diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index ba27691..e70cc91 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -461,6 +461,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 2.0.119",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "diff"
+version = "0.1.13"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "56254986775e3233ffa9c4d7d3faaf6d36a2c09d30b20687e9f88bc8bafc16c8"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "digest"
 version = "0.10.7"
@@ -526,6 +532,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "hex",
  "memchr",
  "mmap-io",
+ "pretty_assertions",
  "rand 0.10.2",
  "ratatui",
  "regex",
@@ -1347,6 +1354,16 @@ version = "0.2.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "439ee305def115ba05938db6eb1644ff94165c5ab5e9420d1c1bcedbba909391"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pretty_assertions"
+version = "1.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3ae130e2f271fbc2ac3a40fb1d07180839cdbbe443c7a27e1e3c13c5cac0116d"
+dependencies = [
+ "diff",
+ "yansi",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "proc-macro2"
 version = "1.0.107"
@@ -2387,3 +2404,9 @@ name = "x11rb-protocol"
 version = "0.13.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "ea6fc2961e4ef194dcbfe56bb845534d0dc8098940c7e5c012a258bfec6701bd"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "yansi"
+version = "1.0.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "cfe53a6657fd280eaa890a3bc59152892ffa3e30101319d168b781ed6529b049"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 79997e0..a15a3d6 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -34,3 +34,6 @@ tui-input = "0.15.0"
 [profile.dist]
 inherits = "release"
 lto = "thin"
+
+[dev-dependencies]
+pretty_assertions = "1.4.1"
diff --git a/src/database.rs b/src/database.rs
index 80e593c..6cf8dab 100644
--- a/src/database.rs
+++ b/src/database.rs
@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
+use std::collections::BTreeMap;
 use std::error::Error;
 use std::fs;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+
 use crate::app::App;
+use crate::hex::{blocks::ColoredBlock, comment::Comment, hex_view::HexView};
 
 impl App {
     pub fn save_database(&self) -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
-        let toml_string = toml::to_string_pretty(&self.hex_view)?;
         let target_dir: &Path = Path::new(&self.file_info.path)
             .parent()
             .unwrap_or(Path::new("."));
@@ -23,6 +26,10 @@ impl App {
             return Ok(());
         }
 
+        // serialize after checking for empty
+        let db = hex_view_to_db(&self.hex_view);
+        let toml_string = toml::to_string_pretty(&db)?;
+
         // try target's path or else current directory
         fs::write(&target_db, &toml_string).or_else(|_| fs::write(&cwd_db, &toml_string))?;
 
@@ -36,10 +43,127 @@ impl App {
         let target_db: PathBuf = target_dir.join(&cwd_db);
         let data = fs::read_to_string(&cwd_db).or_else(|_| fs::read_to_string(&target_db))?;
 
