diff --git a/frontend/app/element/search.tsx b/frontend/app/element/search.tsx
index 031bcd97d8..e09e8a1078 100644
--- a/frontend/app/element/search.tsx
+++ b/frontend/app/element/search.tsx
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ const SearchComponent = ({
     caseSensitive: caseSensitiveAtom,
     wholeWord: wholeWordAtom,
     isOpen: isOpenAtom,
+    focusInput: focusInputAtom,
     anchorRef,
     offsetX = 10,
     offsetY = 10,
@@ -37,6 +38,8 @@ const SearchComponent = ({
     const [search, setSearch] = useAtom<string>(searchAtom);
     const [index, setIndex] = useAtom<number>(indexAtom);
     const [numResults, setNumResults] = useAtom<number>(numResultsAtom);
+    const [focusInputCounter, setFocusInputCounter] = useAtom<number>(focusInputAtom);
+    const inputRef = useRef<HTMLInputElement>(null);
 
     const handleOpenChange = useCallback((open: boolean) => {
         setIsOpen(open);
@@ -47,6 +50,7 @@ const SearchComponent = ({
             setSearch("");
             setIndex(0);
             setNumResults(0);
+            setFocusInputCounter(0);
         }
     }, [isOpen]);
 
@@ -56,6 +60,15 @@ const SearchComponent = ({
         onSearch?.(search);
     }, [search]);
 
+    // When activateSearch fires while already open, it increments focusInputCounter
+    // to signal this specific instance to grab focus (avoids global DOM queries).
+    useEffect(() => {
+        if (focusInputCounter > 0 && isOpen) {
+            inputRef.current?.focus();
+            inputRef.current?.select();
+        }
+    }, [focusInputCounter]);
+
     const middleware: Middleware[] = [];
     const offsetCallback = useCallback(
         ({ rects }) => {
@@ -146,6 +159,7 @@ const SearchComponent = ({
                 <FloatingPortal>
                     <div className="search-container" style={{ ...floatingStyles }} ref={refs.setFloating}>
                         <Input
+                            ref={inputRef}
                             placeholder="Search"
                             value={search}
                             onChange={setSearch}
@@ -197,6 +211,7 @@ export function useSearch(options?: SearchOptions): SearchProps {
             resultsIndex: atom(0),
             resultsCount: atom(0),
             isOpen: atom(false),
+            focusInput: atom(0),
             regex: options?.regex !== undefined ? atom(options.regex) : undefined,
             caseSensitive: options?.caseSensitive !== undefined ? atom(options.caseSensitive) : undefined,
             wholeWord: options?.wholeWord !== undefined ? atom(options.wholeWord) : undefined,
diff --git a/frontend/app/store/keymodel.ts b/frontend/app/store/keymodel.ts
index ac4ab94c42..97095d4b04 100644
--- a/frontend/app/store/keymodel.ts
+++ b/frontend/app/store/keymodel.ts
@@ -695,7 +695,15 @@ function registerGlobalKeys() {
             return false;
         }
         if (bcm.viewModel.searchAtoms) {
-            globalStore.set(bcm.viewModel.searchAtoms.isOpen, true);
+            if (globalStore.get(bcm.viewModel.searchAtoms.isOpen)) {
+                // Already open — increment the focusInput counter so this block's
+                // SearchComponent focuses its own input (avoids a global DOM query
+                // that could target the wrong block when multiple searches are open).
+                const cur = globalStore.get(bcm.viewModel.searchAtoms.focusInput) as number;
+                globalStore.set(bcm.viewModel.searchAtoms.focusInput, cur + 1);
+            } else {
+                globalStore.set(bcm.viewModel.searchAtoms.isOpen, true);
+            }
             return true;
         }
         return false;
diff --git a/frontend/app/view/term/termwrap.ts b/frontend/app/view/term/termwrap.ts
index f692765868..1cd167c800 100644
--- a/frontend/app/view/term/termwrap.ts
+++ b/frontend/app/view/term/termwrap.ts
@@ -343,6 +343,12 @@ export class TermWrap {
                     if (!globalStore.get(copyOnSelectAtom)) {
                         return;
                     }
+                    // Don't copy-on-select when the search bar has focus — navigating
+                    // search results changes the terminal selection programmatically.
+                    const active = document.activeElement;
+                    if (active != null && active.closest(".search-container") != null) {
+                        return;
+                    }
                     const selectedText = this.terminal.getSelection();
                     if (selectedText.length > 0) {
                         navigator.clipboard.writeText(selectedText);
diff --git a/frontend/types/custom.d.ts b/frontend/types/custom.d.ts
index d0b5f0e3b0..8ee176e151 100644
--- a/frontend/types/custom.d.ts
+++ b/frontend/types/custom.d.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 // Copyright 2026, Command Line Inc.
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
+import type { WaveEnv } from "@/app/waveenv/waveenv";
 import { type Placement } from "@floating-ui/react";
 import type * as jotai from "jotai";
 import type * as rxjs from "rxjs";
-import type { WaveEnv } from "@/app/waveenv/waveenv";
 
 declare global {
     type GlobalAtomsType = {
@@ -276,6 +276,7 @@ declare global {
         resultsIndex: PrimitiveAtom<number>;
         resultsCount: PrimitiveAtom<number>;
         isOpen: PrimitiveAtom<boolean>;
+        focusInput: PrimitiveAtom<number>;
         regex?: PrimitiveAtom<boolean>;
         caseSensitive?: PrimitiveAtom<boolean>;
         wholeWord?: PrimitiveAtom<boolean>;