diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/rows.js b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/rows.js
index 34ba77afa2..f4b0e97942 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/rows.js
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/rows.js
@@ -328,25 +328,34 @@ export const createActions = context => {
   }
 
   // Patches a row with some changes
-  const updateRow = async (rowId, changes, options = { save: true }) => {
+  const updateRow = async (
+    rowId,
+    changes,
+    options = { save: true, force: false }
+  ) => {
     const $rows = get(rows)
     const $rowLookupMap = get(rowLookupMap)
     const index = $rowLookupMap[rowId]
     const row = $rows[index]
-    if (index == null || !Object.keys(changes || {}).length) {
+    if (index == null) {
+      return
+    }
+    if (!options?.force && !Object.keys(changes || {}).length) {
       return
     }
 
     // Abandon if no changes
-    let same = true
-    for (let column of Object.keys(changes)) {
-      if (row[column] !== changes[column]) {
-        same = false
-        break
+    if (!options?.force) {
+      let same = true
+      for (let column of Object.keys(changes)) {
+        if (row[column] !== changes[column]) {
+          same = false
+          break
+        }
+      }
+      if (same) {
+        return
       }
-    }
-    if (same) {
-      return
     }
 
     // Immediately update state so that the change is reflected
@@ -359,7 +368,7 @@ export const createActions = context => {
     }))
 
     // Stop here if we don't want to persist the change
-    if (!options?.save) {
+    if (!options?.save && !options?.force) {
       return
     }
 
@@ -508,7 +517,14 @@ export const createActions = context => {
 }
 
 export const initialise = context => {
-  const { rowChangeCache, inProgressChanges, previousFocusedRowId } = context
+  const {
+    rowChangeCache,
+    inProgressChanges,
+    previousFocusedRowId,
+    previousFocusedCellId,
+    rows,
+    validation,
+  } = context
 
   // Wipe the row change cache when changing row
   previousFocusedRowId.subscribe(id => {
@@ -519,4 +535,15 @@ export const initialise = context => {
       })
     }
   })
+
+  // Ensure any unsaved changes are saved when changing cell
+  previousFocusedCellId.subscribe(id => {
+    const rowId = id?.split("-")[0]
+    const hasErrors = validation.actions.rowHasErrors(rowId)
+    const hasChanges = Object.keys(get(rowChangeCache)[rowId] || {}).length > 0
+    const isSavingChanges = get(inProgressChanges)[rowId]
+    if (rowId && !hasErrors && hasChanges && !isSavingChanges) {
+      rows.actions.updateRow(rowId, null, { force: true })
+    }
+  })
 }
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/ui.js b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/ui.js
index 129d6614e5..da0558bb5b 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/ui.js
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/ui.js
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ export const createStores = context => {
   const hoveredRowId = writable(null)
   const rowHeight = writable(get(props).fixedRowHeight || DefaultRowHeight)
   const previousFocusedRowId = writable(null)
+  const previousFocusedCellId = writable(null)
   const gridFocused = writable(false)
   const isDragging = writable(false)
   const buttonColumnWidth = writable(0)
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ export const createStores = context => {
     focusedCellAPI,
     focusedRowId,
     previousFocusedRowId,
+    previousFocusedCellId,
     hoveredRowId,
     rowHeight,
     gridFocused,
@@ -129,6 +131,7 @@ export const initialise = context => {
   const {
     focusedRowId,
     previousFocusedRowId,
+    previousFocusedCellId,
     rows,
     focusedCellId,
     selectedRows,
@@ -181,6 +184,13 @@ export const initialise = context => {
     lastFocusedRowId = id
   })
 
+  // Remember the last focused cell ID so that we can store the previous one
+  let lastFocusedCellId = null
+  focusedCellId.subscribe(id => {
+    previousFocusedCellId.set(lastFocusedCellId)
+    lastFocusedCellId = id
+  })
+
   // Remove hovered row when a cell is selected
   focusedCellId.subscribe(cell => {
     if (cell && get(hoveredRowId)) {
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/validation.js b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/validation.js
index 9c3927f9c9..70db076593 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/validation.js
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/validation.js
@@ -1,8 +1,23 @@
-import { writable, get } from "svelte/store"
+import { writable, get, derived } from "svelte/store"
 
+// Normally we would break out actions into the explicit "createActions"
+// function, but for validation all these actions are pure so can go into
+// "createStores" instead to make dependency ordering simpler
 export const createStores = () => {
   const validation = writable({})
 
+  // Derive which rows have errors so that we can use that info later
+  const rowErrorMap = derived(validation, $validation => {
+    let map = {}
+    Object.entries($validation).forEach(([key, error]) => {
+      // Extract row ID from all errored cell IDs
+      if (error) {
+        map[key.split("-")[0]] = true
+      }
+    })
+    return map
+  })
+
   const setError = (cellId, error) => {
     if (!cellId) {
       return
@@ -13,11 +28,16 @@ export const createStores = () => {
     }))
   }
 
+  const rowHasErrors = rowId => {
+    return get(rowErrorMap)[rowId]
+  }
+
   return {
     validation: {
       ...validation,
       actions: {
         setError,
+        rowHasErrors,
       },
     },
   }