diff --git a/packages/search-in-workspace/src/browser/components/search-in-workspace-input.tsx b/packages/search-in-workspace/src/browser/components/search-in-workspace-input.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..ea2e8307b5111
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/search-in-workspace/src/browser/components/search-in-workspace-input.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+/********************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (C) 2021 Ericsson and others.
+ *
+ * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
+ * terms of the Eclipse Public License v. 2.0 which is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0.
+ *
+ * This Source Code may also be made available under the following Secondary
+ * Licenses when the conditions for such availability set forth in the Eclipse
+ * Public License v. 2.0 are satisfied: GNU General Public License, version 2
+ * with the GNU Classpath Exception which is available at
+ * https://www.gnu.org/software/classpath/license.html.
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0 OR GPL-2.0 WITH Classpath-exception-2.0
+ ********************************************************************************/
+
+import * as React from '@theia/core/shared/react';
+import { Key, KeyCode } from '@theia/core/lib/browser';
+import debounce = require('@theia/core/shared/lodash.debounce');
+
+interface HistoryState {
+    history: string[];
+    index: number;
+};
+type InputAttributes = React.InputHTMLAttributes<HTMLInputElement>;
+
+export class SearchInWorkspaceInput extends React.Component<InputAttributes, HistoryState> {
+    static LIMIT = 100;
+
+    private input = React.createRef<HTMLInputElement>();
+
+    constructor(props: InputAttributes) {
+        super(props);
+        this.state = {
+            history: [],
+            index: 0,
+        };
+    }
+
+    setHistory(history: string[]): void {
+        this.setState(prevState => ({
+            ...prevState,
+            history,
+        }));
+    }
+
+    setIndex(index: number): void {
+        const { history } = this.state;
+        this.value = history[index];
+        this.setState(prevState => ({
+            ...prevState,
+            index,
+        }));
+    }
+
+    get value(): string {
+        return this.input.current?.value ?? '';
+    }
+
+    set value(value: string) {
+        if (this.input.current) {
+            this.input.current.value = value;
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Handle history navigation without overriding the parent's onKeyDown handler, if any.
+     */
+    protected readonly onKeyDown = (e: React.KeyboardEvent<HTMLInputElement>): void => {
+        if (Key.ARROW_UP.keyCode === KeyCode.createKeyCode(e.nativeEvent).key?.keyCode) {
+            e.preventDefault();
+            this.previousValue();
+        } else if (Key.ARROW_DOWN.keyCode === KeyCode.createKeyCode(e.nativeEvent).key?.keyCode) {
+            e.preventDefault();
+            this.nextValue();
+        }
+        this.props.onKeyDown?.(e);
+    };
+
+    /**
+     * Switch the input's text to the previous value, if any.
+     */
+    previousValue(): void {
+        const { history, index } = this.state;
+        if (!this.value) {
+            this.value = history[index];
+        } else if (index > 0 && index < history.length) {
+            this.setIndex(index - 1);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Switch the input's text to the next value, if any.
+     */
+    nextValue(): void {
+        const { history, index } = this.state;
+        if (index === history.length - 1) {
+            this.value = '';
+        } else if (!this.value) {
+            this.value = history[index];
+        } else if (index >= 0 && index < history.length - 1) {
+            this.setIndex(index + 1);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Handle history collection without overriding the parent's onChange handler, if any.
+     */
+    protected readonly onChange = (e: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>): void => {
+        this.addToHistory();
+        this.props.onChange?.(e);
+    };
+
+    /**
+     * Add a nonempty current value to the history, if not already present. (Debounced, 1 second delay.)
+     */
+    readonly addToHistory = debounce(this.doAddToHistory, 1000);
+
+    private doAddToHistory(): void {
+        if (!this.value) {
+            return;
+        }
+        const history = this.state.history
+            .filter(term => term !== this.value)
+            .concat(this.value)
+            .slice(-SearchInWorkspaceInput.LIMIT);
+        this.setHistory(history);
+        this.setIndex(history.length - 1);
+    }
+
+    render(): React.ReactNode {
+        return (
+            <input
+                {...this.props}
+                onKeyDown={this.onKeyDown}
+                onChange={this.onChange}
+                ref={this.input}
+            />
+        );
+    }
+}
diff --git a/packages/search-in-workspace/src/browser/search-in-workspace-widget.tsx b/packages/search-in-workspace/src/browser/search-in-workspace-widget.tsx
index b54c618dedb42..42ac99ab82ba2 100644
--- a/packages/search-in-workspace/src/browser/search-in-workspace-widget.tsx
+++ b/packages/search-in-workspace/src/browser/search-in-workspace-widget.tsx
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import { CancellationTokenSource } from '@theia/core';
 import { ProgressBarFactory } from '@theia/core/lib/browser/progress-bar-factory';
 import { EditorManager } from '@theia/editor/lib/browser';
 import { SearchInWorkspacePreferences } from './search-in-workspace-preferences';
+import { SearchInWorkspaceInput } from './components/search-in-workspace-input';
 
 export interface SearchFieldState {
     className: string;
@@ -63,6 +64,11 @@ export class SearchInWorkspaceWidget extends BaseWidget implements StatefulWidge
     protected searchTerm = '';
     protected replaceTerm = '';
 
