diff --git a/src/plugins/notebook/components/Notebook.vue b/src/plugins/notebook/components/Notebook.vue
index 7ce16e14fa..026706025a 100644
--- a/src/plugins/notebook/components/Notebook.vue
+++ b/src/plugins/notebook/components/Notebook.vue
@@ -97,7 +97,8 @@
                                :selected-page="getSelectedPage()"
                                :selected-section="getSelectedSection()"
                                :read-only="false"
-                               @updateEntries="updateEntries"
+                               @deleteEntry="deleteEntry"
+                               @updateEntry="updateEntry"
                 />
             </div>
         </div>
@@ -111,7 +112,7 @@ import Search from '@/ui/components/search.vue';
 import SearchResults from './SearchResults.vue';
 import Sidebar from './Sidebar.vue';
 import { clearDefaultNotebook, getDefaultNotebook, setDefaultNotebook, setDefaultNotebookSection, setDefaultNotebookPage } from '../utils/notebook-storage';
-import { addNotebookEntry, createNewEmbed, getNotebookEntries, mutateObject } from '../utils/notebook-entries';
+import { addNotebookEntry, createNewEmbed, getEntryPosById, getNotebookEntries, mutateObject } from '../utils/notebook-entries';
 import objectUtils from 'objectUtils';
 
 import { throttle } from 'lodash';
@@ -244,6 +245,37 @@ export default {
                 section
             };
         },
+        deleteEntry(entryId) {
+            const self = this;
+            const entryPos = getEntryPosById(entryId, this.internalDomainObject, this.selectedSection, this.selectedPage);
+            if (entryPos === -1) {
+                this.openmct.notifications.alert('Warning: unable to delete entry');
+                console.error(`unable to delete entry ${entryId} from section ${this.selectedSection}, page ${this.selectedPage}`);
+
+                return;
+            }
+
+            const dialog = this.openmct.overlays.dialog({
+                iconClass: 'alert',
+                message: 'This action will permanently delete this entry. Do you wish to continue?',
+                buttons: [
+                    {
+                        label: "Ok",
+                        emphasis: true,
+                        callback: () => {
+                            const entries = getNotebookEntries(self.internalDomainObject, self.selectedSection, self.selectedPage);
+                            entries.splice(entryPos, 1);
+                            self.updateEntries(entries);
+                            dialog.dismiss();
+                        }
+                    },
+                    {
+                        label: "Cancel",
+                        callback: () => dialog.dismiss()
+                    }
+                ]
+            });
+        },
         dragOver(event) {
             event.preventDefault();
             event.dataTransfer.dropEffect = "copy";
@@ -540,6 +572,13 @@ export default {
 
             setDefaultNotebookSection(section);
         },
+        updateEntry(entry) {
+            const entries = getNotebookEntries(this.internalDomainObject, this.selectedSection, this.selectedPage);
+            const entryPos = getEntryPosById(entry.id, this.internalDomainObject, this.selectedSection, this.selectedPage);
+            entries[entryPos] = entry;
+
+            this.updateEntries(entries);
+        },
         updateEntries(entries) {
             const configuration = this.internalDomainObject.configuration;
             const notebookEntries = configuration.entries || {};
diff --git a/src/plugins/notebook/components/NotebookEntry.vue b/src/plugins/notebook/components/NotebookEntry.vue
index 289ad6cc4a..445aa41b8e 100644
--- a/src/plugins/notebook/components/NotebookEntry.vue
+++ b/src/plugins/notebook/components/NotebookEntry.vue
@@ -12,11 +12,15 @@
         <div class="c-ne__content">
             <div :id="entry.id"
                  class="c-ne__text"
-                 :class="{'c-ne__input' : !readOnly }"
+                 tabindex="0"
+                 :class="{ 'c-ne__input' : !readOnly }"
                  :contenteditable="!readOnly"
-                 @blur="updateEntryValue($event, entry.id)"
-                 @focus="updateCurrentEntryValue($event, entry.id)"
-            >{{ entry.text }}</div>
+                 @blur="updateEntryValue($event)"
+                 @keydown.enter.exact.prevent
+                 @keyup.enter.exact.prevent="forceBlur($event)"
+                 v-text="entry.text"
+            >
+            </div>
             <div class="c-snapshots c-ne__embeds">
                 <NotebookEmbed v-for="embed in entry.embeds"
                                :key="embed.id"
@@ -33,6 +37,7 @@
     >
         <button class="c-icon-button c-icon-button--major icon-trash"
                 title="Delete this entry"
+                tabindex="-1"
                 @click="deleteEntry"
         >
         </button>
@@ -57,7 +62,7 @@
 
 <script>
 import NotebookEmbed from './NotebookEmbed.vue';
-import { createNewEmbed, getEntryPosById, getNotebookEntries } from '../utils/notebook-entries';
+import { createNewEmbed } from '../utils/notebook-entries';
 import Moment from 'moment';
 
