[KevinH]

What controls it is when you open it. That said, both CodeView and FindReplace have strong focus and will grab focus back and forth to aid in Find and Replace. Once you clicked the Find button, focus moved to the Codeview. In Sigil we track focus changes so that the last widget with focus is recorded.

FWIW, most users open it and select and have it auto close as insert special characters are relatively rare.

If you are opening Insert Special chars and leaving it open for long periods while constantly using it, then using clips may actually be easier as they always target CodeView.

Try creating clips for your most often used Insert Special Character values. I think you may find that does what you want.