diff --git a/ui/effects/use-active-element.js b/ui/effects/use-active-element.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0265023e7f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/effects/use-active-element.js
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
+
+export const useActiveElement = () => {
+  const [active, setActive] = useState(document.activeElement);
+
+  const handleFocus = (e) => {
+    setActive(document.activeElement);
+  };
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    document.addEventListener('focusin', handleFocus);
+    document.addEventListener('focusout', handleFocus);
+    return () => {
+      document.removeEventListener('focusin', handleFocus);
+      document.removeEventListener('focusout', handleFocus);
+    };
+  }, []);
+
+  return active;
+};
diff --git a/ui/effects/use-history-nav.js b/ui/effects/use-history-nav.js
index aa82b40774c..a766cd3684e 100644
--- a/ui/effects/use-history-nav.js
+++ b/ui/effects/use-history-nav.js
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 import { useEffect } from 'react';
-
+import { useActiveElement } from './use-active-element';
 export default function useHistoryNav(history) {
+  const el = useActiveElement(); // disable if we're in a textarea.
   useEffect(() => {
-    const handleKeyPress = e => {
+    const handleKeyPress = (e) => {
       if ((e.metaKey || e.altKey) && !e.ctrlKey && !e.shiftKey) {
         switch (e.code) {
           case 'ArrowLeft':
@@ -19,7 +20,9 @@ export default function useHistoryNav(history) {
         }
       }
     };
-    window.addEventListener('keydown', handleKeyPress);
+    if (!el.type || (el.type && !el.type.startsWith('text'))) {
+      window.addEventListener('keydown', handleKeyPress);
+    }
     return () => window.removeEventListener('keydown', handleKeyPress);
-  }, []);
+  }, [el]);
 }