diff --git a/docs/designers-developers/developers/data/data-core-block-editor.md b/docs/designers-developers/developers/data/data-core-block-editor.md
index 23e48402fb1cbd..3c0d6eca4901f6 100644
--- a/docs/designers-developers/developers/data/data-core-block-editor.md
+++ b/docs/designers-developers/developers/data/data-core-block-editor.md
@@ -733,6 +733,18 @@ _Returns_
 
 -   `boolean`: Whether an ancestor of the block is in multi-selection set.
 
+<a name="isAutoFocusEnabled" href="#isAutoFocusEnabled">#</a> **isAutoFocusEnabled**
+
+Returns whether the automatic focus is enabled.
+
+_Parameters_
+
+-   _state_ `Object`: Editor state.
+
+_Returns_
+
+-   `boolean`: Is automatic focus enabled.
+
 <a name="isBlockHighlighted" href="#isBlockHighlighted">#</a> **isBlockHighlighted**
 
 Returns true if the current highlighted block matches the block clientId.
@@ -1255,6 +1267,14 @@ _Parameters_
 
 -   _clientId_ `string`: Block client ID.
 
+<a name="setAutoFocusEnabled" href="#setAutoFocusEnabled">#</a> **setAutoFocusEnabled**
+
+Generators that triggers an action used to enable or disable the automatic focus.
+
+_Parameters_
+
+-   _isAutoFocusEnabled_ `boolean`: Enable/Disable navigation mode.
+
 <a name="setHasControlledInnerBlocks" href="#setHasControlledInnerBlocks">#</a> **setHasControlledInnerBlocks**
 
 Returns an action object that sets whether the block has controlled innerblocks.
diff --git a/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-list/block-wrapper.js b/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-list/block-wrapper.js
index ec638ee132128d..2fcc4e9b0f43e9 100644
--- a/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-list/block-wrapper.js
+++ b/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-list/block-wrapper.js
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ const BlockComponent = forwardRef(
 		const {
 			clientId,
 			rootClientId,
+			isAutoFocusEnabled,
 			isSelected,
 			isFirstMultiSelected,
 			isLastMultiSelected,
@@ -124,10 +125,20 @@ const BlockComponent = forwardRef(
 		};
 
 		useEffect( () => {
-			if ( ! isMultiSelecting && ! isNavigationMode && isSelected ) {
+			if (
+				! isMultiSelecting &&
+				! isNavigationMode &&
+				isSelected &&
+				isAutoFocusEnabled
+			) {
 				focusTabbable();
 			}
-		}, [ isSelected, isMultiSelecting, isNavigationMode ] );
+		}, [
+			isSelected,
+			isMultiSelecting,
+			isNavigationMode,
+			isAutoFocusEnabled,
+		] );
 
 		// Block Reordering animation
 		const animationStyle = useMovingAnimation(
diff --git a/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-list/block.js b/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-list/block.js
index 6e8cb32daff44e..ae806c65db625a 100644
--- a/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-list/block.js
+++ b/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-list/block.js
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ function BlockListBlock( {
 	toggleSelection,
 	index,
 	enableAnimation,
+	isAutoFocusEnabled,
 	isNavigationMode,
 	isMultiSelecting,
 } ) {
@@ -159,6 +160,7 @@ function BlockListBlock( {
 	const value = {
 		clientId,
 		rootClientId,
+		isAutoFocusEnabled,
 		isSelected,
 		isFirstMultiSelected,
 		isLastMultiSelected,
@@ -218,6 +220,7 @@ const applyWithSelect = withSelect(
 		const {
 			isBlockSelected,
 			isAncestorMultiSelected,
+			isAutoFocusEnabled,
 			isBlockMultiSelected,
 			isFirstMultiSelectedBlock,
 			getLastMultiSelectedBlockClientId,
@@ -251,6 +254,7 @@ const applyWithSelect = withSelect(
 		// Do not add new properties here, use `useSelect` instead to avoid
 		// leaking new props to the public API (editor.BlockListBlock filter).
 		return {
+			isAutoFocusEnabled: isAutoFocusEnabled(),
 			isMultiSelected: isBlockMultiSelected( clientId ),
 			isPartOfMultiSelection:
 				isBlockMultiSelected( clientId ) ||
diff --git a/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/block-contents.js b/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/block-contents.js
index f7d46f53af80db..5619370929b9aa 100644
--- a/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/block-contents.js
+++ b/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/block-contents.js
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ const BlockNavigationBlockContents = forwardRef(
 
