diff --git a/locales/en-US/browser/browser/preferences/zen-preferences.ftl b/locales/en-US/browser/browser/preferences/zen-preferences.ftl
index d053124e2..2941a5157 100644
--- a/locales/en-US/browser/browser/preferences/zen-preferences.ftl
+++ b/locales/en-US/browser/browser/preferences/zen-preferences.ftl
@@ -59,6 +59,12 @@ zen-tabs-unloader-enabled =
 zen-tabs-close-on-back-with-no-history =
     .label = Close tab and switch to its owner tab (or most recently used tab) when going back with no history
 
+zen-tabs-cycle-by-attribute =
+  .label = Ctrl+Tab cycles within Essential or Workspace tabs only
+zen-tabs-cycle-ignore-pending-tabs =
+  .label = Ignore Pending tabs when cycling with Ctrl+Tab
+zen-tabs-cycle-by-attribute-warning = Ctrl+Tab will cycle by recently used order, as it is enabled
+
 zen-look-and-feel-compact-toolbar-themed =
     .label = Use themed background for compact toolbar
 
@@ -150,7 +156,7 @@ zen-theme-marketplace-input-default-placeholder =
     .placeholder = Type something...
 pane-zen-marketplace-title = Zen Mods
 zen-themes-auto-update =
-   .label = Automatically update installed mods on startup 
+   .label = Automatically update installed mods on startup
 
 zen-settings-workspaces-force-container-tabs-to-workspace =
     .label = Switch to workspace where container is set as default when opening container tabs
diff --git a/prefs/zen/zen.yaml b/prefs/zen/zen.yaml
index c44a0e626..9c6e9d787 100644
--- a/prefs/zen/zen.yaml
+++ b/prefs/zen/zen.yaml
@@ -37,3 +37,9 @@
 
 - name: zen.tabs.close-on-back-with-no-history
   value: true
+
+- name: zen.tabs.ctrl-tab.ignore-essential-tabs
+  value: false
+
+- name: zen.tabs.ctrl-tab.ignore-pending-tabs
+  value: false
diff --git a/src/browser/components/preferences/zen-settings.js b/src/browser/components/preferences/zen-settings.js
index a126c8a38..35fbccbf7 100644
--- a/src/browser/components/preferences/zen-settings.js
+++ b/src/browser/components/preferences/zen-settings.js
@@ -707,13 +707,39 @@ var gZenWorkspacesSettings = {
         }
       },
     };
+
+    let toggleZenCycleByAttrWarning = {
+      observe() {
+        const warning = document.getElementById('zenTabsCycleByAttributeWarning');
+        warning.hidden = !(
+          Services.prefs.getBoolPref('zen.tabs.ctrl-tab.ignore-essential-tabs', false) &&
+          Services.prefs.getBoolPref('browser.ctrlTab.sortByRecentlyUsed', false)
+        );
+      },
+    };
+
+    toggleZenCycleByAttrWarning.observe(); // call it once on initial load
+
     Services.prefs.addObserver('zen.glance.enabled', tabsUnloaderPrefListener); // We can use the same listener for both prefs
     Services.prefs.addObserver('zen.workspaces.separate-essentials', tabsUnloaderPrefListener);
     Services.prefs.addObserver('zen.glance.activation-method', tabsUnloaderPrefListener);
+    Services.prefs.addObserver(
+      'zen.tabs.ctrl-tab.ignore-essential-tabs',
+      toggleZenCycleByAttrWarning
+    );
+    Services.prefs.addObserver('browser.ctrlTab.sortByRecentlyUsed', toggleZenCycleByAttrWarning);
     window.addEventListener('unload', () => {
       Services.prefs.removeObserver('zen.glance.enabled', tabsUnloaderPrefListener);
       Services.prefs.removeObserver('zen.glance.activation-method', tabsUnloaderPrefListener);
       Services.prefs.removeObserver('zen.workspaces.separate-essentials', tabsUnloaderPrefListener);
+      Services.prefs.removeObserver(
+        'zen.tabs.ctrl-tab.ignore-essential-tabs',
+        toggleZenCycleByAttrWarning
+      );
+      Services.prefs.removeObserver(
+        'browser.ctrlTab.sortByRecentlyUsed',
+        toggleZenCycleByAttrWarning
+      );
     });
   },
 };
@@ -1135,6 +1161,21 @@ Preferences.addAll([
     type: 'bool',
     default: true,
   },
+  {
+    id: 'zen.tabs.ctrl-tab.ignore-essential-tabs',
+    type: 'bool',
+    default: false,
+  },
+  {
+    id: 'zen.tabs.ctrl-tab.ignore-pending-tabs',
+    type: 'bool',
+    default: false,
+  },
+  {
+    id: 'zen.tabs.close-on-back-with-no-history',
+    type: 'bool',
+    default: false,
+  },
 ]);
 
