diff --git a/plugins/gui/include/gui/searchbar/searchbar.h b/plugins/gui/include/gui/searchbar/searchbar.h
index 3e5b392ad88..48feed568c6 100644
--- a/plugins/gui/include/gui/searchbar/searchbar.h
+++ b/plugins/gui/include/gui/searchbar/searchbar.h
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ namespace hal
         QToolButton* mDownButton;
         QToolButton* mUpButton;
         QToolButton* mCaseSensitiveButton;
-        QToolButton* mExactMatchButton;
+        QToolButton* mSearchOptionsButton;
         QToolButton* mClearButton;
 
         QString mSearchIcon;
@@ -236,5 +236,6 @@ namespace hal
 
         SearchOptions* mCurrentOptions;
         bool mIncrementalSearch;
+        int mMinCharsToStartIncSearch;
     };
 }
diff --git a/plugins/gui/include/gui/searchbar/searchoptions_dialog.h b/plugins/gui/include/gui/searchbar/searchoptions_dialog.h
index 67ee3619c19..fbc868eada0 100644
--- a/plugins/gui/include/gui/searchbar/searchoptions_dialog.h
+++ b/plugins/gui/include/gui/searchbar/searchoptions_dialog.h
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include <QLabel>
 #include <QPushButton>
 #include <QLineEdit>
+#include <QSpinBox>
 
 namespace hal
 {
@@ -49,6 +50,8 @@ namespace hal
         void emitOptions();
         SearchOptions* getOptions() const;
         QString getText() const;
+        int getMinIncSearchValue();
+        bool getIncrementalSearch();
 
     Q_SIGNALS:
         void emitOptions(QString text, int options);
@@ -63,7 +66,9 @@ namespace hal
         QComboBox* mInputBox;
         QLineEdit* mLineEdit;
         QComboBox* mColumnBox;
+        QLabel* mSpinBoxLabel;
         QCheckBox* mIncrementalSearchBox;
+        QSpinBox* mSpinBox;
         QCheckBox* mExactMatchBox;
         QCheckBox* mCaseSensitiveBox;
         QCheckBox* mRegExBox;
@@ -71,5 +76,6 @@ namespace hal
         QPushButton* mSearchBtn;
         QPushButton* mCloseBtn;
 
+
     };
 }
diff --git a/plugins/gui/src/searchbar/searchbar.cpp b/plugins/gui/src/searchbar/searchbar.cpp
index d147821a7e1..62c73111a24 100644
--- a/plugins/gui/src/searchbar/searchbar.cpp
+++ b/plugins/gui/src/searchbar/searchbar.cpp
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ namespace hal
 {
     Searchbar::Searchbar(QWidget* parent)
         : QFrame(parent), mLayout(new QHBoxLayout()), mSearchIconLabel(new QLabel()), mLineEdit(new QLineEdit()), mClearIconLabel(new QLabel()), mDownButton(new QToolButton()),
-          mUpButton(new QToolButton()), mCaseSensitiveButton(new QToolButton()), mExactMatchButton(new QToolButton()), mClearButton(new QToolButton())
+          mUpButton(new QToolButton()), mCaseSensitiveButton(new QToolButton()), mSearchOptionsButton(new QToolButton()), mClearButton(new QToolButton())
     {
         setLayout(mLayout);
 
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ namespace hal
         //Placeholder icons get better ones
         mDownButton->setIcon(QIcon(":/icons/arrow-down"));
         mUpButton->setIcon(QIcon(":/icons/arrow-up"));
-        mExactMatchButton->setIcon(QIcon(":/icons/settings"));
+        mSearchOptionsButton->setIcon(QIcon(":/icons/settings"));
 
         mSearchIconLabel->setSizePolicy(QSizePolicy::Fixed, QSizePolicy::MinimumExpanding);
         mLineEdit->setSizePolicy(QSizePolicy::MinimumExpanding, QSizePolicy::MinimumExpanding);
@@ -46,17 +46,7 @@ namespace hal
         mLayout->addWidget(mSearchIconLabel);
         mLayout->addWidget(mLineEdit);
 
-        //mExactMatchButton->setText("==");
-        mExactMatchButton->setSizePolicy(QSizePolicy::Fixed, QSizePolicy::MinimumExpanding);
-        mExactMatchButton->setCheckable(true);
-        mExactMatchButton->setToolTip("Search Options");
-        mLayout->addWidget(mExactMatchButton);
 
-        /*mCaseSensitiveButton->setText("Aa");
-        mCaseSensitiveButton->setSizePolicy(QSizePolicy::Fixed, QSizePolicy::MinimumExpanding);
-        mCaseSensitiveButton->setCheckable(true);
-        mCaseSensitiveButton->setToolTip("Case Sensitive");
-        mLayout->addWidget(mCaseSensitiveButton);*/
 
         mClearButton->setIcon(gui_utility::getStyledSvgIcon(mClearIconStyle, mClearIcon));
         mClearButton->setIconSize(QSize(10, 10));
@@ -65,15 +55,20 @@ namespace hal
         mClearButton->setToolTip("Clear");
         mLayout->addWidget(mClearButton);
 
+        mSearchOptionsButton->setSizePolicy(QSizePolicy::Fixed, QSizePolicy::MinimumExpanding);
+        mSearchOptionsButton->setCheckable(true);
+        mSearchOptionsButton->setToolTip("Search Options");
+        mLayout->addWidget(mSearchOptionsButton);
+
         setFrameStyle(QFrame::NoFrame);
 
         connect(mLineEdit, &QLineEdit::textEdited, this, &Searchbar::handleTextEdited);
         connect(mLineEdit, &QLineEdit::returnPressed, this, &Searchbar::handleReturnPressed);
         connect(mCaseSensitiveButton, &QToolButton::clicked, this, &Searchbar::handleTextEdited);
-        //connect(mExactMatchButton, &QToolButton::clicked, this, &Searchbar::emitTextEdited);
+        //connect(mSearchOptionsButton, &QToolButton::clicked, this, &Searchbar::emitTextEdited);
         connect(mClearButton, &QToolButton::clicked, this, &Searchbar::handleClearClicked);
 