 		return withBlockNavigationSlots ? (
 			<BlockNavigationBlockSlot
-				ref={ ref }
 				className="block-editor-block-navigation-block-contents"
 				block={ block }
 				onClick={ onClick }
@@ -30,10 +29,10 @@ const BlockNavigationBlockContents = forwardRef(
 				siblingCount={ siblingCount }
 				level={ level }
 				{ ...props }
+				ref={ ref }
 			/>
 		) : (
 			<BlockNavigationBlockSelectButton
-				ref={ ref }
 				className="block-editor-block-navigation-block-contents"
 				block={ block }
 				onClick={ onClick }
@@ -42,6 +41,7 @@ const BlockNavigationBlockContents = forwardRef(
 				siblingCount={ siblingCount }
 				level={ level }
 				{ ...props }
+				ref={ ref }
 			/>
 		);
 	}
diff --git a/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/block.js b/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/block.js
index 50b8ad407c6b4a..833e6460ff21fe 100644
--- a/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/block.js
+++ b/packages/block-editor/src/components/block-navigation/block.js
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ import classnames from 'classnames';
  */
 import { __experimentalTreeGridCell as TreeGridCell } from '@wordpress/components';
 import { moreVertical } from '@wordpress/icons';
-import { useState } from '@wordpress/element';
+import { useState, useEffect, useRef } from '@wordpress/element';
+import { useSelect } from '@wordpress/data';
 
 /**
  * Internal dependencies
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@ export default function BlockNavigationBlock( {
 	terminatedLevels,
 	path,
 } ) {
+	const ref = useRef();
 	const [ isHovered, setIsHovered ] = useState( false );
 	const [ isFocused, setIsFocused ] = useState( false );
 	const { clientId } = block;
@@ -51,11 +53,34 @@ export default function BlockNavigationBlock( {
 		__experimentalWithEllipsisMenu: withEllipsisMenu,
 		__experimentalWithEllipsisMenuMinLevel: ellipsisMenuMinLevel,
 	} = useBlockNavigationContext();
+
 	const ellipsisMenuClassName = classnames(
 		'block-editor-block-navigation-block__menu-cell',
 		{ 'is-visible': hasVisibleMovers }
 	);
 
+	const { isEditorAutoFocusEnabled } = useSelect( ( select ) => ( {
+		isEditorAutoFocusEnabled: select(
+			'core/block-editor'
+		).isAutoFocusEnabled(),
+	} ) );
+	useEffect( () => {
+		let timeout;
+		if ( ! isEditorAutoFocusEnabled && isSelected ) {
+			// Give slots time to settle down
+			timeout = setTimeout( function() {
+				// Select the new block
+				onClick();
+
+				// Move focus to the new block
+				if ( ref.current ) {
+					ref.current.focus();
+				}
+			} );
+		}
+		return () => clearTimeout( timeout );
+	}, [ isEditorAutoFocusEnabled, isSelected ] );
+
 	return (
 		<BlockNavigationLeaf
 			className={ classnames( {
@@ -89,6 +114,7 @@ export default function BlockNavigationBlock( {
 							siblingCount={ siblingCount }
 							level={ level }
 							{ ...props }
+							ref={ ref }
 						/>
 					</div>
 				) }
diff --git a/packages/block-editor/src/store/actions.js b/packages/block-editor/src/store/actions.js
index 5aef9e4ce2dd6c..93fef4169f11ec 100644
--- a/packages/block-editor/src/store/actions.js
+++ b/packages/block-editor/src/store/actions.js
@@ -883,6 +883,18 @@ export function* setNavigationMode( isNavigationMode = true ) {
 	}
 }
 
