diff --git a/src/components/EmojiPicker/EmojiPickerMenu/index.js b/src/components/EmojiPicker/EmojiPickerMenu/index.js
index 6e2856a7e058..61f6981edbbe 100755
--- a/src/components/EmojiPicker/EmojiPickerMenu/index.js
+++ b/src/components/EmojiPicker/EmojiPickerMenu/index.js
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@ class EmojiPickerMenu extends Component {
 
         this.filterEmojis = _.debounce(this.filterEmojis.bind(this), 300);
         this.highlightAdjacentEmoji = this.highlightAdjacentEmoji.bind(this);
-        this.scrollToHighlightedIndex = this.scrollToHighlightedIndex.bind(this);
         this.setupEventHandlers = this.setupEventHandlers.bind(this);
         this.cleanupEventHandlers = this.cleanupEventHandlers.bind(this);
         this.renderItem = this.renderItem.bind(this);
@@ -76,7 +75,6 @@ class EmojiPickerMenu extends Component {
         this.getItemLayout = this.getItemLayout.bind(this);
         this.scrollToHeader = this.scrollToHeader.bind(this);
 
-        this.currentScrollOffset = 0;
         this.firstNonHeaderIndex = 0;
 
         const {filteredEmojis, headerEmojis, headerRowIndices} = this.getEmojisAndHeaderRowIndices();
@@ -299,9 +297,9 @@ class EmojiPickerMenu extends Component {
                 return;
             }
 
-            // Blur the input and change the highlight type to keyboard
+            // Blur the input, change the highlight type to keyboard, and disable pointer events
             this.searchInput.blur();
-            this.setState({isUsingKeyboardMovement: true});
+            this.setState({isUsingKeyboardMovement: true, arePointerEventsDisabled: true});
 
             // We only want to hightlight the Emoji if none was highlighted already
             // If we already have a highlighted Emoji, lets just skip the first navigation
@@ -311,10 +309,9 @@ class EmojiPickerMenu extends Component {
         }
 
         // If nothing is highlighted and an arrow key is pressed
-        // select the first emoji
+        // select the first emoji, apply keyboard movement styles, and disable pointer events
         if (this.state.highlightedIndex === -1) {
-            this.setState({highlightedIndex: this.firstNonHeaderIndex});
-            this.scrollToHighlightedIndex();
+            this.setState({highlightedIndex: this.firstNonHeaderIndex, isUsingKeyboardMovement: true, arePointerEventsDisabled: true});
             return;
         }
 
@@ -368,10 +365,9 @@ class EmojiPickerMenu extends Component {
                 break;
         }
 
-        // Actually highlight the new emoji, apply keyboard movement styles, and scroll to it if the index was changed
+        // Actually highlight the new emoji, apply keyboard movement styles, and disable pointer events
         if (newIndex !== this.state.highlightedIndex) {
-            this.setState({highlightedIndex: newIndex, isUsingKeyboardMovement: true});
-            this.scrollToHighlightedIndex();
+            this.setState({highlightedIndex: newIndex, isUsingKeyboardMovement: true, arePointerEventsDisabled: true});
         }
     }
 
