diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/FileTab.fxml b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/FileTab.fxml
index 79774162d15..be1b2dca96c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/FileTab.fxml
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/FileTab.fxml
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 
-<?import javafx.geometry.Insets?>
 <?import javafx.scene.control.Button?>
 <?import javafx.scene.control.CheckBox?>
 <?import javafx.scene.control.ComboBox?>
@@ -11,87 +10,66 @@
 <?import javafx.scene.layout.HBox?>
 <?import javafx.scene.layout.VBox?>
 
-
 <fx:root prefWidth="650.0" spacing="10.0" type="VBox" xmlns="http://javafx.com/javafx/11.0.1" xmlns:fx="http://javafx.com/fxml/1" fx:controller="org.jabref.gui.preferences.FileTabView">
    <children>
         <Label styleClass="sectionHeader" text="%General" />
-        <CheckBox text="%Open last edited libraries at startup" />
-        <CheckBox text="%Backup old file when saving" />
+        <CheckBox fx:id="openLastStartup" text="%Open last edited libraries at startup" />
+        <CheckBox fx:id="backupOldFile" text="%Backup old file when saving" />
       <HBox spacing="8.0">
          <children>
               <Label text="%Do not wrap the following fields when saving" />
-            <TextField HBox.hgrow="ALWAYS" />
+            <TextField fx:id="noWrapFiles" HBox.hgrow="ALWAYS" />
          </children>
       </HBox>
-        <RadioButton text="%Resolve strings for standard BibTeX fields only">
+        <RadioButton fx:id="resolveStringsBibTex" text="%Resolve strings for standard BibTeX fields only">
          <toggleGroup>
                 <ToggleGroup fx:id="stringsResolveToggleGroup" />
          </toggleGroup>
         </RadioButton>
-        <RadioButton alignment="TOP_LEFT" maxWidth="1.7976931348623157E308" toggleGroup="$stringsResolveToggleGroup">
-         <graphic>
-            <HBox>
-               <children>
-                  <VBox maxWidth="1.7976931348623157E308" prefHeight="43.0" prefWidth="1581.0" spacing="10.0" HBox.hgrow="ALWAYS">
-                     <children>
-                        <Label text="\\%Resolve strings for all fields exception">
-                           <opaqueInsets>
-                              <Insets />
-                           </opaqueInsets>
-                        </Label>
-                          <TextField />
-                     </children>
-                  </VBox>
-               </children>
-               <opaqueInsets>
-                  <Insets left="4.0" />
-               </opaqueInsets>
-            </HBox>
-         </graphic>
-      </RadioButton>
+      <HBox alignment="CENTER_LEFT" spacing="10.0">
+         <children>
+              <RadioButton fx:id="resolveStringsAll" alignment="TOP_LEFT" maxWidth="Infinity" text="Resolve strings for all fields except" toggleGroup="$stringsResolveToggleGroup" />
+             <TextField fx:id="resolvStringsExcept" HBox.hgrow="ALWAYS" />
+         </children>
+      </HBox>
       <HBox alignment="CENTER_LEFT" spacing="10.0">
          <children>
               <Label alignment="TOP_LEFT" text="%Newline separator" />
-              <ComboBox prefWidth="200.0" />
+              <ComboBox fx:id="newLineSeparator" prefWidth="100.0" />
          </children>
       </HBox>
-        <CheckBox text="%Always reformat BIB file on save and export" />
+        <CheckBox fx:id="alwaysReformatBib" text="%Always reformat BIB file on save and export" />
 