 Preferences.addSetting({
diff --git a/src/browser/components/preferences/zenTabsManagement.inc.xhtml b/src/browser/components/preferences/zenTabsManagement.inc.xhtml
index 2943b863b..6effbd1bd 100644
--- a/src/browser/components/preferences/zenTabsManagement.inc.xhtml
+++ b/src/browser/components/preferences/zenTabsManagement.inc.xhtml
@@ -29,6 +29,14 @@
       <checkbox id="zenTabsCloseOnBackWithNoHistory"
             data-l10n-id="zen-tabs-close-on-back-with-no-history"
             preference="zen.tabs.close-on-back-with-no-history"/>
+      <checkbox data-l10n-id="zen-tabs-cycle-ignore-pending-tabs"
+            preference="zen.tabs.ctrl-tab.ignore-pending-tabs"/>
+      <checkbox data-l10n-id="zen-tabs-cycle-by-attribute"
+            preference="zen.tabs.ctrl-tab.ignore-essential-tabs"/>
+      <description id="zenTabsCycleByAttributeWarning"
+            class="description-deemphasized"
+            data-l10n-id="zen-tabs-cycle-by-attribute-warning"
+            hidden="true"/>
 </groupbox>
 
 <hbox id="zenTabsUnloadCategory"
diff --git a/src/toolkit/content/widgets/tabbox-js.patch b/src/toolkit/content/widgets/tabbox-js.patch
index cc7dcea1c..0d4d37b05 100644
--- a/src/toolkit/content/widgets/tabbox-js.patch
+++ b/src/toolkit/content/widgets/tabbox-js.patch
@@ -1,8 +1,32 @@
 diff --git a/toolkit/content/widgets/tabbox.js b/toolkit/content/widgets/tabbox.js
-index cfe2da6e199667bd668f117cc8972212c7f57da2..bdd7dcc26139202e6e31afde47dc4d877f3db3c5 100644
+index cfe2da6e199667bd668f117cc8972212c7f57da2..470033466eae0e853855e21b86a0722627f9ed4b 100644
 --- a/toolkit/content/widgets/tabbox.js
 +++ b/toolkit/content/widgets/tabbox.js
-@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@
+@@ -11,6 +11,23 @@
+     "resource://gre/modules/AppConstants.sys.mjs"
+   );
+ 
++  const { XPCOMUtils } = ChromeUtils.importESModule(
++    "resource://gre/modules/XPCOMUtils.sys.mjs"
++  );
++  const lazyZenPrefs = {};
++  XPCOMUtils.defineLazyPreferenceGetter(
++    lazyZenPrefs,
++    "cycleByAttribute",
++    "zen.tabs.ctrl-tab.ignore-essential-tabs",
++    false
++  );
++  XPCOMUtils.defineLazyPreferenceGetter(
++    lazyZenPrefs,
++    "ignorePendingTabs",
++    "zen.tabs.ctrl-tab.ignore-pending-tabs",
++    false
++  );
++
+   let imports = {};
+   ChromeUtils.defineESModuleGetters(imports, {
+     ShortcutUtils: "resource://gre/modules/ShortcutUtils.sys.mjs",
+@@ -213,7 +230,7 @@
      ) {
        this._inAsyncOperation = false;
        if (oldPanel != this._selectedPanel) {
