diff --git a/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/find/notebookFindWidget.ts b/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/find/notebookFindWidget.ts
index 741e0640a7..c733d78051 100644
--- a/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/find/notebookFindWidget.ts
+++ b/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/find/notebookFindWidget.ts
@@ -337,15 +337,15 @@ export class FindWidget extends Widget implements IOverlayWidget, IVerticalSashL
 	}
 
 	private _onFindInputKeyDown(e: IKeyboardEvent): void {
-
+		// focus on findWidget after navigating to result to prevent manually selecting the findInput to go to the next result
 		if (e.equals(KeyCode.Enter)) {
-			this._notebookController.getAction(ACTION_IDS.FIND_NEXT).run().then(null, onUnexpectedError);
+			this._notebookController.getAction(ACTION_IDS.FIND_NEXT).run().then(null, onUnexpectedError).finally(() => this._findInput.focus());
 			e.preventDefault();
 			return;
 		}
-
+		// focus on findWidget after navigating to result to prevent manually selecting findInput to go to the previous result
 		if (e.equals(KeyMod.Shift | KeyCode.Enter)) {
-			this._notebookController.getAction(ACTION_IDS.FIND_PREVIOUS).run().then(null, onUnexpectedError);
+			this._notebookController.getAction(ACTION_IDS.FIND_PREVIOUS).run().then(null, onUnexpectedError).finally(() => this._findInput.focus());
 			e.preventDefault();
 			return;
 		}
diff --git a/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/notebook.component.ts b/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/notebook.component.ts
index 76d5d24e81..7fc03d89c9 100644
--- a/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/notebook.component.ts
+++ b/src/sql/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/notebook.component.ts
@@ -146,46 +146,49 @@ export class NotebookComponent extends AngularDisposable implements OnInit, OnDe
 			// For Escape - the focused element is the div.notebook-preview or textarea.inputarea of the cell, so we need to make sure that it is a descendant of the current active cell
 			//  on the current active editor.
 			const activeCellElement = this.container.nativeElement.querySelector(`.editor-group-container.active .notebook-cell.active`);
+			const findWidgetVisible = !!document.querySelector(`.editor-widget.find-widget.visible`);
 			let handled = false;
-			if (DOM.isAncestor(this.container.nativeElement, document.activeElement) && this.isActive() && this.model.activeCell) {
-				const event = new StandardKeyboardEvent(e);
-				if (!this.model.activeCell?.isEditMode) {
-					if (event.keyCode === KeyCode.DownArrow) {
-						let next = (this.findCellIndex(this.model.activeCell) + 1) % this.cells.length;
+			// check that the find widget is not opened before handling notebook cell events
+			if (!findWidgetVisible) {
+				if (DOM.isAncestor(this.container.nativeElement, document.activeElement) && this.isActive() && this.model.activeCell) {
+					const event = new StandardKeyboardEvent(e);
+					if (!this.model.activeCell?.isEditMode) {
+						if (event.keyCode === KeyCode.DownArrow) {
+							let next = (this.findCellIndex(this.model.activeCell) + 1) % this.cells.length;
 
-						this.navigateToCell(this.cells[next]);
-						handled = true;
-					} else if (event.keyCode === KeyCode.UpArrow) {
-						let index = this.findCellIndex(this.model.activeCell);
-						if (index === 0) {
-							index = this.cells.length;
+							this.navigateToCell(this.cells[next]);
+							handled = true;
+						} else if (event.keyCode === KeyCode.UpArrow) {
+							let index = this.findCellIndex(this.model.activeCell);
+							if (index === 0) {
+								index = this.cells.length;
+							}
+							this.navigateToCell(this.cells[--index]);
+							handled = true;
+						}
+						else if (event.keyCode === KeyCode.Enter) {
+							this.toggleEditMode();
+							handled = true;
+						}
+						else if (event.keyCode === KeyCode.Escape) {
+							// unselects active cell and removes the focus from code cells
+							this.unselectActiveCell();
+							(document.activeElement as HTMLElement).blur();
+							handled = true;
 						}
-						this.navigateToCell(this.cells[--index]);
-						handled = true;
 					}
-					else if (event.keyCode === KeyCode.Enter) {
+				} else if (DOM.isAncestor(document.activeElement, activeCellElement) && this.isActive() && this.model.activeCell) {
+					const event = new StandardKeyboardEvent(e);
+					if (event.keyCode === KeyCode.Escape) {
+						// first time hitting escape removes the cursor from code cell and changes toolbar in text cells and changes edit mode to false
 						this.toggleEditMode();
 						handled = true;
 					}
-					else if (event.keyCode === KeyCode.Escape) {
-						// unselects active cell and removes the focus from code cells
-						this.unselectActiveCell();
-						(document.activeElement as HTMLElement).blur();
-						handled = true;
-					}
 				}
-			} else if (DOM.isAncestor(document.activeElement, activeCellElement) && this.isActive() && this.model.activeCell) {
-				const event = new StandardKeyboardEvent(e);
-				if (event.keyCode === KeyCode.Escape) {
-					// first time hitting escape removes the cursor from code cell and changes toolbar in text cells and changes edit mode to false
-					this.toggleEditMode();
-					handled = true;
+				if (handled) {
+					DOM.EventHelper.stop(e);
 				}
 			}
-			if (handled) {
-				DOM.EventHelper.stop(e);
-			}
-
 		}));
 		this._register(this.themeService.onDidColorThemeChange(this.updateTheme, this));
 		this.updateTheme(this.themeService.getColorTheme());