diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js b/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js
index ee3b566a7f..83e717d55d 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ import Markdown from '../../../Markdown';
 import ComposerHistoryManager from '../../../ComposerHistoryManager';
 import {onSendMessageFailed} from './MessageComposerInputOld';
 
+import MessageComposerStore from '../../../stores/MessageComposerStore';
+
 const TYPING_USER_TIMEOUT = 10000, TYPING_SERVER_TIMEOUT = 30000;
 
 const ZWS_CODE = 8203;
@@ -130,7 +132,10 @@ export default class MessageComposerInput extends React.Component {
             isRichtextEnabled,
 
             // the currently displayed editor state (note: this is always what is modified on input)
-            editorState: null,
+            editorState: this.createEditorState(
+                isRichtextEnabled,
+                MessageComposerStore.getContentState(this.props.room.roomId),
+            ),
 
             // the original editor state, before we started tabbing through completions
             originalEditorState: null,
@@ -143,10 +148,6 @@ export default class MessageComposerInput extends React.Component {
             someCompletions: null,
         };
 
-        // bit of a hack, but we need to do this here since createEditorState needs isRichtextEnabled
-        /* eslint react/no-direct-mutation-state:0 */
-        this.state.editorState = this.createEditorState();
-
         this.client = MatrixClientPeg.get();
     }
 
@@ -339,6 +340,14 @@ export default class MessageComposerInput extends React.Component {
                 this.onFinishedTyping();
             }
 
+            // Record the editor state for this room so that it can be retrieved after
+            // switching to another room and back
+            dis.dispatch({
+                action: 'content_state',
+                room_id: this.props.room.roomId,
+                content_state: state.editorState.getCurrentContent(),
+            });
+
             if (!state.hasOwnProperty('originalEditorState')) {
                 state.originalEditorState = null;
             }
@@ -635,6 +644,10 @@ export default class MessageComposerInput extends React.Component {
     };
 
     onVerticalArrow = (e, up) => {
+        if (e.ctrlKey || e.shiftKey || e.altKey || e.metaKey) {
+            return;
+        }
+
         // Select history only if we are not currently auto-completing
         if (this.autocomplete.state.completionList.length === 0) {
             // Don't go back in history if we're in the middle of a multi-line message
diff --git a/src/stores/MessageComposerStore.js b/src/stores/MessageComposerStore.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6e13c8f825
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/stores/MessageComposerStore.js
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2017 Vector Creations Ltd
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+import dis from '../dispatcher';
+import {Store} from 'flux/utils';
+import {convertToRaw, convertFromRaw} from 'draft-js';
+
+const INITIAL_STATE = {
+    editorStateMap: localStorage.getItem('content_state') ?
+        JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('content_state')) : {},
+};
+
+/**
+ * A class for storing application state to do with the message composer. This is a simple
+ * flux store that listens for actions and updates its state accordingly, informing any
+ * listeners (views) of state changes.
+ */
+class MessageComposerStore extends Store {
+    constructor() {
+        super(dis);
+
+        // Initialise state
+        this._state = Object.assign({}, INITIAL_STATE);
+    }
+
+    _setState(newState) {
+        this._state = Object.assign(this._state, newState);
+        this.__emitChange();
+    }
+
+    __onDispatch(payload) {
+        switch (payload.action) {
+            case 'content_state':
+                this._contentState(payload);
+                break;
+            case 'on_logged_out':
+                this.reset();
+                break;
+        }
+    }
+
+    _contentState(payload) {
+        const editorStateMap = this._state.editorStateMap;
+        editorStateMap[payload.room_id] = convertToRaw(payload.content_state);
+        localStorage.setItem('content_state', JSON.stringify(editorStateMap));
+        console.info(localStorage.getItem('content_state'));
+        this._setState({
+            editorStateMap: editorStateMap,
+        });
+    }
+
+    getContentState(roomId) {
+        return this._state.editorStateMap[roomId] ?
+            convertFromRaw(this._state.editorStateMap[roomId]) : null;
+    }
+
+    reset() {
+        this._state = Object.assign({}, INITIAL_STATE);
+    }
+}
+
+let singletonMessageComposerStore = null;
+if (!singletonMessageComposerStore) {
+    singletonMessageComposerStore = new MessageComposerStore();
+}
+module.exports = singletonMessageComposerStore;