+/**
+ * Generators that triggers an action used to enable or disable the automatic focus.
+ *
+ * @param {boolean} isAutoFocusEnabled Enable/Disable navigation mode.
+ */
+export function* setAutoFocusEnabled( isAutoFocusEnabled = true ) {
+	yield {
+		type: 'SET_AUTO_FOCUS_ENABLED',
+		isAutoFocusEnabled,
+	};
+}
+
 /**
  * Generator that triggers an action used to duplicate a list of blocks.
  *
diff --git a/packages/block-editor/src/store/reducer.js b/packages/block-editor/src/store/reducer.js
index 223fe269508841..759608409ccf3f 100644
--- a/packages/block-editor/src/store/reducer.js
+++ b/packages/block-editor/src/store/reducer.js
@@ -1519,6 +1519,22 @@ export function isNavigationMode( state = false, action ) {
 	return state;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Reducer returning whether the automatic focus should be enabled or not.
+ *
+ * @param {boolean} state  Current state.
+ * @param {Object} action Dispatched action.
+ *
+ * @return {string} Updated state.
+ */
+export function isAutoFocusEnabled( state = true, action ) {
+	if ( action.type === 'SET_AUTO_FOCUS_ENABLED' ) {
+		return action.isAutoFocusEnabled;
+	}
+
+	return state;
+}
+
 /**
  * Reducer return an updated state representing the most recent block attribute
  * update. The state is structured as an object where the keys represent the
@@ -1621,6 +1637,7 @@ export default combineReducers( {
 	preferences,
 	lastBlockAttributesChange,
 	isNavigationMode,
+	isAutoFocusEnabled,
 	automaticChangeStatus,
 	highlightedBlock,
 } );
diff --git a/packages/block-editor/src/store/selectors.js b/packages/block-editor/src/store/selectors.js
index 183210fc14c79f..adc84d8797bb81 100644
--- a/packages/block-editor/src/store/selectors.js
+++ b/packages/block-editor/src/store/selectors.js
@@ -1627,6 +1627,17 @@ export function isNavigationMode( state ) {
 	return state.isNavigationMode;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Returns whether the automatic focus is enabled.
+ *
+ * @param {Object} state Editor state.
+ *
+ * @return {boolean}     Is automatic focus enabled.
+ */
+export function isAutoFocusEnabled( state ) {
+	return state.isAutoFocusEnabled;
+}
+
 /**
  * Returns true if the last change was an automatic change, false otherwise.
  *
diff --git a/packages/components/src/panel/index.js b/packages/components/src/panel/index.js
index 96e9daf8e647b3..d6e85fd43bea08 100644
--- a/packages/components/src/panel/index.js
+++ b/packages/components/src/panel/index.js
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@ import classnames from 'classnames';
  */
 import PanelHeader from './header';
 
-function Panel( { header, className, children } ) {
+function Panel( { header, className, children, ...props } ) {
 	const classNames = classnames( className, 'components-panel' );
 	return (
-		<div className={ classNames }>
+		<div className={ classNames } { ...props }>
 			{ header && <PanelHeader label={ header } /> }
 			{ children }
 		</div>
diff --git a/packages/edit-navigation/src/components/menu-editor/block-editor-panel.js b/packages/edit-navigation/src/components/menu-editor/block-editor-panel.js
index 1706bff5ed20d1..209b763f8b18b3 100644
--- a/packages/edit-navigation/src/components/menu-editor/block-editor-panel.js
+++ b/packages/edit-navigation/src/components/menu-editor/block-editor-panel.js
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ export default function BlockEditorPanel( {
 	onDeleteMenu,
 	menuId,
 	saveBlocks,
+	...props
 } ) {
 	const { isNavigationModeActive, hasSelectedBlock } = useSelect(
 		( select ) => {
@@ -48,7 +49,10 @@ export default function BlockEditorPanel( {
 	);
 
 	return (
-		<Panel className="edit-navigation-menu-editor__block-editor-panel">
+		<Panel
+			className="edit-navigation-menu-editor__block-editor-panel"
+			{ ...props }
+		>
 			<PanelBody title={ __( 'Navigation menu' ) }>
 				<div className="components-panel__header-actions">
 					<Button isPrimary onClick={ saveBlocks }>
diff --git a/packages/edit-navigation/src/components/menu-editor/index.js b/packages/edit-navigation/src/components/menu-editor/index.js
index 02bd6871e06a0e..db73e38aa80b93 100644
--- a/packages/edit-navigation/src/components/menu-editor/index.js
+++ b/packages/edit-navigation/src/components/menu-editor/index.js
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 /**
  * WordPress dependencies
  */
+import { useDispatch } from '@wordpress/data';
 import {
 	BlockEditorKeyboardShortcuts,
 	BlockEditorProvider,
 } from '@wordpress/block-editor';
 import { useViewportMatch } from '@wordpress/compose';
+import { useState, useEffect } from '@wordpress/element';
 
