diff --git a/packages/dashboard/src/vaadin-dashboard-widget.js b/packages/dashboard/src/vaadin-dashboard-widget.js
index e98de48f43..6785a52cbf 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/src/vaadin-dashboard-widget.js
+++ b/packages/dashboard/src/vaadin-dashboard-widget.js
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ class DashboardWidget extends DashboardItemMixin(ControllerMixin(ElementMixin(Po
           cursor: grab;
           line-height: 1;
           z-index: 1;
+          overflow: hidden;
         }
 
         #resize-handle::before {
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/src/vaadin-dashboard.js b/packages/dashboard/src/vaadin-dashboard.js
index 9eb832ea14..e022f9d822 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/src/vaadin-dashboard.js
+++ b/packages/dashboard/src/vaadin-dashboard.js
@@ -191,6 +191,11 @@ class Dashboard extends ControllerMixin(DashboardLayoutMixin(ElementMixin(Themab
     let wrappers = [...hostElement.children].filter((el) => el.localName === WRAPPER_LOCAL_NAME);
     let previousWrapper = null;
 
+    const focusedWrapper = wrappers.find((wrapper) => wrapper.querySelector('[focused]'));
+    const focusedWrapperWillBeRemoved = focusedWrapper && !this.__isActiveWrapper(focusedWrapper);
+    const wrapperClosestToRemovedFocused =
+      focusedWrapperWillBeRemoved && this.__getClosestActiveWrapper(focusedWrapper);
+
     items.forEach((item) => {
       // Find the wrapper for the item or create a new one
       const wrapper = wrappers.find((el) => el.__item === item) || this.__createWrapper(item);
@@ -230,6 +235,55 @@ class Dashboard extends ControllerMixin(DashboardLayoutMixin(ElementMixin(Themab
 
     // Remove the unused wrappers
     wrappers.forEach((wrapper) => wrapper.remove());
+
+    if (focusedWrapperWillBeRemoved) {
+      // The wrapper containing the focused element was removed. Try to focus the element in the closest wrapper.
+      requestAnimationFrame(() =>
+        this.__focusWrapperContent(wrapperClosestToRemovedFocused || this.querySelector(WRAPPER_LOCAL_NAME)),
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
+  /** @private */
+  __focusWrapperContent(wrapper) {
+    if (wrapper && wrapper.firstElementChild) {
+      wrapper.firstElementChild.focus();
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Checks if the wrapper represents an item that is part of the dashboard's items array
+   * @private
+   */
+  __isActiveWrapper(wrapper) {
+    if (!wrapper || wrapper.localName !== WRAPPER_LOCAL_NAME) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    return getItemsArrayOfItem(getElementItem(wrapper), this.items);
+  }
+
+  /** @private */
+  __getClosestActiveWrapper(wrapper) {
+    if (!wrapper || this.__isActiveWrapper(wrapper)) {
+      return wrapper;
+    }
+
+    // Starting from the given wrapper element, iterates through the siblings in the given direction
+    // to find the closest wrapper that represents an item in the dashboard's items array
+    const findSiblingWrapper = (wrapper, dir) => {
+      while (wrapper) {
+        if (this.__isActiveWrapper(wrapper)) {
+          return wrapper;
+        }
+        wrapper = dir === 1 ? wrapper.nextElementSibling : wrapper.previousElementSibling;
+      }
+    };
+
+    return (
+      findSiblingWrapper(wrapper, 1) ||
+      findSiblingWrapper(wrapper, -1) ||
+      this.__getClosestActiveWrapper(wrapper.parentElement.closest(WRAPPER_LOCAL_NAME))
+    );
   }
 
