diff --git a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiSymbols.cpp b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiSymbols.cpp
index 718bc5e6c2..77752ae6bd 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiSymbols.cpp
+++ b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiSymbols.cpp
@@ -235,21 +235,44 @@ void GuiSymbols::on_symbolsLW_itemClicked(QListWidgetItem * item)
 
 void GuiSymbols::on_categoryCO_activated(QString const & text)
 {
+	if (!categoryFilterCB->isChecked())
+		updateSymbolList();
 	if (used_blocks.find(text) != used_blocks.end())
-		symbolsLW->scrollToItem(used_blocks[text]);
+		symbolsLW->scrollToItem(used_blocks[text],
+			QAbstractItemView::PositionAtTop);
+}
+
+
+void GuiSymbols::on_categoryFilterCB_toggled(bool)
+{
+	updateSymbolList();
 }
 
 
 void GuiSymbols::updateSymbolList()
 {
+	QString category = categoryCO->currentText();
+	bool const nocategory = category.isEmpty();
+	char_type range_start = 0x0000;
+	char_type range_end = 0x110000;
 	symbolsLW->clear();
 	used_blocks.clear();
 	categoryCO->clear();
+	bool const show_all = categoryFilterCB->isChecked();
 
 	typedef set<char_type> SymbolsList;
 	Encoding enc = *(encodings.getFromLyXName(encoding_));
 	SymbolsList symbols = enc.getSymbolsList();
 
+	if (!show_all) {
+		for (int i = 0 ; i < no_blocks; ++i)
+			if (unicode_blocks[i].name == fromqstr(category)) {
+				range_start = unicode_blocks[i].start;
+				range_end = unicode_blocks[i].end;
+				break;
+			}
+	}
+
 	SymbolsList::const_iterator const end = symbols.end();
 	for (SymbolsList::const_iterator it = symbols.begin(); it != end; ++it) {
 		char_type c = *it;
@@ -259,9 +282,13 @@ void GuiSymbols::updateSymbolList()
 			continue;
 		QListWidgetItem * lwi = new QListWidgetItem(
 			QString::fromUcs4((uint const *) &c, 1));
-		lwi->setTextAlignment(Qt::AlignCenter);
-		symbolsLW->addItem(lwi);
+		if (show_all || c > range_start && c < range_end) {
+			lwi->setTextAlignment(Qt::AlignCenter);
+			symbolsLW->addItem(lwi);
+		}
 		QString block = getBlock(c);
+		if (category.isEmpty())
+			category = block;
 		if (used_blocks.find(block) == used_blocks.end())
 			used_blocks[block] = lwi;
 	}
@@ -270,6 +297,13 @@ void GuiSymbols::updateSymbolList()
 	for (UsedBlocks::iterator it = used_blocks.begin(); it != used_blocks.end(); ++it) {
 		categoryCO->addItem(it->first);
 	}
+	int old = categoryCO->findText(category);
+	if (old != -1)
+		categoryCO->setCurrentIndex(old);
+	// update again in case the combo has not yet been filled
+	// on first cycle (at dialog initialization)
+	if (nocategory && !category.isEmpty())
+		updateSymbolList();
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiSymbols.h b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiSymbols.h
index ad633015c5..c7cc6bfb6a 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiSymbols.h
+++ b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiSymbols.h
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ public Q_SLOTS:
 	void on_symbolsLW_itemActivated(QListWidgetItem *);
 	void on_symbolsLW_itemClicked(QListWidgetItem * item);
 	void on_categoryCO_activated(QString const & text);
+	void on_categoryFilterCB_toggled(bool);
 	void on_chosenLE_returnPressed();
 	void on_chosenLE_textChanged(QString const &);
 
diff --git a/src/frontends/qt4/ui/SymbolsUi.ui b/src/frontends/qt4/ui/SymbolsUi.ui
index 0060fc533f..7f3cd1b123 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt4/ui/SymbolsUi.ui
+++ b/src/frontends/qt4/ui/SymbolsUi.ui
@@ -58,13 +58,23 @@
      </property>
      <property name="sizeHint" >
       <size>
-       <width>301</width>
-       <height>20</height>
+       <width>81</width>
+       <height>31</height>
       </size>
      </property>
     </spacer>
    </item>
-   <item row="1" column="0" colspan="2" >
+   <item row="0" column="2" >
+    <widget class="QCheckBox" name="categoryFilterCB" >
+     <property name="toolTip" >
+      <string>Select this to display all available characters at once</string>
+     </property>
+     <property name="text" >
+      <string>&amp;Display all</string>
+     </property>
+    </widget>
+   </item>
+   <item row="1" column="0" colspan="3" >
     <widget class="QListWidget" name="symbolsLW" >
      <property name="sizePolicy" >
       <sizepolicy vsizetype="Preferred" hsizetype="Preferred" >
@@ -104,14 +114,14 @@
      </property>
     </widget>
    </item>
-   <item row="2" column="0" colspan="2" >
+   <item row="2" column="0" colspan="3" >
     <widget class="QLineEdit" name="chosenLE" >
      <property name="readOnly" >
       <bool>false</bool>
      </property>
     </widget>
    </item>
-   <item row="3" column="0" colspan="2" >
+   <item row="3" column="0" colspan="3" >
     <layout class="QHBoxLayout" >
      <item>
       <spacer>