diff --git a/plugins/grepview/grepdialog.cpp b/plugins/grepview/grepdialog.cpp
--- a/plugins/grepview/grepdialog.cpp
+++ b/plugins/grepview/grepdialog.cpp
@@ -480,7 +480,6 @@
     QList<QUrl> choice = getDirectoryChoice(descriptionOrUrl);
     QString description = descriptionOrUrl;
 
-    GrepJob* job = m_plugin->newGrepJob();
     // Shorten the description
     if(descriptionOrUrl != allOpenFilesString() && descriptionOrUrl != allOpenProjectsString()) {
         auto prettyFileName = [](const QUrl& url) {
@@ -494,27 +493,40 @@
         }
     }
 
-    GrepOutputView *toolView = (GrepOutputView*)ICore::self()->uiController()->
-                               findToolView(i18n("Find/Replace in Files"), m_plugin->toolViewFactory(), IUiController::CreateAndRaise);
-    GrepOutputModel* outputModel = toolView->renewModel(m_settings, description);
+    GrepOutputView *toolView =
+        (GrepOutputView*)ICore::self()->uiController()->findToolView(
+            i18n("Find/Replace in Files"), m_plugin->toolViewFactory(),
+            m_settings.fromHistory ? IUiController::Create : IUiController::CreateAndRaise);
 
-    connect(job, &GrepJob::showErrorMessage,
-            toolView, &GrepOutputView::showErrorMessage);
-    //the GrepOutputModel gets the 'showMessage' signal to store it and forward
-    //it to toolView
-    connect(job, &GrepJob::showMessage,
-            outputModel, &GrepOutputModel::showMessageSlot);
-    connect(outputModel, &GrepOutputModel::showMessage,
-            toolView, &GrepOutputView::showMessage);
+    if (m_settings.fromHistory) {
+        // when restored from history, only display the parameters
+        toolView->renewModel(m_settings, i18n("Search \"%1\" in %2", m_settings.pattern, description));
+        emit m_plugin->grepJobFinished(true);
+    } else {
+        GrepOutputModel* outputModel =
+            toolView->renewModel(m_settings,
+                                i18n("Search \"%1\" in %2 (at time %3)", m_settings.pattern, description,
+                                    QTime::currentTime().toString(QStringLiteral("hh:mm"))));
+
+        GrepJob* job = m_plugin->newGrepJob();
+        connect(job, &GrepJob::showErrorMessage,
+                toolView, &GrepOutputView::showErrorMessage);
+        //the GrepOutputModel gets the 'showMessage' signal to store it and forward
+        //it to toolView
+        connect(job, &GrepJob::showMessage,
+                outputModel, &GrepOutputModel::showMessageSlot);
+        connect(outputModel, &GrepOutputModel::showMessage,
+                toolView, &GrepOutputView::showMessage);
 
-    connect(toolView, &GrepOutputView::outputViewIsClosed, job, [=]() {job->kill();});
+        connect(toolView, &GrepOutputView::outputViewIsClosed, job, [=]() {job->kill();});
 
-    job->setOutputModel(outputModel);
-    job->setDirectoryChoice(choice);
+        job->setOutputModel(outputModel);
+        job->setDirectoryChoice(choice);
 
-    job->setSettings(m_settings);
+        job->setSettings(m_settings);
 
-    ICore::self()->runController()->registerJob(job);
+        ICore::self()->runController()->registerJob(job);
+    }
 
     m_plugin->rememberSearchDirectory(descriptionOrUrl);
 
diff --git a/plugins/grepview/grepjob.h b/plugins/grepview/grepjob.h
--- a/plugins/grepview/grepjob.h
+++ b/plugins/grepview/grepjob.h
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@
 
 struct GrepJobSettings
 {
+    bool fromHistory = false;
+
     bool projectFilesOnly = false;
     bool caseSensitive = true;
     bool regexp = true;
diff --git a/plugins/grepview/grepoutputview.cpp b/plugins/grepview/grepoutputview.cpp
--- a/plugins/grepview/grepoutputview.cpp
+++ b/plugins/grepview/grepoutputview.cpp
@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@
         settings.exclude = s.takeFirst();
         settings.searchPaths = s.takeFirst();
 
+        settings.fromHistory = true;
         m_settingsHistory << settings;
     }
 
@@ -220,12 +221,8 @@
     connect(m_plugin, &GrepViewPlugin::grepJobFinished, this, &GrepOutputView::updateScrollArea);
 
     // appends new model to history
-    const QString displayName = i18n("Search \"%1\" in %2 (at time %3)",
-                                     settings.pattern, description,
-                                     QTime::currentTime().toString(QStringLiteral("hh:mm")));
-    modelSelector->insertItem(0, displayName, qVariantFromValue<QObject*>(newModel));
-
-    modelSelector->setCurrentIndex(0);//setCurrentItem(displayName);
+    modelSelector->insertItem(0, description, qVariantFromValue<QObject*>(newModel));
+    modelSelector->setCurrentIndex(0);
 
     m_settingsHistory.append(settings);
 
@@ -338,6 +335,7 @@
         QList<GrepJobSettings> refresh_history({
             m_settingsHistory.takeAt(m_settingsHistory.count() - 1 - index)
         });
+        refresh_history.first().fromHistory = false;
 
         GrepDialog* dlg = new GrepDialog(m_plugin, this, false);
         dlg->historySearch(refresh_history);