diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 49820c03918..5d8e0139f64 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 ### UI Improvements
 
 1. [12782](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb/pull/12782): Move bucket selection in the query builder to the first card in the list
+1. [12850](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb/pull/12850): Ensure editor is automatically focused in note editor
 
 ## v2.0.0-alpha.6 [2019-03-15]
 
diff --git a/ui/src/dashboards/components/NoteEditorText.tsx b/ui/src/dashboards/components/NoteEditorText.tsx
index 4637f0828d5..a0dd445515c 100644
--- a/ui/src/dashboards/components/NoteEditorText.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/dashboards/components/NoteEditorText.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 // Libraries
 import React, {PureComponent} from 'react'
-import {Controlled as ReactCodeMirror} from 'react-codemirror2'
+import {Controlled as ReactCodeMirror, IInstance} from 'react-codemirror2'
 
 // Utils
 import {humanizeNote} from 'src/dashboards/utils/notes'
@@ -35,10 +35,15 @@ class NoteEditorText extends PureComponent<Props, {}> {
         options={OPTIONS}
         onBeforeChange={this.handleChange}
         onTouchStart={noOp}
+        editorDidMount={this.handleMount}
       />
     )
   }
 
+  private handleMount = (instance: IInstance) => {
+    instance.focus()
+  }
+
   private handleChange = (_, __, note: string) => {
     const {onChangeNote} = this.props