diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index da18cc8d4c8..82209d78213 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ## [`master`](https://github.com/elastic/eui/tree/master)
 
 - Added some opacity options to `EuiLineSeries` and `EuiAreaSeries` ([#1198](https://github.com/elastic/eui/pull/1198))
+- Added `initialFocus` prop for focus trapping to `EuiPopover` and `EuiModal` ([#1099](https://github.com/elastic/eui/pull/1099))
 
 ## [`4.1.0`](https://github.com/elastic/eui/tree/v4.1.0)
 
diff --git a/src-docs/src/views/modal/modal.js b/src-docs/src/views/modal/modal.js
index 0633d2d0303..43c774ccd86 100644
--- a/src-docs/src/views/modal/modal.js
+++ b/src-docs/src/views/modal/modal.js
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ export class Modal extends Component {
         <EuiOverlayMask>
           <EuiModal
             onClose={this.closeModal}
+            initialFocus="[name=popswitch]"
           >
             <EuiModalHeader>
               <EuiModalHeaderTitle >
diff --git a/src-docs/src/views/popover/trap_focus.js b/src-docs/src/views/popover/trap_focus.js
index bb8846c650b..1c4f3bbbda9 100644
--- a/src-docs/src/views/popover/trap_focus.js
+++ b/src-docs/src/views/popover/trap_focus.js
@@ -48,23 +48,24 @@ export default class extends Component {
         button={button}
         isOpen={this.state.isPopoverOpen}
         closePopover={this.closePopover.bind(this)}
+        initialFocus="[id=asdf2]"
       >
         <EuiFormRow
           label="Generate a public snapshot?"
+          id="asdf"
         >
           <EuiSwitch
             name="switch"
-            id="asdf"
             label="Snapshot data"
           />
         </EuiFormRow>
 
         <EuiFormRow
           label="Include the following in the embed"
+          id="asdf2"
         >
           <EuiSwitch
             name="switch"
-            id="asdf2"
             label="Current time range"
           />
         </EuiFormRow>
diff --git a/src/components/form/switch/__snapshots__/switch.test.js.snap b/src/components/form/switch/__snapshots__/switch.test.js.snap
index c4f178c0c99..1e7b46f8300 100644
--- a/src/components/form/switch/__snapshots__/switch.test.js.snap
+++ b/src/components/form/switch/__snapshots__/switch.test.js.snap
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ exports[`EuiSwitch is rendered 1`] = `
     aria-label="aria-label"
     class="euiSwitch__input"
     data-test-subj="test subject string"
+    id="test"
     type="checkbox"
   />
   <span
diff --git a/src/components/form/switch/switch.js b/src/components/form/switch/switch.js
index 21ff1551772..6a786dcccfa 100644
--- a/src/components/form/switch/switch.js
+++ b/src/components/form/switch/switch.js
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ export class EuiSwitch extends Component {
     super(props);
 
     this.state = {
-      id: props.id || makeId(),
+      switchId: props.id || makeId(),
     };
   }
 
diff --git a/src/components/modal/modal.js b/src/components/modal/modal.js
index 70e002552dd..2d59252791b 100644
--- a/src/components/modal/modal.js
+++ b/src/components/modal/modal.js
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ export class EuiModal extends Component {
     const {
       className,
       children,
+      initialFocus,
       onClose, // eslint-disable-line no-unused-vars
       maxWidth,
       style,
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ export class EuiModal extends Component {
       <FocusTrap
         focusTrapOptions={{
           fallbackFocus: () => this.modal,
+          initialFocus,
         }}
       >
         {
@@ -89,6 +91,12 @@ EuiModal.propTypes = {
     PropTypes.number,
     PropTypes.string,
   ]),
+  /** specifies what element should initially have focus; Can be a DOM node, or a selector string (which will be passed to document.querySelector() to find the DOM node), or a function that returns a DOM node. */
+  initialFocus: PropTypes.oneOfType([
+    PropTypes.instanceOf(HTMLElement),
+    PropTypes.func,
+    PropTypes.string,
+  ]),
 };
 
 EuiModal.defaultProps = {
diff --git a/src/components/overlay_mask/overlay_mask.js b/src/components/overlay_mask/overlay_mask.js
index cc60eb2a4f3..4032f639dce 100644
--- a/src/components/overlay_mask/overlay_mask.js
+++ b/src/components/overlay_mask/overlay_mask.js
@@ -33,11 +33,12 @@ export class EuiOverlayMask extends Component {
       }
       this.overlayMaskNode.setAttribute(key, rest[key]);
     });
+
+    document.body.appendChild(this.overlayMaskNode);
   }
 
   componentDidMount() {
     document.body.classList.add('euiBody-hasOverlayMask');
-    document.body.appendChild(this.overlayMaskNode);
   }
 
   componentWillUnmount() {
diff --git a/src/components/popover/popover.js b/src/components/popover/popover.js
index 12dd244dc43..4b91bd030e0 100644
--- a/src/components/popover/popover.js
+++ b/src/components/popover/popover.js
@@ -76,6 +76,13 @@ const DEFAULT_POPOVER_STYLES = {
 
 const GROUP_NUMERIC = /^([\d.]+)/;
 
+function getElementFromInitialFocus(initialFocus) {
+  const initialFocusType = typeof initialFocus;
+  if (initialFocusType === 'string') return document.querySelector(initialFocus);
+  if (initialFocusType === 'function') return initialFocus();
+  return initialFocus;
+}
+
 export class EuiPopover extends Component {
   static getDerivedStateFromProps(nextProps, prevState) {
     if (prevState.prevProps.isOpen && !nextProps.isOpen) {
@@ -139,10 +146,25 @@ export class EuiPopover extends Component {
       }
 
       // Otherwise let's focus the first tabbable item and expedite input from the user.
-      const tabbableItems = tabbable(this.panel);
-      if (tabbableItems.length) {
-        tabbableItems[0].focus();
+      let focusTarget;
+
+      if (this.props.initialFocus != null) {
+        focusTarget = getElementFromInitialFocus(this.props.initialFocus);
+        // there's a race condition between the popover content becoming visible and this function call
+        // if the element isn't visible yet (due to css styling) then it can't accept focus
+        // so wait for another render and try again
+        const visibility = window.getComputedStyle(focusTarget).visibility;
+        if (visibility === 'hidden') {
+          this.updateFocus();
+        }
+      } else {
+        const tabbableItems = tabbable(this.panel);
+        if (tabbableItems.length) {
+          focusTarget = tabbableItems[0];
+        }
       }
+
+      if (focusTarget != null) focusTarget.focus();
     });
   }
 
@@ -311,6 +333,7 @@ export class EuiPopover extends Component {
       hasArrow,
       repositionOnScroll, // eslint-disable-line no-unused-vars
       zIndex, // eslint-disable-line no-unused-vars
+      initialFocus, // eslint-disable-line no-unused-vars
       ...rest
     } = this.props;
 
@@ -444,6 +467,12 @@ EuiPopover.propTypes = {
   repositionOnScroll: PropTypes.bool,
   /** By default, popover content inherits the z-index of the anchor component; pass zIndex to override */
   zIndex: PropTypes.number,
+  /** specifies what element should initially have focus; Can be a DOM node, or a selector string (which will be passed to document.querySelector() to find the DOM node), or a function that returns a DOM node. */
+  initialFocus: PropTypes.oneOfType([
+    PropTypes.instanceOf(HTMLElement),
+    PropTypes.func,
+    PropTypes.string,
+  ]),
 };
 
 EuiPopover.defaultProps = {