diff --git a/src/main.tsx b/src/main.tsx
index aa0490b42..b2109ff6f 100644
--- a/src/main.tsx
+++ b/src/main.tsx
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import { auxiliaryWindow } from "./platform/auxWindow";
 import { installRepeatedDoubleClick } from "./platform/doubleClick";
 import { installErrorLogging } from "./platform/errorLog";
 import { installKeyboardDispatcher } from "./platform/keymap";
+import { installPointerFocus } from "./platform/pointerFocus";
 import { isTauri } from "./platform/ipc";
 import { hideSplash } from "./platform/splash";
 import { prefetchLazyComponents } from "./ui";
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ if (import.meta.env.DEV && isTauri()) {
 }
 
 installRepeatedDoubleClick();
+installPointerFocus();
 installErrorLogging();
 
 // Auxiliary windows (Settings `settings-<parent>`, comparisons `comparison-<parent>-<n>`, Sync with
diff --git a/src/platform/pointerFocus.test.ts b/src/platform/pointerFocus.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..613d2bfc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/platform/pointerFocus.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { installPointerFocus } from "./pointerFocus";
+
+let uninstall: () => void;
+beforeEach(() => {
+  document.body.innerHTML = `
+    <button id="tab" role="tab"><span id="label">go-app</span></button>
+    <button id="other">Other</button>
+    <div id="row" role="treeitem" tabindex="0">row</div>`;
+  uninstall = installPointerFocus();
+});
+afterEach(() => uninstall());
+
+const el = (id: string) => document.getElementById(id)!;
+const press = (id: string) => el(id).dispatchEvent(new PointerEvent("pointerdown", { bubbles: true }));
+const key = (k: string) => document.dispatchEvent(new KeyboardEvent("keydown", { key: k, bubbles: true }));
+const marked = (id: string) => el(id).hasAttribute("data-pointer-focus");
+
+describe("installPointerFocus", () => {
+  it("marks the control under a press, not other focusable elements", () => {
+    press("label");
+    press("row");
+    expect([marked("tab"), marked("row")]).toEqual([true, false]);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps the mark when focus comes back without keyboard navigation (a popup closed with Esc)", () => {
+    press("tab");
+    el("tab").focus();
+    el("other").focus();
+    key("Escape");
+    el("tab").focus();
+    expect(marked("tab")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("clears the mark when Tab or an arrow key moves focus onto the control", () => {
+    press("tab");
+    press("other");
+    key("Tab");
+    el("tab").focus();
+    expect(marked("tab")).toBe(false);
+    key("ArrowRight");
+    el("other").focus();
+    expect(marked("other")).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/platform/pointerFocus.ts b/src/platform/pointerFocus.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3901470b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/platform/pointerFocus.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/**
+ * No focus ring on a control the user only clicked. The webview focuses a clicked button and
+ * the focus outlives the click (across window-tab switches, and popups hand it back to their
+ * trigger); the next keystroke then switches the engine to keyboard modality and rings a button
+ * that was never reached by keyboard. Focus itself stays put (actions resolve their context from
+ * it): a pressed control is marked, `global.css` drops the ring of marked controls, and moving
+ * focus onto one with Tab or the arrow keys clears its mark.
+ */
+const CONTROL = "button, [role='button'], [role='tab'], a[href], summary";
+const MARK = "data-pointer-focus";
+const NAVIGATION = new Set(["Tab", "ArrowLeft", "ArrowRight", "ArrowUp", "ArrowDown", "Home", "End"]);
+
+export function installPointerFocus(win: Window = window): () => void {
+  const doc = win.document;
+  let navigating = false;
+  const onPointerDown = (e: PointerEvent) => {
+    navigating = false;
+    if (e.target instanceof Element) e.target.closest(CONTROL)?.setAttribute(MARK, "");
+  };
+  const onKeyDown = (e: KeyboardEvent) => {
+    navigating = NAVIGATION.has(e.key);
+  };
+  const onFocusIn = (e: FocusEvent) => {
+    if (navigating && e.target instanceof Element) e.target.removeAttribute(MARK);
+  };
+  doc.addEventListener("pointerdown", onPointerDown, true);
+  doc.addEventListener("keydown", onKeyDown, true);
+  doc.addEventListener("focusin", onFocusIn, true);
+  return () => {
+    doc.removeEventListener("pointerdown", onPointerDown, true);
+    doc.removeEventListener("keydown", onKeyDown, true);
+    doc.removeEventListener("focusin", onFocusIn, true);
+  };
+}
diff --git a/src/styles/global.css b/src/styles/global.css
index 31ff0c06f..dbb9e1f43 100644
--- a/src/styles/global.css
+++ b/src/styles/global.css
@@ -152,6 +152,12 @@ a:hover {
   outline-offset: -2px;
 }
 
+/* A control the user only clicked keeps no ring once a keystroke turns on keyboard modality
+   (`platform/pointerFocus.ts`); `!important` covers the components' own focus rings. */
+[data-pointer-focus]:focus-visible {
+  outline: none !important;
+}
+
 ::selection {
   background: var(--bg-editor-selection);
 }