diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-theme-search-algolia/package.json b/packages/docusaurus-theme-search-algolia/package.json
index 8dd8fe8f8845..39c561497455 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-theme-search-algolia/package.json
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-theme-search-algolia/package.json
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
   },
   "license": "MIT",
   "dependencies": {
-    "@docsearch/react": "^1.0.0-alpha.24",
+    "@docsearch/react": "^1.0.0-alpha.25",
     "@hapi/joi": "^17.1.1",
     "algoliasearch": "^4.0.0",
     "algoliasearch-helper": "^3.1.1",
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-theme-search-algolia/src/theme/SearchBar/index.js b/packages/docusaurus-theme-search-algolia/src/theme/SearchBar/index.js
index 0b886618a0ee..035636697fb3 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-theme-search-algolia/src/theme/SearchBar/index.js
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-theme-search-algolia/src/theme/SearchBar/index.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
  */
 
-import React, {useState, useCallback} from 'react';
+import React, {useState, useRef, useCallback} from 'react';
 import {createPortal} from 'react-dom';
 import useDocusaurusContext from '@docusaurus/useDocusaurusContext';
 import {useHistory} from '@docusaurus/router';
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@ function DocSearch(props) {
   const {siteMetadata} = useDocusaurusContext();
   const {withBaseUrl} = useBaseUrlUtils();
   const history = useHistory();
+  const searchButtonRef = useRef(null);
   const [isOpen, setIsOpen] = useState(false);
+  const [initialQuery, setInitialQuery] = useState(null);
 
   const importDocSearchModalIfNeeded = useCallback(() => {
     if (DocSearchModal) {
@@ -61,7 +63,23 @@ function DocSearch(props) {
     setIsOpen(false);
   }, [setIsOpen]);
 
-  useDocSearchKeyboardEvents({isOpen, onOpen, onClose});
+  const onInput = useCallback(
+    (event) => {
+      importDocSearchModalIfNeeded().then(() => {
+        setIsOpen(true);
+        setInitialQuery(event.key);
+      });
+    },
+    [importDocSearchModalIfNeeded, setIsOpen, setInitialQuery],
+  );
+
+  useDocSearchKeyboardEvents({
+    isOpen,
+    onOpen,
+    onClose,
+    onInput,
+    searchButtonRef,
+  });
 
   return (
     <>
@@ -81,7 +99,7 @@ function DocSearch(props) {
         onFocus={importDocSearchModalIfNeeded}
         onMouseOver={importDocSearchModalIfNeeded}
         onClick={onOpen}
-        aria-label="Search"
+        ref={searchButtonRef}
       />
 
       {isOpen &&
@@ -89,6 +107,7 @@ function DocSearch(props) {
           <DocSearchModal
             onClose={onClose}
             initialScrollY={window.scrollY}
+            initialQuery={initialQuery}
             navigator={{
               navigate({suggestionUrl}) {
                 history.push(suggestionUrl);
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 25dd2419801c..19af5519ec02 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -1764,19 +1764,19 @@
     enabled "2.0.x"
     kuler "^2.0.0"
 