-        connect(mExactMatchButton, &QToolButton::clicked, this, &Searchbar::handleSearchOptionsDialog);
+        connect(mSearchOptionsButton, &QToolButton::clicked, this, &Searchbar::handleSearchOptionsDialog);
 
         setFocusProxy(mLineEdit);
     }
@@ -194,7 +189,7 @@ namespace hal
         QString textWithFlags;
 
         textWithFlags.append(mCaseSensitiveButton->isChecked() ? "(?-i)" : "(?i)");
-        if (mExactMatchButton->isChecked())
+        if (mSearchOptionsButton->isChecked())
         {
             textWithFlags.append("^");
             textWithFlags.append(text);
@@ -223,7 +218,7 @@ namespace hal
     void Searchbar::handleTextEdited()
     {
         repolish();
-        if(mIncrementalSearch && mLineEdit->text().length()>=3)
+        if(mIncrementalSearch && mLineEdit->text().length() >= mMinCharsToStartIncSearch)
         {
             Q_EMIT triggerNewSearch(mLineEdit->text(), mCurrentOptions->toInt());
         }
@@ -241,7 +236,7 @@ namespace hal
 
     bool Searchbar::exactMatchChecked()
     {
-        return mExactMatchButton->isChecked();
+        return mSearchOptionsButton->isChecked();
     }
 
     bool Searchbar::caseSensitiveChecked()
@@ -279,12 +274,18 @@ namespace hal
 
     void Searchbar::handleSearchOptionsDialog()
     {
+        //TODO discuss if previous options should be passed back to the dialog to build dialog from them.
+        // otherwise the use has to enter the same options again
         SearchOptionsDialog sd;
         if (sd.exec() == QDialog::Accepted)
         {
             mCurrentOptions = sd.getOptions();
 
             QString txt = sd.getText(); // TODO : get modified text from sd
+            mIncrementalSearch = sd.getIncrementalSearch();
+            mMinCharsToStartIncSearch = sd.getMinIncSearchValue();
+
+            qInfo() << "Searchbar starts search with: " << txt << " " << mCurrentOptions->toInt() << "  inc search: " << mIncrementalSearch << " " << mMinCharsToStartIncSearch;
             Q_EMIT triggerNewSearch(txt, mCurrentOptions->toInt());
         }
     }
diff --git a/plugins/gui/src/searchbar/searchoptions_dialog.cpp b/plugins/gui/src/searchbar/searchoptions_dialog.cpp
index 1fd66f57683..c3d81024b76 100644
--- a/plugins/gui/src/searchbar/searchoptions_dialog.cpp
+++ b/plugins/gui/src/searchbar/searchoptions_dialog.cpp
@@ -15,7 +15,13 @@ namespace hal
         mLineEdit = mInputBox->lineEdit();
 
         mIncrementalSearchBox = new QCheckBox("Incremental search");
+        mSpinBoxLabel = new QLabel("start at: ");
+        mSpinBox = new QSpinBox();
+        mSpinBox->setMinimum(0);
+        mSpinBox->setMaximum(50);
+        mSpinBox->setSuffix(" chars");
         mExactMatchBox = new QCheckBox("Exact match");
+        mExactMatchBox->setChecked(true);
         mCaseSensitiveBox = new QCheckBox("Case sensitive");
         mRegExBox = new QCheckBox("Regular expression");
 
@@ -30,6 +36,8 @@ namespace hal
 
         mLayout->addWidget(mInputBox, 0, 0, 0, 3, Qt::AlignTop);
         mLayout->addWidget(mIncrementalSearchBox, 1, 0);
+        mLayout->addWidget(mSpinBoxLabel, 1, 1, Qt::AlignRight);
+        mLayout->addWidget(mSpinBox, 1, 2, Qt::AlignLeft);
         mLayout->addWidget(mExactMatchBox, 2, 0);
         mLayout->addWidget(mCaseSensitiveBox, 3, 0);
         mLayout->addWidget(mRegExBox, 4, 0);
@@ -39,13 +47,12 @@ namespace hal
         mLayout->addWidget(mCloseBtn, 6, 3);
 
         connect(mCloseBtn, &QPushButton::clicked, this, &SearchOptionsDialog::close);
-
-
         connect(mSearchBtn, &QPushButton::clicked, this, &SearchOptionsDialog::emitStartSearch);
 
         //TODO maybe delete this because edit triggers also the mSearchBtn signal as if it was clicked. Currently the emit search is emited twice while pressing Enter
         // discuss with Joern
         connect(mLineEdit, &QLineEdit::returnPressed, this, &SearchOptionsDialog::emitStartSearch);
+
     }
 
 
@@ -64,6 +71,7 @@ namespace hal
         qInfo() << "Emit search with string: " << mSearchText << " and options: " << options;
 
         Q_EMIT emitOptions(mSearchText, options);
+        Q_EMIT accept();
     }
 
     SearchOptions* SearchOptionsDialog::getOptions() const
@@ -78,4 +86,14 @@ namespace hal
         return mSearchText;
     }
 
+
+    int SearchOptionsDialog::getMinIncSearchValue()
+    {
+        return mSpinBox->value();
+    }
+    bool SearchOptionsDialog::getIncrementalSearch()
+    {
+        return mIncrementalSearchBox->isChecked();
+    }
+
 }