false,
+          onTitleDuplicate,
+          expect.anything()
+        );
+      });
+
       it('does not show the copy button on first save', async () => {
         const args = defaultArgs;
         args.editorFrame = frame;
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/app_plugin/app.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/app_plugin/app.tsx
index f88c1c5aca31d0..fc8d5dd9eb3951 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/app_plugin/app.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/app_plugin/app.tsx
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import { KibanaContextProvider } from '../../../../../src/plugins/kibana_react/p
 import {
   SavedObjectSaveModalOrigin,
   OnSaveProps,
+  checkForDuplicateTitle,
 } from '../../../../../src/plugins/saved_objects/public';
 import { Document, SavedObjectStore } from '../persistence';
 import { EditorFrameInstance } from '../types';
@@ -252,9 +253,11 @@ export function App({
     // state.persistedDoc,
   ]);
 
-  const runSave = (
+  const runSave = async (
     saveProps: Omit<OnSaveProps, 'onTitleDuplicate' | 'newDescription'> & {
       returnToOrigin: boolean;
+      onTitleDuplicate?: OnSaveProps['onTitleDuplicate'];
+      newDescription?: string;
     }
   ) => {
     if (!lastKnownDoc) {
@@ -276,10 +279,30 @@ export function App({
 
     const doc = {
       ...lastDocWithoutPinned,
+      description: saveProps.newDescription,
       id: saveProps.newCopyOnSave ? undefined : lastKnownDoc.id,
       title: saveProps.newTitle,
     };
 
+    await checkForDuplicateTitle(
+      {
+        ...doc,
+        copyOnSave: saveProps.newCopyOnSave,
+        lastSavedTitle: lastKnownDoc?.title,
+        getEsType: () => 'lens',
+        getDisplayName: () =>
+          i18n.translate('xpack.lens.app.saveModalType', {
+            defaultMessage: 'Lens visualization',
+          }),
+      },
+      saveProps.isTitleDuplicateConfirmed,
+      saveProps.onTitleDuplicate,
+      {
+        savedObjectsClient: core.savedObjects.client,
+        overlays: core.overlays,
+      }
+    );
+
     const newlyCreated: boolean = saveProps.newCopyOnSave || !lastKnownDoc?.id;
     docStorage
       .save(doc)
@@ -492,6 +515,7 @@ export function App({
             documentInfo={{
               id: lastKnownDoc.id,
               title: lastKnownDoc.title || '',
+              description: lastKnownDoc.description || '',
             }}
             objectType={i18n.translate('xpack.lens.app.saveModalType', {
               defaultMessage: 'Lens visualization',
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/editor_frame_service/editor_frame/save.ts b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/editor_frame_service/editor_frame/save.ts
index b292299c569af8..d62f3dbcf029a8 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/editor_frame_service/editor_frame/save.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/editor_frame_service/editor_frame/save.ts
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ export function getSavedObjectFormat({
   return {
     id: state.persistedId,
     title: state.title,
+    description: state.description,
     type: 'lens',
     visualizationType: state.visualization.activeId,
     expression: expression ? toExpression(expression) : '',
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/editor_frame_service/editor_frame/state_management.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/editor_frame_service/editor_frame/state_management.test.ts
index 71aabaae3c65c5..e1151b92aac511 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/editor_frame_service/editor_frame/state_management.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/editor_frame_service/editor_frame/state_management.test.ts
@@ -388,6 +388,7 @@ describe('editor_frame state management', () => {
               filters: [],
             },
             title: 'heyo!',
+            description: 'My lens',
             type: 'lens',
             visualizationType: 'line',
           },
@@ -406,6 +407,7 @@ describe('editor_frame state management', () => {
         },
         persistedId: 'b',
         title: 'heyo!',
+        description: 'My lens',
         visualization: {
           activeId: 'line',
           state: {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/editor_frame_service/editor_frame/state_management.ts b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/editor_frame_service/editor_frame/state_management.ts
index bb6daf5641a64a..09674ebf2ade2c 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/editor_frame_service/editor_frame/state_management.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/editor_frame_service/editor_frame/state_management.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ export interface PreviewState {
 export interface EditorFrameState extends PreviewState {
   persistedId?: string;
   title: string;
+  description?: string;
   stagedPreview?: PreviewState;
   activeDatasourceId: string | null;
 }
@@ -157,6 +158,7 @@ export const reducer = (state: EditorFrameState, action: Action): EditorFrameSta
         ...state,
         persistedId: action.doc.id,
         title: action.doc.title,
+        description: action.doc.description,
         datasourceStates: Object.entries(action.doc.state.datasourceStates).reduce(
           (stateMap, [datasourceId, datasourceState]) => ({
             ...stateMap,
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/persistence/saved_object_store.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/persistence/saved_object_store.test.ts
index 515d008d825864..f7caac65493892 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/persistence/saved_object_store.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/persistence/saved_object_store.test.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ describe('LensStore', () => {
       const { client, store } = testStore('FOO');
       const doc = await store.save({
         title: 'Hello',
+        description: 'My doc',
         visualizationType: 'bar',
         expression: '',
         state: {
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ describe('LensStore', () => {
       expect(doc).toEqual({
         id: 'FOO',
         title: 'Hello',
+        description: 'My doc',
         visualizationType: 'bar',
         expression: '',
         state: {
@@ -61,6 +63,7 @@ describe('LensStore', () => {
       expect(client.create).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
       expect(client.create).toHaveBeenCalledWith('lens', {
         title: 'Hello',
+        description: 'My doc',
         visualizationType: 'bar',
         expression: '',
         state: {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/persistence/saved_object_store.ts b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/persistence/saved_object_store.ts
index 015f4b9b825f42..7632be3d820465 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/persistence/saved_object_store.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/persistence/saved_object_store.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ export interface Document {
   type?: string;
   visualizationType: string | null;
   title: string;
+  description?: string;
   expression: string | null;
   state: {
     datasourceMetaData: {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/vis_type_alias.ts b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/vis_type_alias.ts
index a58288191325cb..3bb2dbbae1f9c7 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/vis_type_alias.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/lens/public/vis_type_alias.ts
@@ -34,10 +34,11 @@ export const getLensAliasConfig = (): VisTypeAlias => ({
       searchFields: ['title^3'],
       toListItem(savedObject) {
         const { id, type, attributes } = savedObject;
-        const { title } = attributes as { title: string };
+        const { title, description } = attributes as { title: string; description?: string };
         return {
           id,
           title,
+          description,
           editUrl: getEditPath(id),
           editApp: 'lens',
           icon: 'lensApp',
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/lens/server/saved_objects.ts b/x-pack/plugins/lens/server/saved_objects.ts
index 1f7d22e2b5642a..a16cc3dab7967a 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/lens/server/saved_objects.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/lens/server/saved_objects.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ export function setupSavedObjects(core: CoreSetup) {
         title: {
           type: 'text',
         },
+        description: {
+          type: 'text',
+        },
         visualizationType: {
           type: 'keyword',
         },