+    private searchRef = React.createRef<SearchInWorkspaceInput>();
+    private replaceRef = React.createRef<SearchInWorkspaceInput>();
+    private includeRef = React.createRef<SearchInWorkspaceInput>();
+    private excludeRef = React.createRef<SearchInWorkspaceInput>();
+
     protected _showReplaceField = false;
     protected get showReplaceField(): boolean {
         return this._showReplaceField;
@@ -171,7 +177,11 @@ export class SearchInWorkspaceWidget extends BaseWidget implements StatefulWidge
             searchInWorkspaceOptions: this.searchInWorkspaceOptions,
             searchTerm: this.searchTerm,
             replaceTerm: this.replaceTerm,
-            showReplaceField: this.showReplaceField
+            showReplaceField: this.showReplaceField,
+            searchHistoryState: this.searchRef.current?.state,
+            replaceHistoryState: this.replaceRef.current?.state,
+            includeHistoryState: this.includeRef.current?.state,
+            excludeHistoryState: this.excludeRef.current?.state,
         };
     }
 
@@ -188,6 +198,10 @@ export class SearchInWorkspaceWidget extends BaseWidget implements StatefulWidge
         this.showReplaceField = oldState.showReplaceField;
         this.resultTreeWidget.replaceTerm = this.replaceTerm;
         this.resultTreeWidget.showReplaceButtons = this.showReplaceField;
+        this.searchRef.current?.setState(oldState.searchHistoryState);
+        this.replaceRef.current?.setState(oldState.replaceHistoryState);
+        this.includeRef.current?.setState(oldState.includeHistoryState);
+        this.excludeRef.current?.setState(oldState.excludeHistoryState);
         this.refresh();
     }
 
@@ -404,9 +418,7 @@ export class SearchInWorkspaceWidget extends BaseWidget implements StatefulWidge
     protected doSearch(e: React.KeyboardEvent): void {
         if (e.target) {
             const searchValue = (e.target as HTMLInputElement).value;
-            if (Key.ARROW_DOWN.keyCode === KeyCode.createKeyCode(e.nativeEvent).key?.keyCode) {
-                this.resultTreeWidget.focusFirstResult();
-            } else if (this.searchTerm === searchValue && Key.ENTER.keyCode !== KeyCode.createKeyCode(e.nativeEvent).key?.keyCode) {
+            if (this.searchTerm === searchValue && Key.ENTER.keyCode !== KeyCode.createKeyCode(e.nativeEvent).key?.keyCode) {
                 return;
             } else {
                 this.searchTerm = searchValue;
@@ -438,7 +450,7 @@ export class SearchInWorkspaceWidget extends BaseWidget implements StatefulWidge
     }
 
     protected renderSearchField(): React.ReactNode {
-        const input = <input
+        const input = <SearchInWorkspaceInput
             id='search-input-field'
             className='theia-input'
             title='Search'
@@ -451,7 +463,8 @@ export class SearchInWorkspaceWidget extends BaseWidget implements StatefulWidge
             onKeyDown={this.onKeyDownSearch}
             onFocus={this.handleFocusSearchInputBox}
             onBlur={this.handleBlurSearchInputBox}
-        ></input>;
+            ref={this.searchRef}
+        />;
         const notification = this.renderNotification();
         const optionContainer = this.renderOptionContainer();
         const tooMany = this.searchInWorkspaceOptions.maxResults && this.resultNumber >= this.searchInWorkspaceOptions.maxResults ? 'tooManyResults' : '';
@@ -481,7 +494,7 @@ export class SearchInWorkspaceWidget extends BaseWidget implements StatefulWidge
     protected renderReplaceField(): React.ReactNode {
         const replaceAllButtonContainer = this.renderReplaceAllButtonContainer();
         return <div className={`replace-field${this.showReplaceField ? '' : ' hidden'}`}>
-            <input
+            <SearchInWorkspaceInput
                 id='replace-input-field'
                 className='theia-input'
                 title='Replace'
@@ -491,8 +504,9 @@ export class SearchInWorkspaceWidget extends BaseWidget implements StatefulWidge
                 defaultValue={this.replaceTerm}
                 onKeyUp={this.updateReplaceTerm}
                 onFocus={this.handleFocusReplaceInputBox}
-                onBlur={this.handleBlurReplaceInputBox}>
-            </input>
+                onBlur={this.handleBlurReplaceInputBox}
+                ref={this.replaceRef}
+            />
             {replaceAllButtonContainer}
         </div>;
     }
@@ -575,7 +589,7 @@ export class SearchInWorkspaceWidget extends BaseWidget implements StatefulWidge
         const value = currentValue && currentValue.join(', ') || '';
         return <div className='glob-field'>
             <div className='label'>{'files to ' + kind}</div>
-            <input
+            <SearchInWorkspaceInput
                 className='theia-input'
                 type='text'
                 size={1}
@@ -608,7 +622,9 @@ export class SearchInWorkspaceWidget extends BaseWidget implements StatefulWidge
                     }
                 }}
                 onFocus={kind === 'include' ? this.handleFocusIncludesInputBox : this.handleFocusExcludesInputBox}
-                onBlur={kind === 'include' ? this.handleBlurIncludesInputBox : this.handleBlurExcludesInputBox}></input>
+                onBlur={kind === 'include' ? this.handleBlurIncludesInputBox : this.handleBlurExcludesInputBox}
+                ref={kind === 'include' ? this.includeRef : this.excludeRef}
+            />
         </div>;
     }