@@ -11,7 +35,7 @@ index cfe2da6e199667bd668f117cc8972212c7f57da2..bdd7dcc26139202e6e31afde47dc4d87
          this._selectedPanel?.classList.add("deck-selected");
        }
        this.setAttribute("selectedIndex", val);
-@@ -697,7 +697,7 @@
+@@ -697,7 +714,7 @@
        if (!tab) {
          return;
        }
@@ -20,7 +44,7 @@ index cfe2da6e199667bd668f117cc8972212c7f57da2..bdd7dcc26139202e6e31afde47dc4d87
          if (otherTab != tab && otherTab.selected) {
            otherTab._selected = false;
          }
-@@ -733,6 +733,7 @@
+@@ -733,6 +750,7 @@
       * @param {MozTab|null} [val]
       */
      set selectedItem(val) {
@@ -28,7 +52,7 @@ index cfe2da6e199667bd668f117cc8972212c7f57da2..bdd7dcc26139202e6e31afde47dc4d87
        if (val && !val.selected) {
          // The selectedIndex setter ignores invalid values
          // such as -1 if |val| isn't one of our child nodes.
-@@ -910,7 +911,7 @@
+@@ -910,7 +928,7 @@
          if (tab == startTab) {
            return null;
          }
@@ -37,7 +61,7 @@ index cfe2da6e199667bd668f117cc8972212c7f57da2..bdd7dcc26139202e6e31afde47dc4d87
            return tab;
          }
        }
-@@ -972,10 +973,11 @@
+@@ -972,13 +990,30 @@
       * @param {boolean} [aWrap]
       */
      advanceSelectedTab(aDir, aWrap) {
@@ -50,3 +74,31 @@ index cfe2da6e199667bd668f117cc8972212c7f57da2..bdd7dcc26139202e6e31afde47dc4d87
        }
        let newTab = null;
  
++      const tabFilter = tab => {
++        if (!tab.visible) {
++          return false
++        }
++        if (lazyZenPrefs.ignorePendingTabs && tab.hasAttribute("pending")) {
++          return false
++        }
++        if (!lazyZenPrefs.cycleByAttribute) {
++          return true
++        }
++        if (startTab.hasAttribute("zen-essential")) {
++          return tab.hasAttribute("zen-essential")
++        }
++        return !tab.hasAttribute("zen-essential")
++      }
++
+       // Handle keyboard navigation for a hidden tab that can be selected, like the Firefox View tab,
+       // which has a random placement in this.allTabs.
+       if (startTab.hidden) {
+@@ -991,7 +1026,7 @@
+         newTab = this.findNextTab(startTab, {
+           direction: aDir,
+           wrap: aWrap,
+-          filter: tab => tab.visible,
++          filter: tabFilter,
+         });
+       }
+ 
diff --git a/src/zen/tests/tabs/browser.toml b/src/zen/tests/tabs/browser.toml
index 0d6efd5dd..eee3f05d4 100644
--- a/src/zen/tests/tabs/browser.toml
+++ b/src/zen/tests/tabs/browser.toml
@@ -9,8 +9,9 @@ support-files = [
 
