diff --git a/src/features/scratch/ScratchChooser.module.css b/src/features/scratch/ScratchChooser.module.css
index 4f2945e1..6222bf36 100644
--- a/src/features/scratch/ScratchChooser.module.css
+++ b/src/features/scratch/ScratchChooser.module.css
@@ -11,23 +11,17 @@
 .header {
   display: flex;
   align-items: center;
-  gap: 8px;
   height: var(--h-row);
   padding: 0 10px;
   font-size: var(--fs-small);
   color: var(--fg-subtle);
-  border-bottom: 1px solid var(--border-popup);
-  margin-bottom: 4px;
 }
 .title {
   flex: 1;
 }
-.filter {
-  font-family: var(--font-mono);
-  color: var(--fg-strong);
-  background: var(--accent-soft);
-  border-radius: var(--radius-small);
-  padding: 0 4px;
+.search {
+  margin: 0 8px 4px;
+  border-bottom: 1px solid var(--border-popup);
 }
 .list {
   max-height: 360px;
diff --git a/src/features/scratch/ScratchChooser.tsx b/src/features/scratch/ScratchChooser.tsx
index 58ab7b2b..857cc0bf 100644
--- a/src/features/scratch/ScratchChooser.tsx
+++ b/src/features/scratch/ScratchChooser.tsx
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
-import { useMemo, useState, type KeyboardEvent } from "react";
+import { useMemo, useRef, useState, type KeyboardEvent } from "react";
 import clsx from "clsx";
-import { HighlightedText, Icon, List, Popup, fileIconName, listNavigate, T } from "@/ui";
+import { HighlightedText, Icon, List, Popup, SearchField, fileIconName, listNavigate, T } from "@/ui";
 import { chooserRows, type LanguageRow, type ScratchLanguage } from "./model";
 import { closeChooser, rememberLanguage, useScratch } from "./store";
 import { createScratch } from "./scratches";
 import styles from "./ScratchChooser.module.css";
 
-/** Overlay: IDEA's "New Scratch File" popup — languages, speed search, recent first. */
+/** Overlay: IDEA's "New Scratch File" popup — searchable languages, recent first. */
 export function ScratchChooserHost() {
   const languages = useScratch((s) => s.languages);
   const seq = useScratch((s) => s.seq);
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ export function ScratchChooserHost() {
 
 function ScratchChooser({ languages }: { languages: readonly ScratchLanguage[] }) {
   const recent = useScratch((s) => s.recent);
+  const inputRef = useRef<HTMLInputElement>(null);
   const [filter, setFilter] = useState("");
   const [active, setActive] = useState(0);
   const rows = useMemo(() => chooserRows(languages, recent, filter), [languages, recent, filter]);
@@ -29,22 +30,19 @@ function ScratchChooser({ languages }: { languages: readonly ScratchLanguage[] }
     void createScratch(row.lang);
   };
 
-  const onKeyDown = (e: KeyboardEvent) => {
-    const next = listNavigate(e.key, { items: rows, active: current, wrap: true });
+  const onKeyDown = (e: KeyboardEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
+    if (e.nativeEvent.isComposing || e.metaKey || e.ctrlKey || e.altKey) return;
+    const next = listNavigate(e.key === "Home" || e.key === "End" ? "" : e.key, {
+      items: rows,
+      active: current,
+      wrap: true,
+    });
     if (next !== null) {
       e.preventDefault();
       setActive(next);
     } else if (e.key === "Enter") {
       e.preventDefault();
       pick(rows[current]);
-    } else if (e.key === "Backspace") {
-      e.preventDefault();
-      setFilter((f) => f.slice(0, -1));
-      setActive(0);
-    } else if (e.key.length === 1 && !e.metaKey && !e.ctrlKey && !e.altKey) {
-      e.preventDefault();
-      setFilter((f) => f + e.key);
-      setActive(0);
     }
   };
 
@@ -58,13 +56,27 @@ function ScratchChooser({ languages }: { languages: readonly ScratchLanguage[] }
       aria-label="New Scratch File"
       className={styles.popup}
     >
-      <div className={styles.body} tabIndex={0} data-autofocus onKeyDown={onKeyDown}>
+      <div className={styles.body}>
         <div className={styles.header}>
           <span className={styles.title}>
             <T>New Scratch File</T>
           </span>
-          {filter && <span className={styles.filter}>{filter}</span>}
         </div>
+        <SearchField
+          ref={inputRef}
+          variant="bare"
+          data-autofocus
+          value={filter}
+          placeholder="Filter languages"
+          aria-label="Filter languages"
+          className={styles.search}
+          onChange={(value) => {
+            setFilter(value);
+            setActive(0);
+            inputRef.current?.focus();
+          }}
+          onKeyDown={onKeyDown}
+        />
         <List
           items={rows}
           getKey={(r) => r.lang.id}
diff --git a/src/features/scratch/__tests__/scratch.test.tsx b/src/features/scratch/__tests__/scratch.test.tsx
index 5ba67b65..016a487d 100644
--- a/src/features/scratch/__tests__/scratch.test.tsx
+++ b/src/features/scratch/__tests__/scratch.test.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import { act, fireEvent, render, screen } from "@testing-library/react";
+import userEvent from "@testing-library/user-event";
 import { getAction } from "@/platform/actions";
 import { onIdeEvent } from "@/platform/ipc";
 import { useProjectViewRoots } from "@/workbench/contributions";
@@ -103,12 +104,20 @@ describe("creating scratch files", () => {
         await action.run({ ctx: {} as never, arg: undefined });
       });
       render(<ScratchChooserHost />);
-      const dialog = screen.getByRole("dialog", { name: "New Scratch File" });
-      const body = dialog.querySelector<HTMLElement>("[tabindex]")!;
-      for (const ch of "pyt") fireEvent.keyDown(body, { key: ch });
-      expect(dialog.textContent).toContain("pyt");
+      const user = userEvent.setup();
+      const input = screen.getByRole("textbox", { name: "Filter languages" });
+      expect(input).toHaveFocus();
+      await user.paste("java");
+      expect(input).toHaveValue("java");
+      expect(screen.queryByText("Python")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+      await user.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "Clear" }));
+      expect(input).toHaveFocus();
+      expect(input).toHaveValue("");
+      await user.type(input, "pyton");
+      await user.keyboard("{ArrowLeft}{ArrowLeft}h");
+      expect(input).toHaveValue("python");
       await act(async () => {
-        fireEvent.keyDown(body, { key: "Enter" });
+        fireEvent.keyDown(input, { key: "Enter" });
       });
       await vi.waitFor(() => expect(opened).toEqual(["/data/scratches/scratch.py"]));
       expect(useScratch.getState().languages).toBeNull();