-"@docsearch/css@^1.0.0-alpha.24":
-  version "1.0.0-alpha.24"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@docsearch/css/-/css-1.0.0-alpha.24.tgz#a2e8d7e7ac50ebea17f90e974c5174b0d1a5c855"
-  integrity sha512-BCNomH+wdpg+hWTCczwQATS4hbztOvzU/6GXco+KIgVrvpTovtPsS7BYTQMCRhs2gPSk3p3DqgW95mwCoAvt0w==
-
-"@docsearch/react@^1.0.0-alpha.24":
-  version "1.0.0-alpha.24"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@docsearch/react/-/react-1.0.0-alpha.24.tgz#c0fb18e0df9494b86e50588892a0b25e293aa0ac"
-  integrity sha512-abfYBMrZcxmUhyxjdYPCRqBCC5XMilKEmondjkjUQG0W1sYmpjrVOMYBiTq6ZTW+7urVvXPjD9bm0fBZnlI9ow==
-  dependencies:
-    "@docsearch/css" "^1.0.0-alpha.24"
-    "@francoischalifour/autocomplete-core" "^1.0.0-alpha.24"
-    "@francoischalifour/autocomplete-preset-algolia" "^1.0.0-alpha.24"
+"@docsearch/css@^1.0.0-alpha.25":
+  version "1.0.0-alpha.25"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@docsearch/css/-/css-1.0.0-alpha.25.tgz#08eb99fc8364c71427e0885cb09892c607e0617a"
+  integrity sha512-Mq2rFnq/SyQhDah/YjvE0dLnz8JozncOCKPqjbfyt/Q5sJwJhNfUlrZhvk2OgOirKX4izYrFq4PZgGKDokiEgQ==
+
+"@docsearch/react@^1.0.0-alpha.25":
+  version "1.0.0-alpha.25"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@docsearch/react/-/react-1.0.0-alpha.25.tgz#e3bf76e888b28c1b37c6412fd99939b83a10eca6"
+  integrity sha512-s2hwj47lcpNBZVYojhbMZZ+grzm1AFFcbkgJYAl97rgzvG5X7lr8sGvzEIgjlE64t4T6FWtrM/B8XxZq1K9SxA==
+  dependencies:
+    "@docsearch/css" "^1.0.0-alpha.25"
+    "@francoischalifour/autocomplete-core" "^1.0.0-alpha.25"
+    "@francoischalifour/autocomplete-preset-algolia" "^1.0.0-alpha.25"
     algoliasearch "^4.0.0"
 
 "@endiliey/react-ideal-image@^0.0.11":
@@ -1876,15 +1876,15 @@
     unique-filename "^1.1.1"
     which "^1.3.1"
 
-"@francoischalifour/autocomplete-core@^1.0.0-alpha.24":
-  version "1.0.0-alpha.24"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@francoischalifour/autocomplete-core/-/autocomplete-core-1.0.0-alpha.24.tgz#fc71704a17cf9326a66d97134508abdf02313181"
-  integrity sha512-rdWCKeIeDYjUXokdoyRNrFTreGZ8WLO/mhxAIWyLJ8ymdfXsortJqPL3fSDe57khXllGaZc/qxNsZi5RrpDRmQ==
+"@francoischalifour/autocomplete-core@^1.0.0-alpha.25":
+  version "1.0.0-alpha.25"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@francoischalifour/autocomplete-core/-/autocomplete-core-1.0.0-alpha.25.tgz#16a2a88ec0919b90fa3378f1f3652ff8f9df2a05"
+  integrity sha512-wQjL1NjgGGlbeTa+fg1+HNoUiJ0+a32xEE+8wKKHu1FX4dH/FRMkn8sEulsq6QHZyg41YMeJkOUHUwBnNtyWeA==
 
-"@francoischalifour/autocomplete-preset-algolia@^1.0.0-alpha.24":
-  version "1.0.0-alpha.24"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@francoischalifour/autocomplete-preset-algolia/-/autocomplete-preset-algolia-1.0.0-alpha.24.tgz#f305d529d9e6c31b7e14d7aff45e912a23b187e5"
-  integrity sha512-LHcbVKZaki42J30zg30ZoAuEJVysfIMSE91JT9YuOnpch+26hC8Vff9VlCs+6ACYxXGuGHdX7uuKYOx7GcoQ3A==
+"@francoischalifour/autocomplete-preset-algolia@^1.0.0-alpha.25":
+  version "1.0.0-alpha.25"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@francoischalifour/autocomplete-preset-algolia/-/autocomplete-preset-algolia-1.0.0-alpha.25.tgz#703eb85d4f55eab66fd9cf5f18749ee830093f78"
+  integrity sha512-tXrNYJ5my5LzphHfVLzSkuH2XMOn8CnLkG/FkaoiNeFQ97NpYrI0LOQxOPloalz2/dulgvvSqIg85XGzjAKfEg==
 
 "@hapi/address@2.x.x":
   version "2.1.4"