 ["browser_tabs_empty_checks.js"]
 ["browser_tabs_fetch_checks.js"]
+["browser_tabs_cycle_by_attribute.js"]
 ["browser_drag_drop_vertical.js"]
 tags = [
   "drag-drop",
   "vertical-tabs"
-]
\ No newline at end of file
+]
diff --git a/src/zen/tests/tabs/browser_tabs_cycle_by_attribute.js b/src/zen/tests/tabs/browser_tabs_cycle_by_attribute.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3dba19ffa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/zen/tests/tabs/browser_tabs_cycle_by_attribute.js
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+'use strict';
+
+const URL1 = 'data:text/plain,tab1';
+const URL2 = 'data:text/plain,tab2';
+const URL3 = 'data:text/plain,tab3';
+const URL4 = 'data:text/plain,tab4';
+const URL5 = 'data:text/plain,tab5';
+const URL6 = 'data:text/plain,tab6';
+
+/**
+ * ensures that tab select action is completed
+ */
+async function selectTab(tab) {
+  const onSelect = BrowserTestUtils.waitForEvent(gBrowser.tabContainer, 'TabSelect');
+  gBrowser.selectedTab = tab;
+  await onSelect;
+}
+
+add_setup(async () => {
+  // remove default new tab
+  const tabToRemove = gBrowser.selectedTab;
+  BrowserTestUtils.removeTab(tabToRemove);
+
+  const tabs = await Promise.all([
+    addTabTo(gBrowser, URL1),
+    addTabTo(gBrowser, URL2),
+    addTabTo(gBrowser, URL3),
+    addTabTo(gBrowser, URL4),
+    addTabTo(gBrowser, URL5),
+    addTabTo(gBrowser, URL6),
+  ]);
+
+  gZenPinnedTabManager.addToEssentials(tabs.slice(0, 3));
+  await BrowserTestUtils.waitForCondition(
+    () => tabs.slice(0, 3).every((tab) => tab.hasAttribute('zen-essential')),
+    'all essentials ready'
+  );
+
+  const essentialTabs = gBrowser.tabs.filter((tab) => tab.hasAttribute('zen-essential'));
+  Assert.equal(essentialTabs.length, 3, '3 essential tabs created');
+
+  const workspaceTabs = gBrowser.tabs.filter(
+    (tab) => !tab.hasAttribute('zen-essential') && !tab.hasAttribute('zen-empty-tab')
+  );
+  Assert.equal(workspaceTabs.length, 3, '3 workspace tabs created, excluding empty tab');
+
+  registerCleanupFunction(async () => {
+    // replace the default new tab in the test window
+    addTabTo(gBrowser, 'about:blank');
+    tabs.forEach((element) => {
+      BrowserTestUtils.removeTab(element);
+    });
+    await SpecialPowers.popPrefEnv();
+  });
+});
+
+add_task(async function cycleTabsByAttribute() {
+  await SpecialPowers.pushPrefEnv({
+    set: [['zen.tabs.ctrl-tab.ignore-essential-tabs', true]],
+  });
+
+  const essentialTabs = gBrowser.tabs.filter((tab) => tab.hasAttribute('zen-essential'));
+  await selectTab(essentialTabs[0]);
+
+  gBrowser.tabContainer.advanceSelectedTab(1, true);
+  gBrowser.tabContainer.advanceSelectedTab(1, true);
+  gBrowser.tabContainer.advanceSelectedTab(1, true);
+  ok(
+    gBrowser.selectedTab === essentialTabs[0],
+    'tab cycling applies within essential tabs only, as the starting tab is a essential tab'
+  );
+
+  const workspaceTabs = gBrowser.tabs.filter(
+    (tab) => !tab.hasAttribute('zen-essential') && !tab.hasAttribute('zen-empty-tab')
+  );
+  await selectTab(workspaceTabs[0]);
+
+  gBrowser.tabContainer.advanceSelectedTab(1, true);
+  gBrowser.tabContainer.advanceSelectedTab(1, true);
+  gBrowser.tabContainer.advanceSelectedTab(1, true);
+
+  ok(
+    gBrowser.selectedTab === workspaceTabs[0],
+    'tab cycling applies within workspace tabs only, as the starting tab is a workspace tab'
+  );
+});