-        // TODO: Although we're only interested in comments and bookmarks, other fields might
-        // be loaded if they are defined in the TOML file. How to prevent that?
-        self.hex_view = toml::from_str(&data)?;
-        self.hex_view.editing_hex = true; // otherwise it defaults to false if a .dz6 file exists for the target
+        let db = toml::from_str::<Database>(&data)?;
+        self.hex_view = hex_view_from_db(db);
         Ok(())
     }
 }
+
+#[derive(Debug, Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq)]
+pub struct Database {
+    // blocks are ByteBlock structs -- ranges with different colors
+    pub blocks: Vec<DbColoredBlock>,
+    pub bookmarks: Vec<usize>,
+
+    // `comment_name_list` is used to show comments in Names list
+    // and also on the conversion from selected item on the list
+    // to file offset passed to goto()
+    pub comment_name_list: Vec<DbComment>,
+
+    // TODO: comments and comment_name_list are redundant, we should only store one of them
+    // but to avoid breaking existing .dz6 files, we will keep both for now
+    // The `comments` format is more compact and doesn't require a new type
+    // so maybe later we default to using only it
+    pub comments: BTreeMap<usize, String>,
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq)]
+pub struct DbComment {
+    pub offset: usize,
+    pub comment: String,
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq)]
+pub struct DbColoredBlock {
+    pub start: usize,
+    pub end: usize,
+    pub bg_color: u32,
+    pub fg_color: u32,
+}
+
+fn hex_view_from_db(db: Database) -> HexView {
+    HexView {
+        blocks: db.blocks.into_iter().map(colored_block_from_db).collect(),
+        bookmarks: db.bookmarks,
+        comment_name_list: db
+            .comment_name_list
+            .into_iter()
+            .map(comment_from_db)
+            .collect(),
+        comments: db.comments.into_iter().collect(),
+        editing_hex: true, // otherwise it defaults to false if a .dz6 file exists for the target
+        ..Default::default()
+    }
+}
+fn colored_block_from_db(db_block: DbColoredBlock) -> ColoredBlock {
+    ColoredBlock {
+        start: db_block.start,
+        end: db_block.end,
+        bg_color: db_block.bg_color,
+        fg_color: db_block.fg_color,
+    }
+}
+fn comment_from_db(db_comment: DbComment) -> Comment {
+    Comment {
+        offset: db_comment.offset,
+        comment: db_comment.comment,
+    }
+}
+
+/// HexView to Database conversion,
+/// takes a reference because we don't want to consume the live HexView that is
+/// being used in the app.
+fn hex_view_to_db(hex_view: &HexView) -> Database {
+    Database {
+        blocks: hex_view.blocks.iter().map(colored_block_to_db).collect(),
+        bookmarks: hex_view.bookmarks.clone(),
+        comment_name_list: hex_view
+            .comment_name_list
+            .iter()
+            .map(comment_to_db)
+            .collect(),
+        comments: hex_view
+            .comments
+            .iter()
+            .map(|(k, v)| (*k, v.clone()))
+            .collect(),
+    }
+}
+fn colored_block_to_db(block: &ColoredBlock) -> DbColoredBlock {
+    DbColoredBlock {
+        start: block.start,
+        end: block.end,
+        bg_color: block.bg_color,
+        fg_color: block.fg_color,
+    }
+}
+fn comment_to_db(comment: &Comment) -> DbComment {
+    DbComment {
+        offset: comment.offset,
+        comment: comment.comment.clone(),
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use pretty_assertions::assert_eq;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_database_round_trip() {
+        // db file generated with the hexview serialization
+        let db_file = "test_data/db.toml";
+        let db_str = fs::read_to_string(db_file).expect("Failed to read test database file");
+
+        let db: Database = toml::from_str(&db_str).expect("Failed to deserialize database");
+
+        // tests that we don't drop any data from the original file and don't add any
+        let serialized = toml::to_string_pretty(&db).expect("Failed to serialize database");
+        assert_eq!(db_str, serialized);
+
+        // tests that we can deserialize the serialized string and get the same data back
+        let re_deserialized: Database =
+            toml::from_str(&serialized).expect("Failed to deserialize database");
+        assert_eq!(db, re_deserialized);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/hex/hex_view.rs b/src/hex/hex_view.rs
index edd02df..73508ef 100644
--- a/src/hex/hex_view.rs
+++ b/src/hex/hex_view.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
 
 use ratatui::widgets::{ListState, TableState};
-use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use tui_input::Input;
 
 use crate::hex::{blocks::ColoredBlock, comment::Comment};
@@ -13,18 +12,14 @@ pub struct Point {
     pub y: usize,
 }
 
-#[derive(Default, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+#[derive(Default)]
 pub struct HexView {
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub ascii_state: TableState,
     // blocks are ByteBlock structs -- ranges with different colors
     pub blocks: Vec<ColoredBlock>,
     pub bookmarks: Vec<usize>,
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub changed_bytes: HashMap<usize, String>,
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub changed_history: Vec<usize>,
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub comment_input: Input, // the input comment widget (tui-input)
 
     // `comment_name_list` is used to show comments in Names list
@@ -36,30 +31,17 @@ pub struct HexView {
     // to handle that with a hash map
     pub comments: HashMap<usize, String>,
 
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub cursor: Point,
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub editing_hex: bool,
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub highlights: HashSet<u8>, // byte highlight
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub last_visited_offset: usize,
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub names_list_state: ListState,
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub names_regex_input: Input,
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub names_regex: String,
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub offset_state: TableState,
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub offset: usize,
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub search: crate::hex::search::Search,
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub selection: crate::hex::selection::Selection,
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub strings_regex_input: Input,
-    #[serde(skip)]
     pub table_state: TableState,
 }
diff --git a/test_data/db.toml b/test_data/db.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d2fbbac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_data/db.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+bookmarks = [
+    288,
+    325,
+]
+
+[[blocks]]
+start = 16
+end = 21
+bg_color = 446956584
+fg_color = 2910089301
+
+[[blocks]]
+start = 128
+end = 134
+bg_color = 3843912424
+fg_color = 2232455935
+
+[[blocks]]
+start = 182
+end = 214
+bg_color = 4160309102
+fg_color = 4169677532
+
+[[comment_name_list]]
+offset = 21
+comment = " one comment"
+
+[[comment_name_list]]
+offset = 101
+comment = "comment"
+
+[comments]
+21 = " one comment"
+101 = "comment"