diff --git a/src/main/shell-session/shell-session.ts b/src/main/shell-session/shell-session.ts
index 1d6a7b56ff..6c37c4ced3 100644
--- a/src/main/shell-session/shell-session.ts
+++ b/src/main/shell-session/shell-session.ts
@@ -191,6 +191,7 @@ export abstract class ShellSession {
     this.running = true;
     shellProcess.onData(data => this.send({ type: TerminalChannels.STDOUT, data }));
     shellProcess.onExit(({ exitCode }) => {
+      logger.info(`[SHELL-SESSION]: shell has exited for ${this.terminalId} closed with code=${exitCode}`);
       this.running = false;
 
       if (exitCode > 0) {
@@ -204,7 +205,7 @@ export abstract class ShellSession {
     this.websocket
       .on("message", (data: string | Uint8Array) => {
         if (!this.running) {
-          return;
+          return void logger.debug(`[SHELL-SESSION]: received message from ${this.terminalId}, but shellProcess isn't running`);
         }
 
         if (typeof data === "string") {
@@ -230,15 +231,24 @@ export abstract class ShellSession {
         }
       })
       .on("close", code => {
-        logger.debug(`[SHELL-SESSION]: websocket for ${this.terminalId} closed with code=${code}`);
+        logger.info(`[SHELL-SESSION]: websocket for ${this.terminalId} closed with code=${code}`);
 
-        if (this.running && code !== WebSocketCloseEvent.AbnormalClosure && code !== WebSocketCloseEvent.GoingAway) {
+        const stopShellSession = this.running
+          && !(
+            code === WebSocketCloseEvent.AbnormalClosure
+            || (
+              code === WebSocketCloseEvent.GoingAway
+              && !this.cluster.disconnected
+            )
+          );
+
+        if (stopShellSession) {
           try {
             logger.info(`[SHELL-SESSION]: Killing shell process for ${this.terminalId}`);
             process.kill(shellProcess.pid);
             ShellSession.processes.delete(this.terminalId);
-          } catch (e) {
-          }
+          } catch {}
+
           this.running = false;
         }
       });
diff --git a/src/renderer/api/terminal-api.ts b/src/renderer/api/terminal-api.ts
index 62ab718b57..8cca03538b 100644
--- a/src/renderer/api/terminal-api.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/api/terminal-api.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
  * CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
  */
 
-import { boundMethod, getHostedClusterId } from "../utils";
+import { getHostedClusterId } from "../utils";
 import { WebSocketApi, WebSocketEvents } from "./websocket-api";
 import isEqual from "lodash/isEqual";
 import url from "url";
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import { makeObservable, observable } from "mobx";
 import { ipcRenderer } from "electron";
 import logger from "../../common/logger";
 import { deserialize, serialize } from "v8";
+import { once } from "lodash";
 
 export enum TerminalChannels {
   STDIN = "stdin",
@@ -119,7 +120,26 @@ export class TerminalApi extends WebSocketApi<TerminalEvents> {
       slashes: true,
     });
 
-    this.prependListener("data", this._onReady);
+    const onReady = once((data?: string) => {
+      this.isReady = true;
+      this.emit("ready");
+      this.removeListener("data", onReady);
+      this.removeListener("connected", onReady);
+      this.flush();
+
+      // data is undefined if the event that was handled is "connected"
+      if (data === undefined) {
+        /**
+         * Output the last line, the makes sure that the terminal isn't completely
+         * empty when the user refreshes.
+         */
+        this.emit("data", window.localStorage.getItem(`${this.query.id}:last-data`));
+      }
+    });
+
+    this.prependListener("data", onReady);
+    this.prependListener("connected", onReady);
+
     super.connect(socketUrl);
     this.socket.binaryType = "arraybuffer";
   }
@@ -132,14 +152,6 @@ export class TerminalApi extends WebSocketApi<TerminalEvents> {
     setTimeout(() => super.destroy(), 2000);
   }
 
-  @boundMethod
-  protected _onReady() {
-    this.isReady = true;
-    this.emit("ready");
-    this.removeListener("data", this._onReady);
-    this.flush();
-  }
-
   reconnect() {
     super.reconnect();
   }
@@ -166,6 +178,11 @@ export class TerminalApi extends WebSocketApi<TerminalEvents> {
 
       switch (message.type) {
         case TerminalChannels.STDOUT:
+          /**
+           * save the last data for reconnections. User localStorage because we
+           * don't want this data to survive if the app is closed
+           */
+          window.localStorage.setItem(`${this.query.id}:last-data`, message.data);
           super._onMessage({ data: message.data, ...evt });
           break;
         case TerminalChannels.CONNECTED: