diff --git a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarycategoriesmodel.cpp b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarycategoriesmodel.cpp
index 1cc032090e2..3176d1ebb70 100644
--- a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarycategoriesmodel.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarycategoriesmodel.cpp
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ void ItemLibraryCategoriesModel::expandCategories(bool expand)
     for (const auto &category : std::as_const(m_categoryList)) {
         if (category->categoryExpanded() != expand) {
             category->setExpanded(expand);
+            ItemLibraryModel::saveExpandedState(expand, category->categoryName());
             emit dataChanged(index(i), index(i), {m_roleNames.key("categoryExpanded")});
         }
         ++i;
diff --git a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarycategory.cpp b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarycategory.cpp
index 55ef88a97c6..1c5b8bfcb5f 100644
--- a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarycategory.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarycategory.cpp
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ QObject *ItemLibraryCategory::itemModel()
     return &m_itemModel;
 }
 
-bool ItemLibraryCategory::updateItemVisibility(const QString &searchText, bool *changed)
+bool ItemLibraryCategory::updateItemVisibility(const QString &searchText, bool *changed, bool expand)
 {
     bool hasVisibleItems = false;
 
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ bool ItemLibraryCategory::updateItemVisibility(const QString &searchText, bool *
     }
 
     // expand category if it has an item matching search criteria
-    if (hasVisibleItems && !categoryExpanded())
+    if (expand && hasVisibleItems && !categoryExpanded())
         setExpanded(true);
 
     return hasVisibleItems;
diff --git a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarycategory.h b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarycategory.h
index ad3f1579a00..d99d4ea4dc5 100644
--- a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarycategory.h
+++ b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarycategory.h
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public:
     void addItem(ItemLibraryItem *item);
     QObject *itemModel();
 
-    bool updateItemVisibility(const QString &searchText, bool *changed);
+    bool updateItemVisibility(const QString &searchText, bool *changed, bool expand = false);
 
     bool setVisible(bool isVisible);
     bool isVisible() const;
diff --git a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibraryimport.cpp b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibraryimport.cpp
index 649d879895d..d0a87013dd8 100644
--- a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibraryimport.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibraryimport.cpp
@@ -95,14 +95,14 @@ void ItemLibraryImport::expandCategories(bool expand)
     m_categoryModel.expandCategories(expand);
 }
 
-bool ItemLibraryImport::updateCategoryVisibility(const QString &searchText, bool *changed)
+bool ItemLibraryImport::updateCategoryVisibility(const QString &searchText, bool *changed, bool expand)
 {
     bool hasVisibleCategories = false;
     *changed = false;
 
     for (const auto &category : m_categoryModel.categorySections()) {
         bool categoryChanged = false;
-        bool hasVisibleItems = category->updateItemVisibility(searchText, &categoryChanged);
+        bool hasVisibleItems = category->updateItemVisibility(searchText, &categoryChanged, expand);
         categoryChanged |= category->setVisible(hasVisibleItems);
 
         *changed |= categoryChanged;
diff --git a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibraryimport.h b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibraryimport.h
index 8993dfcb8b6..ed60c1cffe2 100644
--- a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibraryimport.h
+++ b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibraryimport.h
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ public:
 
     void addCategory(ItemLibraryCategory *category);
     QObject *categoryModel();
-    bool updateCategoryVisibility(const QString &searchText, bool *changed);
+    bool updateCategoryVisibility(const QString &searchText, bool *changed, bool expand = false);
     bool setVisible(bool isVisible);
     void setImportUsed(bool importUsed);
     void sortCategorySections();
diff --git a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarymodel.cpp b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarymodel.cpp
index 4def2f46dc3..e7276750386 100644
--- a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarymodel.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarymodel.cpp
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ void ItemLibraryModel::setSearchText(const QString &searchText)
         m_searchText = lowerSearchText;
 
         bool changed = false;
-        updateVisibility(&changed);
+        updateVisibility(&changed, !m_searchText.isEmpty());
     }
 }
 
@@ -374,18 +374,18 @@ void ItemLibraryModel::updateUsedImports(const QList<Import> &usedImports)
     }
 }
 
-void ItemLibraryModel::updateVisibility(bool *changed)
+void ItemLibraryModel::updateVisibility(bool *changed, bool expand)
 {
     for (ItemLibraryImport *import : std::as_const(m_importList)) {
         bool categoryChanged = false;
-        bool hasVisibleItems = import->updateCategoryVisibility(m_searchText, &categoryChanged);
+        bool hasVisibleItems = import->updateCategoryVisibility(m_searchText, &categoryChanged, expand);
         *changed |= categoryChanged;
 
         if (import->sectionType() == ItemLibraryImport::SectionType::Unimported)
             *changed |= import->setVisible(!m_searchText.isEmpty());
 
         // expand import if it has an item matching search criteria
-        if (hasVisibleItems && !import->importExpanded())
+        if (expand && hasVisibleItems && !import->importExpanded())
             import->setImportExpanded();
     }
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarymodel.h b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarymodel.h
index 2412550a3a0..8d592e29cc4 100644
--- a/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarymodel.h
+++ b/src/plugins/qmldesigner/components/itemlibrary/itemlibrarymodel.h
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ public:
     Import entryToImport(const ItemLibraryEntry &entry);
 
 private:
-    void updateVisibility(bool *changed);
+    void updateVisibility(bool *changed, bool expand = false);
     void addRoleNames();
     void sortSections();
     void clearSections();