diff --git a/src/terminal/search.rs b/src/terminal/search.rs
index a6867107..58cfc7b3 100644
--- a/src/terminal/search.rs
+++ b/src/terminal/search.rs
@@ -60,6 +60,35 @@ impl SearchState {
     }
 }
 
+/// Select everything already in the find box, so ⌘F followed by typing
+/// replaces the last query instead of growing it.
+///
+/// The box keeps the previous query on purpose — stepping back through it is
+/// most of what a find bar is for — but that only works if the caret does not
+/// treat it as a prefix. It did: `default_value` leaves the caret at offset 0,
+/// so reopening and typing "beta" over "alpha" produced "betaalpha", and
+/// re-focusing an open bar appended instead.
+///
+/// `InputState::select_all` is not public, so this goes through the action the
+/// input binds ⌘A to, aimed at the input's own focus handle rather than at
+/// whatever is focused. It waits a frame because the dispatch tree an action is
+/// routed through is the one from the last frame drawn — a box that has just
+/// been created is not in it yet. That frame is also why this has no unit
+/// test: the test harness never paints, so the callback never runs there.
+fn select_whole_query(
+    input: &Entity<InputState>,
+    window: &mut Window,
+    cx: &mut Context<TerminalView>,
+) {
+    if input.read(cx).value().is_empty() {
+        return;
+    }
+    let handle = gpui::Focusable::focus_handle(input.read(cx), cx);
+    window.on_next_frame(move |window, cx| {
+        handle.dispatch_action(&gpui_component::input::SelectAll, window, cx);
+    });
+}
+
 impl TerminalView {
     pub fn open_search(&mut self, window: &mut Window, cx: &mut Context<Self>) {
         let fresh = self.search.is_none();
@@ -82,6 +111,7 @@ impl TerminalView {
         }
         if let Some(input) = self.search.as_ref().map(|s| s.input.clone()) {
             input.update(cx, |state, cx| state.focus(window, cx));
+            select_whole_query(&input, window, cx);
         }
         if fresh {
             self.recompute_matches(cx);
diff --git a/src/terminal/view.rs b/src/terminal/view.rs
index f886c322..6556969e 100644
--- a/src/terminal/view.rs
+++ b/src/terminal/view.rs
@@ -7098,6 +7098,10 @@ mod gpui_tests {
             *out.borrow_mut() = Some(view.clone());
             gpui_component::Root::new(view, window, cx)
         });
+        window
+            .update(cx, |_, window, _| window.activate_window())
+            .unwrap();
+        cx.background_executor.run_until_parked();
         let view = built.borrow_mut().take().expect("the pane was built");
         (window, view, daemon_side)
     }