 export default {
@@ -103,11 +108,6 @@ export default {
             }
         }
     },
-    data() {
-        return {
-            currentEntryValue: ''
-        };
-    },
     computed: {
         createdOnDate() {
             return this.formatTime(this.entry.createdOn, 'YYYY-MM-DD');
@@ -117,10 +117,20 @@ export default {
         }
     },
     mounted() {
-        this.updateEntries = this.updateEntries.bind(this);
         this.dropOnEntry = this.dropOnEntry.bind(this);
     },
     methods: {
+        addNewEmbed(objectPath) {
+            const bounds = this.openmct.time.bounds();
+            const snapshotMeta = {
+                bounds,
+                link: null,
+                objectPath,
+                openmct: this.openmct
+            };
+            const newEmbed = createNewEmbed(snapshotMeta);
+            this.entry.embeds.push(newEmbed);
+        },
         cancelEditMode(event) {
             const isEditing = this.openmct.editor.isEditing();
             if (isEditing) {
@@ -132,63 +142,23 @@ export default {
             event.dataTransfer.dropEffect = "copy";
         },
         deleteEntry() {
-            const self = this;
-            const entryPosById = self.entryPosById(self.entry.id);
-            if (entryPosById === -1) {
-                return;
-            }
-
-            const dialog = this.openmct.overlays.dialog({
-                iconClass: 'alert',
-                message: 'This action will permanently delete this entry. Do you wish to continue?',
-                buttons: [
-                    {
-                        label: "Ok",
-                        emphasis: true,
-                        callback: () => {
-                            const entries = getNotebookEntries(self.domainObject, self.selectedSection, self.selectedPage);
-                            entries.splice(entryPosById, 1);
-                            self.updateEntries(entries);
-                            dialog.dismiss();
-                        }
-                    },
-                    {
-                        label: "Cancel",
-                        callback: () => {
-                            dialog.dismiss();
-                        }
-                    }
-                ]
-            });
+            this.$emit('deleteEntry', this.entry.id);
         },
         dropOnEntry($event) {
             event.stopImmediatePropagation();
 
             const snapshotId = $event.dataTransfer.getData('openmct/snapshot/id');
             if (snapshotId.length) {
-                this.moveSnapshot(snapshotId);
-
-                return;
+                const snapshot = this.snapshotContainer.getSnapshot(snapshotId);
+                this.snapshotContainer.removeSnapshot(snapshotId);
+                this.entry.embeds.push(snapshot);
+            } else {
+                const data = $event.dataTransfer.getData('openmct/domain-object-path');
+                const objectPath = JSON.parse(data);
+                this.addNewEmbed(objectPath);
             }
 
-            const data = $event.dataTransfer.getData('openmct/domain-object-path');
-            const objectPath = JSON.parse(data);
-            const entryPos = this.entryPosById(this.entry.id);
-            const bounds = this.openmct.time.bounds();
-            const snapshotMeta = {
-                bounds,
-                link: null,
-                objectPath,
-                openmct: this.openmct
-            };
-            const newEmbed = createNewEmbed(snapshotMeta);
-            const entries = getNotebookEntries(this.domainObject, this.selectedSection, this.selectedPage);
-            const currentEntryEmbeds = entries[entryPos].embeds;
-            currentEntryEmbeds.push(newEmbed);
-            this.updateEntries(entries);
-        },
-        entryPosById(entryId) {
-            return getEntryPosById(entryId, this.domainObject, this.selectedSection, this.selectedPage);
+            this.$emit('updateEntry', this.entry);
         },
         findPositionInArray(array, id) {
             let position = -1;
@@ -203,15 +173,12 @@ export default {
 
             return position;
         },
+        forceBlur(event) {
+            event.target.blur();
+        },
         formatTime(unixTime, timeFormat) {
             return Moment.utc(unixTime).format(timeFormat);
         },
-        moveSnapshot(snapshotId) {
-            const snapshot = this.snapshotContainer.getSnapshot(snapshotId);
-            this.entry.embeds.push(snapshot);
-            this.updateEntry(this.entry);
-            this.snapshotContainer.removeSnapshot(snapshotId);
-        },
         navigateToPage() {
             this.$emit('changeSectionPage', {
                 sectionId: this.result.section.id,
@@ -227,15 +194,8 @@ export default {
         removeEmbed(id) {
             const embedPosition = this.findPositionInArray(this.entry.embeds, id);
             this.entry.embeds.splice(embedPosition, 1);
-            this.updateEntry(this.entry);
-        },
-        updateCurrentEntryValue($event) {
-            if (this.readOnly) {
-                return;
-            }
 
-            const target = $event.target;
-            this.currentEntryValue = target ? target.textContent : '';
+            this.$emit('updateEntry', this.entry);
         },
         updateEmbed(newEmbed) {
             this.entry.embeds.some(e => {
@@ -247,44 +207,14 @@ export default {
                 return found;
             });
 
-            this.updateEntry(this.entry);
+            this.$emit('updateEntry', this.entry);
         },
-        updateEntry(newEntry) {
-            const entries = getNotebookEntries(this.domainObject, this.selectedSection, this.selectedPage);
-            entries.some(entry => {
-                const found = (entry.id === newEntry.id);
-                if (found) {
-                    entry = newEntry;
-                }
-
-                return found;
-            });
-
-            this.updateEntries(entries);
-        },
-        updateEntryValue($event, entryId) {
-            if (!this.domainObject || !this.selectedSection || !this.selectedPage) {
-                return;
+        updateEntryValue($event) {
+            const value = $event.target.innerText;
+            if (value !== this.entry.text && value.match(/\S/)) {
+                this.entry.text = value;
+                this.$emit('updateEntry', this.entry);
             }
-
-            const target = $event.target;
-            if (!target) {
-                return;
-            }
-
-            const entryPos = this.entryPosById(entryId);
-            const value = target.textContent.trim();
-            if (this.currentEntryValue !== value) {
-                target.textContent = value;
-
-                const entries = getNotebookEntries(this.domainObject, this.selectedSection, this.selectedPage);
-                entries[entryPos].text = value;
-
-                this.updateEntries(entries);
-            }
-        },
-        updateEntries(entries) {
-            this.$emit('updateEntries', entries);
         }
     }
 };
diff --git a/src/styles/notebook.scss b/src/styles/notebook.scss
index 20fc20cb94..e38d07c5b7 100644
--- a/src/styles/notebook.scss
+++ b/src/styles/notebook.scss
@@ -292,6 +292,8 @@
         &:focus {
             background: $colorInputBg;
         }
+
+        white-space: pre-wrap;
     }
 
     &__section-and-page {