diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/embeddable_api/public/np_ready/public/lib/panel/panel_header/panel_header.tsx b/src/legacy/core_plugins/embeddable_api/public/np_ready/public/lib/panel/panel_header/panel_header.tsx
index 05d84142e6e34..4f3d7bb0b6763 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/embeddable_api/public/np_ready/public/lib/panel/panel_header/panel_header.tsx
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/embeddable_api/public/np_ready/public/lib/panel/panel_header/panel_header.tsx
@@ -17,12 +17,14 @@
  * under the License.
  */
 import { i18n } from '@kbn/i18n';
-import { EuiContextMenuPanelDescriptor, EuiBadge } from '@elastic/eui';
+import { EuiContextMenuPanelDescriptor, EuiBadge, EuiIcon, EuiToolTip } from '@elastic/eui';
 import classNames from 'classnames';
 import React from 'react';
 import { PanelOptionsMenu } from './panel_options_menu';
 import { Action } from '../../actions';
 import { IEmbeddable } from '../../embeddables';
+import { VisualizeEmbeddable } from '../../../../../../../kibana/public/visualize/embeddable/visualize_embeddable';
+import { VISUALIZE_EMBEDDABLE_TYPE } from '../../../../../../../kibana/public/visualize/embeddable/constants';
 
 export interface PanelHeaderProps {
   title?: string;
@@ -47,6 +49,12 @@ function renderBadges(badges: Action[], embeddable: IEmbeddable) {
   ));
 }
 
+function isVisualizeEmbeddable(
+  embeddable: IEmbeddable | VisualizeEmbeddable
+): embeddable is VisualizeEmbeddable {
+  return embeddable.type === VISUALIZE_EMBEDDABLE_TYPE;
+}
+
 export function PanelHeader({
   title,
   isViewMode,
@@ -75,6 +83,16 @@ export function PanelHeader({
     );
   }
 
+  let viewDescr = '';
+  if (isVisualizeEmbeddable(embeddable)) {
+    const vd = (embeddable as VisualizeEmbeddable).getVisualizationDescription();
+    if (vd) {
+      viewDescr = vd;
+    }
+  } else {
+    viewDescr = '';
+  }
+
   return (
     <div
       className={classes}
@@ -83,16 +101,25 @@ export function PanelHeader({
       <div
         data-test-subj="dashboardPanelTitle"
         className="embPanel__title embPanel__dragger"
-        title={title}
-        aria-label={i18n.translate('embeddableApi.panel.dashboardPanelAriaLabel', {
-          defaultMessage: 'Dashboard panel: {title}',
-          values: {
-            title,
-          },
-        })}
+        /* title={title} */ /* this is redundant - it shows a tooltip with the view title - and clutters the UI */ aria-label={i18n.translate(
+          'embeddableApi.panel.dashboardPanelAriaLabel',
+          {
+            defaultMessage: 'Dashboard panel: {title}',
+            values: {
+              title,
+            },
+          }
+        )}
       >
         {showTitle ? `${title} ` : ''}
         {renderBadges(badges, embeddable)}
+        {viewDescr !== '' ? (
+          <EuiToolTip content={viewDescr} delay="regular" position="right">
+            <EuiIcon type="iInCircle" />
+          </EuiToolTip>
+        ) : (
+          ''
+        )}
       </div>
 
       <PanelOptionsMenu
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/visualize/editor/editor.js b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/visualize/editor/editor.js
index 2abeb920f74a8..c7373e9328bc6 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/visualize/editor/editor.js
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/visualize/editor/editor.js
@@ -186,10 +186,11 @@ function VisEditor(
       }
     },
     run: async () => {
-      const onSave = ({ newTitle, newCopyOnSave, isTitleDuplicateConfirmed, onTitleDuplicate }) => {
+      const onSave = ({ newTitle, newCopyOnSave, isTitleDuplicateConfirmed, onTitleDuplicate, newDescription }) => {
         const currentTitle = savedVis.title;
         savedVis.title = newTitle;
         savedVis.copyOnSave = newCopyOnSave;
+        savedVis.description = newDescription;
         const saveOptions = {
           confirmOverwrite: false,
           isTitleDuplicateConfirmed,
@@ -219,6 +220,7 @@ function VisEditor(
           showCopyOnSave={savedVis.id ? true : false}
           objectType="visualization"
           confirmButtonLabel={confirmButtonLabel}
+          description={savedVis.description}
         />);
       showSaveModal(saveModal);
     }
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/visualize/embeddable/visualize_embeddable.ts b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/visualize/embeddable/visualize_embeddable.ts
index 6aa0a08d88cbb..48d5dc178ff31 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/visualize/embeddable/visualize_embeddable.ts
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/visualize/embeddable/visualize_embeddable.ts
@@ -119,6 +119,10 @@ export class VisualizeEmbeddable extends Embeddable<VisualizeInput, VisualizeOut
     });
   }
 
