diff --git a/pkg/services/ngalert/models/alert_rule.go b/pkg/services/ngalert/models/alert_rule.go
index fe9be233d03..bec7137c4b0 100644
--- a/pkg/services/ngalert/models/alert_rule.go
+++ b/pkg/services/ngalert/models/alert_rule.go
@@ -795,6 +795,13 @@ func PatchPartialAlertRule(existingRule *AlertRule, ruleToPatch *AlertRuleWithOp
 	if !ruleToPatch.HasPause {
 		ruleToPatch.IsPaused = existingRule.IsPaused
 	}
+
+	// Currently metadata contains only editor settings, so we can just copy it.
+	// If we add more fields to metadata, we might need to handle them separately,
+	// and/or merge or update their values.
+	if ruleToPatch.Metadata == (AlertRuleMetadata{}) {
+		ruleToPatch.Metadata = existingRule.Metadata
+	}
 }
 
 func ValidateRuleGroupInterval(intervalSeconds, baseIntervalSeconds int64) error {
diff --git a/pkg/services/ngalert/models/alert_rule_test.go b/pkg/services/ngalert/models/alert_rule_test.go
index 3cfbb07a392..652e0c23d41 100644
--- a/pkg/services/ngalert/models/alert_rule_test.go
+++ b/pkg/services/ngalert/models/alert_rule_test.go
@@ -253,10 +253,17 @@ func TestPatchPartialAlertRule(t *testing.T) {
 					r.IsPaused = true
 				},
 			},
+			{
+				name: "No metadata",
+				mutator: func(r *AlertRuleWithOptionals) {
+					r.Metadata = AlertRuleMetadata{}
+				},
+			},
 		}
 
 		gen := RuleGen.With(
-			RuleMuts.WithFor(time.Duration(rand.Int63n(1000) + 1)),
+			RuleMuts.WithFor(time.Duration(rand.Int63n(1000)+1)),
+			RuleMuts.WithEditorSettingsSimplifiedQueryAndExpressionsSection(true),
 		)
 
 		for _, testCase := range testCases {
diff --git a/pkg/services/ngalert/provisioning/alert_rules.go b/pkg/services/ngalert/provisioning/alert_rules.go
index 47a481b6efa..ee56a6e134b 100644
--- a/pkg/services/ngalert/provisioning/alert_rules.go
+++ b/pkg/services/ngalert/provisioning/alert_rules.go
@@ -598,6 +598,14 @@ func (service *AlertRuleService) UpdateAlertRule(ctx context.Context, user ident
 	rule.Updated = time.Now()
 	rule.ID = storedRule.ID
 	rule.IntervalSeconds = storedRule.IntervalSeconds
+
+	// Currently metadata contains only editor settings, so we can just copy it.
+	// If we add more fields to metadata, we might need to handle them separately,
+	// and/or merge or update their values.
+	if rule.Metadata == (models.AlertRuleMetadata{}) {
+		rule.Metadata = storedRule.Metadata
+	}
+
 	err = rule.SetDashboardAndPanelFromAnnotations()
 	if err != nil {
 		return models.AlertRule{}, err
diff --git a/pkg/services/ngalert/provisioning/alert_rules_test.go b/pkg/services/ngalert/provisioning/alert_rules_test.go
index 5728b976230..ed9bf7e3514 100644
--- a/pkg/services/ngalert/provisioning/alert_rules_test.go
+++ b/pkg/services/ngalert/provisioning/alert_rules_test.go
@@ -183,6 +183,74 @@ func TestAlertRuleService(t *testing.T) {
 		require.Equal(t, int64(2), readGroup.Rules[0].Version)
 	})
 
+	t.Run("updating a group should not override its rules editor settings", func(t *testing.T) {
+		namespaceUID := "my-namespace"
+		groupTitle := "test-group-123"
+
+		// create the rule group via the rule store, to persist the editor settings
+		rule := createTestRule(util.GenerateShortUID(), groupTitle, orgID, namespaceUID)
+		ruleMetadata := models.AlertRuleMetadata{
+			EditorSettings: models.EditorSettings{
+				SimplifiedQueryAndExpressionsSection: true,
+			},
+		}
+		rule.Metadata = ruleMetadata
+		r, err := ruleService.ruleStore.InsertAlertRules(context.Background(), []models.AlertRule{rule})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Len(t, r, 1)
+
+		// Set the UID for the rule to update it
+		rule.UID = r[0].UID
+		// clear the metadata to check that the existing metadata is not overridden
+		rule.Metadata = models.AlertRuleMetadata{}
+
+		// Now update the rule group with the rule to update its metadata
+		group := models.AlertRuleGroup{
+			Title:     groupTitle,
+			Interval:  60,
+			FolderUID: namespaceUID,
+			Rules:     []models.AlertRule{rule},
+		}
+
+		err = ruleService.ReplaceRuleGroup(context.Background(), u, group, models.ProvenanceAPI)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		readGroup, err := ruleService.GetRuleGroup(context.Background(), u, namespaceUID, groupTitle)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.NotEmpty(t, readGroup.Rules)
+		require.Len(t, readGroup.Rules, 1)
+
+		// check that the metadata is still there
+		require.Equal(t, ruleMetadata, readGroup.Rules[0].Metadata)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("updating a rule should not override its editor settings", func(t *testing.T) {
+		rule := createTestRule(util.GenerateShortUID(), "my-group", orgID, "my-folder")
+		ruleMetadata := models.AlertRuleMetadata{
+			EditorSettings: models.EditorSettings{
+				SimplifiedQueryAndExpressionsSection: true,
+			},
+		}
+		rule.Metadata = ruleMetadata
+		r, err := ruleService.ruleStore.InsertAlertRules(context.Background(), []models.AlertRule{rule})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Len(t, r, 1)
+
+		// Set the UID for the rule to update it
+		rule.UID = r[0].UID
+		// clear the metadata to check that the existing metadata is not overridden
+		rule.Metadata = models.AlertRuleMetadata{}
+
+		// Update the rule
+		_, err = ruleService.UpdateAlertRule(context.Background(), u, rule, models.ProvenanceAPI)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		// Read the rule and check that the editor settings are preserved
+		readRule, _, err := ruleService.GetAlertRule(context.Background(), u, rule.UID)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, ruleMetadata, readRule.Metadata)
+	})
+
 	t.Run("updating a group to temporarily overlap rule names should not throw unique constraint", func(t *testing.T) {
 		var orgID int64 = 1
 		group := models.AlertRuleGroup{