 /**
  * Internal dependencies
@@ -21,7 +23,6 @@ export default function MenuEditor( {
 	onDeleteMenu,
 } ) {
 	const [ blocks, setBlocks, saveBlocks ] = useNavigationBlocks( menuId );
-	const isLargeViewport = useViewportMatch( 'medium' );
 
 	return (
 		<div className="edit-navigation-menu-editor">
@@ -38,18 +39,55 @@ export default function MenuEditor( {
 					hasFixedToolbar: true,
 				} }
 			>
-				<BlockEditorKeyboardShortcuts />
-				<MenuEditorShortcuts saveBlocks={ saveBlocks } />
-				<NavigationStructurePanel
-					blocks={ blocks }
-					initialOpen={ isLargeViewport }
-				/>
-				<BlockEditorPanel
-					saveBlocks={ saveBlocks }
+				<MenuEditorBody
 					menuId={ menuId }
 					onDeleteMenu={ onDeleteMenu }
+					blocks={ blocks }
+					saveBlocks={ saveBlocks }
 				/>
 			</BlockEditorProvider>
 		</div>
 	);
 }
+
+/*
+ * This has to be a separate component because core/block-editor data is only available for descendants
+ * of BlockEditorProvider
+ */
+const MenuEditorBody = ( { menuId, onDeleteMenu, blocks, saveBlocks } ) => {
+	const { setAutoFocusEnabled } = useDispatch( 'core/block-editor' );
+	const isLargeViewport = useViewportMatch( 'medium' );
+	const [ lastInteractedSection, setLastInteractedSection ] = useState(
+		null
+	);
+
+	useEffect( () => {
+		if ( lastInteractedSection === 'navigation' ) {
+			setAutoFocusEnabled( false );
+		} else if ( lastInteractedSection === 'editor' ) {
+			setAutoFocusEnabled( true );
+		}
+	}, [ lastInteractedSection ] );
+
+	return (
+		<>
+			<BlockEditorKeyboardShortcuts />
+			<MenuEditorShortcuts saveBlocks={ saveBlocks } />
+			<NavigationStructurePanel
+				blocks={ blocks }
+				initialOpen={ isLargeViewport }
+				onMouseDown={ () => {
+					setLastInteractedSection( 'navigation' );
+				} }
+			/>
+			<BlockEditorPanel
+				saveBlocks={ saveBlocks }
+				menuId={ menuId }
+				onDeleteMenu={ onDeleteMenu }
+				onMouseDown={ () => {
+					setLastInteractedSection( 'editor' );
+				} }
+			/>
+		</>
+	);
+};
diff --git a/packages/edit-navigation/src/components/menu-editor/navigation-structure-panel.js b/packages/edit-navigation/src/components/menu-editor/navigation-structure-panel.js
index 2108f159e2bc5e..d5d6621a64d716 100644
--- a/packages/edit-navigation/src/components/menu-editor/navigation-structure-panel.js
+++ b/packages/edit-navigation/src/components/menu-editor/navigation-structure-panel.js
@@ -6,7 +6,11 @@ import { Panel, PanelBody } from '@wordpress/components';
 import { useDispatch, useSelect } from '@wordpress/data';
 import { __ } from '@wordpress/i18n';
 
-export default function NavigationStructurePanel( { blocks, initialOpen } ) {
+export default function NavigationStructurePanel( {
+	blocks,
+	initialOpen,
+	...props
+} ) {
 	const selectedBlockClientIds = useSelect(
 		( select ) => select( 'core/block-editor' ).getSelectedBlockClientIds(),
 		[]
@@ -15,7 +19,10 @@ export default function NavigationStructurePanel( { blocks, initialOpen } ) {
 	const showNavigationStructure = !! blocks.length;
 
 	return (
-		<Panel className="edit-navigation-menu-editor__navigation-structure-panel">
+		<Panel
+			className="edit-navigation-menu-editor__navigation-structure-panel"
+			{ ...props }
+		>
 			<PanelBody
 				title={ __( 'Navigation structure' ) }
 				initialOpen={ initialOpen }