+  public getVisualizationDescription() {
+    return this.savedVisualization.description;
+  }
+
   public getInspectorAdapters() {
     if (!this.handler) {
       return undefined;
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/visualize/listing/visualize_listing_table.js b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/visualize/listing/visualize_listing_table.js
index a660528cf2477..39f86c8ce7642 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/visualize/listing/visualize_listing_table.js
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/visualize/listing/visualize_listing_table.js
@@ -108,6 +108,19 @@ class VisualizeListingTableUi extends Component {
           </span>
         )
       },
+      {
+        field: 'description',
+        name: intl.formatMessage({
+          id: 'kbn.dashboard.listing.table.descriptionColumnName',
+          defaultMessage: 'Description',
+        }),
+        sortable: true,
+        render: (field, record) =>  (
+          <span>
+            {record.description}
+          </span>
+        )
+      },
     ];
 
     return tableColumns;
diff --git a/src/plugins/kibana_react/public/saved_objects/__snapshots__/saved_object_save_modal.test.tsx.snap b/src/plugins/kibana_react/public/saved_objects/__snapshots__/saved_object_save_modal.test.tsx.snap
index af1fb5f647daf..92e3f752cb633 100644
--- a/src/plugins/kibana_react/public/saved_objects/__snapshots__/saved_object_save_modal.test.tsx.snap
+++ b/src/plugins/kibana_react/public/saved_objects/__snapshots__/saved_object_save_modal.test.tsx.snap
@@ -50,6 +50,27 @@ exports[`SavedObjectSaveModal should render matching snapshot 1`] = `
               value="Saved Object title"
             />
           </EuiFormRow>
+          <EuiFormRow
+            describedByIds={Array []}
+            fullWidth={true}
+            hasEmptyLabelSpace={false}
+            label={
+              <FormattedMessage
+                defaultMessage="Description"
+                id="kibana-react.savedObjects.saveModal.descriptionLabel"
+                values={Object {}}
+              />
+            }
+            labelType="label"
+          >
+            <EuiTextArea
+              data-test-subj="viewDescription"
+              fullWidth={false}
+              onChange={[Function]}
+              resize="vertical"
+              value=""
+            />
+          </EuiFormRow>
         </EuiForm>
       </EuiModalBody>
       <EuiModalFooter>
diff --git a/src/plugins/kibana_react/public/saved_objects/saved_object_save_modal.tsx b/src/plugins/kibana_react/public/saved_objects/saved_object_save_modal.tsx
index 4d4e429417085..3887f8998af09 100644
--- a/src/plugins/kibana_react/public/saved_objects/saved_object_save_modal.tsx
+++ b/src/plugins/kibana_react/public/saved_objects/saved_object_save_modal.tsx
@@ -31,17 +31,20 @@ import {
   EuiOverlayMask,
   EuiSpacer,
   EuiSwitch,
+  EuiTextArea,
 } from '@elastic/eui';
 import { FormattedMessage } from '@kbn/i18n/react';
 import React from 'react';
 import { EuiText } from '@elastic/eui';
 import { i18n } from '@kbn/i18n';
+import { VISUALIZE_EMBEDDABLE_TYPE } from '../../../../legacy/core_plugins/kibana/public/visualize/embeddable/constants';
 
 export interface OnSaveProps {
   newTitle: string;
   newCopyOnSave: boolean;
   isTitleDuplicateConfirmed: boolean;
   onTitleDuplicate: () => void;
+  newDescription: string;
 }
 
 interface Props {
@@ -61,6 +64,7 @@ interface State {
   isTitleDuplicateConfirmed: boolean;
   hasTitleDuplicate: boolean;
   isLoading: boolean;
+  visualizationDescription: string;
 }
 
 export class SavedObjectSaveModal extends React.Component<Props, State> {
@@ -70,6 +74,7 @@ export class SavedObjectSaveModal extends React.Component<Props, State> {
     isTitleDuplicateConfirmed: false,
     hasTitleDuplicate: false,
     isLoading: false,
+    visualizationDescription: this.props.description ? this.props.description : '',
   };
 
   public render() {
@@ -97,7 +102,7 @@ export class SavedObjectSaveModal extends React.Component<Props, State> {
               {this.renderDuplicateTitleCallout()}
 
               <EuiForm>
-                {this.props.description && (
+                {this.props.objectType !== VISUALIZE_EMBEDDABLE_TYPE && this.props.description && (
                   <EuiFormRow>
                     <EuiText color="subdued">{this.props.description}</EuiText>
                   </EuiFormRow>
@@ -125,6 +130,8 @@ export class SavedObjectSaveModal extends React.Component<Props, State> {
                   />
                 </EuiFormRow>
 
+                {this.renderViewDescription()}
+
                 {this.props.options}
               </EuiForm>
             </EuiModalBody>
@@ -145,6 +152,36 @@ export class SavedObjectSaveModal extends React.Component<Props, State> {
     );
   }
 
+  private renderViewDescription = () => {
+    if (this.props.objectType !== VISUALIZE_EMBEDDABLE_TYPE) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    return (
+      <EuiFormRow
+        fullWidth
+        label={
+          <FormattedMessage
+            id="kibana-react.savedObjects.saveModal.descriptionLabel"
+            defaultMessage="Description"
+          />
+        }
+      >
+        <EuiTextArea
+          data-test-subj="viewDescription"
+          value={this.state.visualizationDescription}
+          onChange={this.onDescriptionChange}
+        />
+      </EuiFormRow>
+    );
+  };
+
+  private onDescriptionChange = (event: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLTextAreaElement>) => {
+    this.setState({
+      visualizationDescription: event.target.value,
+    });
+  };
+
   private onTitleDuplicate = () => {
     this.setState({
       isLoading: false,
@@ -168,6 +205,7 @@ export class SavedObjectSaveModal extends React.Component<Props, State> {
       newCopyOnSave: this.state.copyOnSave,
       isTitleDuplicateConfirmed: this.state.isTitleDuplicateConfirmed,
       onTitleDuplicate: this.onTitleDuplicate,
+      newDescription: this.state.visualizationDescription,
     });
   };