   /** @private */
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/test/dashboard.test.ts b/packages/dashboard/test/dashboard.test.ts
index 9f27f63507..fa842cca10 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/test/dashboard.test.ts
+++ b/packages/dashboard/test/dashboard.test.ts
@@ -5,10 +5,12 @@ import '../vaadin-dashboard.js';
 import type { CustomElementType } from '@vaadin/component-base/src/define.js';
 import type { DashboardSection } from '../src/vaadin-dashboard-section.js';
 import type { DashboardWidget } from '../src/vaadin-dashboard-widget.js';
-import type { Dashboard, DashboardItem } from '../vaadin-dashboard.js';
+import type { Dashboard, DashboardItem, DashboardSectionItem } from '../vaadin-dashboard.js';
 import {
+  expectLayout,
   getDraggable,
   getElementFromCell,
+  getParentSection,
   getRemoveButton,
   getResizeHandle,
   onceResized,
@@ -503,6 +505,7 @@ describe('dashboard', () => {
         if (!widget || widget.tabIndex !== 0) {
           root.textContent = '';
           widget = document.createElement('vaadin-dashboard-widget');
+          widget.id = model.item.id;
           widget.tabIndex = 0;
           root.appendChild(widget);
         }
@@ -563,5 +566,109 @@ describe('dashboard', () => {
       const removeButton = getRemoveButton(section);
       expect(removeButton.getBoundingClientRect().height).to.be.above(0);
     });
+
+    describe('focus restore on focused item removal', () => {
+      beforeEach(async () => {
+        dashboard.editable = true;
+        await nextFrame();
+
+        dashboard.items = [
+          { id: 'Item 0' },
+          { id: 'Item 1' },
+          { title: 'Section', items: [{ id: 'Item 2' }, { id: 'Item 3' }] },
+        ];
+        await nextFrame();
+
+        /* prettier-ignore */
+        expectLayout(dashboard, [
+          [0, 1],
+          [2, 3]
+        ]);
+      });
+
+      async function renderAndFocusRestore() {
+        // Wait for the updated wrapper layout to be rendered
+        await nextFrame();
+        // Wait for the wrapper widgets to be rendered
+        await nextFrame();
+      }
+
+      it('should focus next widget on focused widget removal', async () => {
+        getElementFromCell(dashboard, 0, 0)!.focus();
+        dashboard.items = dashboard.items.slice(1);
+        await renderAndFocusRestore();
+        expect(document.activeElement).to.equal(getElementFromCell(dashboard, 0, 0)!);
+      });
+
+      it('should focus the previous widget on focused widget removal', async () => {
+        const sectionWidget = getElementFromCell(dashboard, 1, 1)!;
+        getParentSection(sectionWidget)!.focus();
+        dashboard.items = dashboard.items.slice(0, 2);
+        await renderAndFocusRestore();
+        expect(document.activeElement).to.equal(getElementFromCell(dashboard, 0, 1)!);
+      });
+
+      it('should focus the first widget on focused widget removal', async () => {
+        getElementFromCell(dashboard, 1, 0)!.focus();
+        dashboard.items = [dashboard.items[0]];
+        await renderAndFocusRestore();
+        expect(document.activeElement).to.equal(getElementFromCell(dashboard, 0, 0)!);
+      });
+
+      it('should focus the last widget on focused widget removal', async () => {
+        getElementFromCell(dashboard, 0, 0)!.focus();
+        dashboard.items = [dashboard.items[2]];
+        await renderAndFocusRestore();
+        expect(document.activeElement).to.equal(getParentSection(getElementFromCell(dashboard, 0, 0))!);
+      });
+
+      it('should focus a root level widget on focused section removal', async () => {
+        getElementFromCell(dashboard, 1, 0)!.focus();
+        dashboard.items = dashboard.items.slice(0, 2);
+        await renderAndFocusRestore();
+        expect(document.activeElement).to.equal(getElementFromCell(dashboard, 0, 1)!);
+      });
+
+      it('should focus the section on focused section widget removal', async () => {
+        const widget = getElementFromCell(dashboard, 1, 0)!;
+        const section = getParentSection(widget)!;
+        widget.focus();
+        (dashboard.items[2] as DashboardSectionItem<TestDashboardItem>).items = [];
+        dashboard.items = [...dashboard.items];
+
+        await renderAndFocusRestore();
+        expect(document.activeElement).to.equal(section);
+      });
+
+      it('should focus the body on all items removal', async () => {
+        getElementFromCell(dashboard, 0, 0)!.focus();
+        dashboard.items = [];
+        await renderAndFocusRestore();
+        expect(document.activeElement).to.equal(document.body);
+      });
+
+      it('should focus a new widget when items are replaced', async () => {
+        getElementFromCell(dashboard, 0, 0)!.focus();
+        await nextFrame();
+        dashboard.items = [{ id: 'Item 100' }];
+        await renderAndFocusRestore();
+        expect(document.activeElement).to.equal(getElementFromCell(dashboard, 0, 0)!);
+      });
+
+      it('should not restore focus if no widget had focus', async () => {
+        dashboard.items = dashboard.items.slice(1);
+        await renderAndFocusRestore();
+        expect(document.activeElement).to.equal(document.body);
+      });
+
+      it('should not try to focus an empty wrapper', async () => {
+        getElementFromCell(dashboard, 0, 0)!.focus();
+        dashboard.renderer = (root) => {
+          root.textContent = '';
+        };
+        dashboard.items = dashboard.items.slice(1);
+        await renderAndFocusRestore();
+      });
+    });
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/test/helpers.ts b/packages/dashboard/test/helpers.ts
index d40d040de7..7ed17af0f3 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/test/helpers.ts
+++ b/packages/dashboard/test/helpers.ts
@@ -14,11 +14,11 @@ export function getScrollingContainer(dashboard: Element): Element {
   return getCssGrid(dashboard);
 }
 
-export function getParentSection(element?: Element | null): Element | null {
+export function getParentSection(element?: Element | null): DashboardSection | null {
   if (!element) {
     return null;
   }
-  return element.closest('vaadin-dashboard-section');
+  return element.closest('vaadin-dashboard-section') as DashboardSection;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ function _getElementFromCell(dashboard: HTMLElement, rowIndex: number, columnInd
   const y = top + rowHeights.slice(0, rowIndex).reduce((sum, height) => sum + height, 0);
 
   return document
-    .elementsFromPoint(x + (columnWidths[columnIndex] / 2) * (rtl ? -1 : 1), y + rowHeights[rowIndex] - 1)
+    .elementsFromPoint(x + (columnWidths[columnIndex] / 2) * (rtl ? -1 : 1), y + rowHeights[rowIndex] - 10)
     .reverse()
     .find(
       (element) =>
@@ -165,7 +165,8 @@ export function expectLayout(dashboard: HTMLElement, layout: Array<Array<number
       if (!element) {
         actualRow.push(null);
       } else {
-        actualRow.push(parseInt(element.id.replace('item-', '')));
+        // TODO: Just use a number for all test item IDs
+        actualRow.push(parseInt(element.id.replace('item-', '').replace('Item ', ''), 10));
       }
     });
   });