@@ -381,36 +377,6 @@ class EmojiPickerMenu extends Component {
         this.emojiList.scrollToOffset({offset: calculatedOffset, animated: true});
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Calculates the required scroll offset (aka distance from top) and scrolls the FlatList to the highlighted emoji
-     * if any portion of it falls outside of the window.
-     * Doing this because scrollToIndex doesn't work as expected.
-     */
-    scrollToHighlightedIndex() {
-        // Calculate the number of rows above the current row, then add 1 to include the current row
-        const numRows = Math.floor(this.state.highlightedIndex / CONST.EMOJI_NUM_PER_ROW) + 1;
-
-        // The scroll offsets at the top and bottom of the highlighted emoji
-        const offsetAtEmojiBottom = numRows * CONST.EMOJI_PICKER_HEADER_HEIGHT;
-        const offsetAtEmojiTop = offsetAtEmojiBottom - CONST.EMOJI_PICKER_ITEM_HEIGHT;
-
-        // Scroll to fit the entire highlighted emoji into the window if we need to
-        let targetOffset = this.currentScrollOffset;
-        if (offsetAtEmojiBottom - this.currentScrollOffset >= CONST.NON_NATIVE_EMOJI_PICKER_LIST_HEIGHT) {
-            targetOffset = offsetAtEmojiBottom - CONST.NON_NATIVE_EMOJI_PICKER_LIST_HEIGHT;
-        } else if (offsetAtEmojiTop - CONST.EMOJI_PICKER_HEADER_HEIGHT <= this.currentScrollOffset) {
-            // There is always a sticky header on the top, subtract the EMOJI_PICKER_HEADER_HEIGHT from offsetAtEmojiTop to get the correct scroll position.
-            targetOffset = offsetAtEmojiTop - CONST.EMOJI_PICKER_HEADER_HEIGHT;
-        }
-        if (targetOffset !== this.currentScrollOffset) {
-            // Disable pointer events so that onHover doesn't get triggered when the items move while we're scrolling
-            if (!this.state.arePointerEventsDisabled) {
-                this.setState({arePointerEventsDisabled: true});
-            }
-            this.emojiList.scrollToOffset({offset: targetOffset, animated: false});
-        }
-    }
-
     /**
      * Filter the entire list of emojis to only emojis that have the search term in their keywords
      *
@@ -530,6 +496,7 @@ class EmojiPickerMenu extends Component {
         return (
             <View
                 style={[styles.emojiPickerContainer, StyleUtils.getEmojiPickerStyle(this.props.isSmallScreenWidth)]}
+                // Disable pointer events so that onHover doesn't get triggered when the items move while we're scrolling
                 pointerEvents={this.state.arePointerEventsDisabled ? 'none' : 'auto'}
             >
                 <View style={[styles.ph4, styles.pb3, styles.pt2]}>
@@ -566,10 +533,11 @@ class EmojiPickerMenu extends Component {
                         {overscrollBehaviorY: 'contain'},
                         // Set overflow to hidden to prevent elastic scrolling when there are not enough contents to scroll in FlatList
                         {overflowY: this.state.filteredEmojis.length > overflowLimit ? 'auto' : 'hidden'},
+                        // Set scrollPaddingTop to consider sticky headers while scrolling
+                        {scrollPaddingTop: isFiltered ? 0 : CONST.EMOJI_PICKER_ITEM_HEIGHT},
                     ]}
                     extraData={[this.state.filteredEmojis, this.state.highlightedIndex, this.props.preferredSkinTone]}
                     stickyHeaderIndices={this.state.headerIndices}
-                    onScroll={(e) => (this.currentScrollOffset = e.nativeEvent.contentOffset.y)}
                     getItemLayout={this.getItemLayout}
                     contentContainerStyle={styles.flexGrow1}
                     ListEmptyComponent={<Text style={[styles.textLabel, styles.colorMuted]}>{this.props.translate('common.noResultsFound')}</Text>}
diff --git a/src/components/EmojiPicker/EmojiPickerMenuItem/index.js b/src/components/EmojiPicker/EmojiPickerMenuItem/index.js
index 37e90f01c707..728e56792ddb 100644
--- a/src/components/EmojiPicker/EmojiPickerMenuItem/index.js
+++ b/src/components/EmojiPicker/EmojiPickerMenuItem/index.js
@@ -42,13 +42,14 @@ class EmojiPickerMenuItem extends PureComponent {
         super(props);
 
         this.ref = null;
+        this.focusAndScroll = this.focusAndScroll.bind(this);
     }
 
     componentDidMount() {
         if (!this.props.isFocused) {
             return;
         }
-        this.ref.focus();
+        this.focusAndScroll();
     }
 
     componentDidUpdate(prevProps) {
@@ -58,7 +59,12 @@ class EmojiPickerMenuItem extends PureComponent {
         if (!this.props.isFocused) {
             return;
         }
-        this.ref.focus();
+        this.focusAndScroll();
+    }
+
+    focusAndScroll() {
+        this.ref.focus({preventScroll: true});
+        this.ref.scrollIntoView({block: 'nearest'});
     }
 
     render() {