               <Label styleClass="sectionHeader" text="%External file links" />
       <HBox alignment="CENTER_LEFT" spacing="10.0">
          <children>
               <Label text="%Main file directory" />
-              <TextField HBox.hgrow="ALWAYS" />
-              <Button maxWidth="1.7976931348623157E308" text="%Browse" />
-         </children>
-      </HBox>
-      <HBox alignment="CENTER_LEFT">
-         <children>
-              <CheckBox text="%Use the BIB file location as primary file directory" />
-            <HBox HBox.hgrow="ALWAYS" />
-              <Button />
+              <TextField fx:id="mainFileDir" HBox.hgrow="ALWAYS" />
+              <Button onAction="#mainFileDirBrowse" text="%Browse" />
          </children>
       </HBox>
-        <RadioButton text="%Autolink files with names starting with the BibTeX key">
+        <CheckBox fx:id="useBibLocationAsPrimary" text="%Use the BIB file location as primary file directory" />
+        <RadioButton fx:id="autolinkFilesWithBibtex" text="%Autolink files with names starting with the BibTeX key">
          <toggleGroup>
                 <ToggleGroup fx:id="autolinkToggleGroup" />
          </toggleGroup>
         </RadioButton>
-        <RadioButton text="%Autolink only files that match the BibTeX key" toggleGroup="$autolinkToggleGroup" />
+        <RadioButton fx:id="autolinkFilesOnlyBibtex" text="%Autolink only files that match the BibTeX key" toggleGroup="$autolinkToggleGroup" />
       <HBox alignment="CENTER_LEFT" spacing="10.0">
          <children>
-              <RadioButton text="%Use regular expression search" toggleGroup="$autolinkToggleGroup" />
-              <TextField HBox.hgrow="ALWAYS" />
+              <RadioButton fx:id="autolinkUseRegex" text="%Use regular expression search" toggleGroup="$autolinkToggleGroup" />
+              <TextField fx:id="autolinkRegexTerm" HBox.hgrow="ALWAYS" />
+              <Button fx:id="autolinkRegexHelp" />
          </children>
       </HBox>
-        <CheckBox text="%When opening file link, search for matching file if no link is defined" />
-        <CheckBox text="%Automatically open browse dialog when creating new file link" />
+        <CheckBox fx:id="searchFilesOnOpen" text="%When opening file link, search for matching file if no link is defined" />
+        <CheckBox fx:id="openBrowseOnCreate" text="%Automatically open browse dialog when creating new file link" />
         <Label styleClass="sectionHeader" text="%Autosave" />
       <HBox>
          <children>
-              <CheckBox text="%Autosave local libraries" />
+              <CheckBox fx:id="autosaveLocalLibraries" text="%Autosave local libraries" />
             <HBox HBox.hgrow="ALWAYS" />
-              <Button />
+              <Button fx:id="autosaveLocalLibrariesHelp" />
          </children>
       </HBox>
    </children>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/FileTabView.java b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/FileTabView.java
index dbe00e693ad..d5e2e9ae9e3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/FileTabView.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/FileTabView.java
@@ -1,17 +1,51 @@
 package org.jabref.gui.preferences;
 
+import javafx.fxml.FXML;
 import javafx.scene.Node;
-import javafx.scene.layout.GridPane;
+import javafx.scene.control.Button;
+import javafx.scene.control.CheckBox;
+import javafx.scene.control.ComboBox;
+import javafx.scene.control.RadioButton;
+import javafx.scene.control.TextField;
+import javafx.scene.control.ToggleGroup;
 import javafx.scene.layout.VBox;
 
+import org.jabref.Globals;
 import org.jabref.gui.DialogService;
+import org.jabref.gui.actions.ActionFactory;
+import org.jabref.gui.actions.StandardActions;
+import org.jabref.gui.help.HelpAction;
+import org.jabref.logic.help.HelpFile;
 import org.jabref.logic.l10n.Localization;
 import org.jabref.preferences.JabRefPreferences;
+import org.jabref.preferences.NewLineSeperator;
 
 import com.airhacks.afterburner.views.ViewLoader;
 
 public class FileTabView extends VBox implements PrefsTab {
 
+    @FXML private CheckBox openLastStartup;
+    @FXML private CheckBox backupOldFile;
+    @FXML private TextField noWrapFiles;
+    @FXML private RadioButton resolveStringsBibTex;
+    @FXML private ToggleGroup stringsResolveToggleGroup;
+    @FXML private RadioButton resolveStringsAll;
+    @FXML private TextField resolvStringsExcept;
+    @FXML private ComboBox<NewLineSeperator> newLineSeparator;
+    @FXML private CheckBox alwaysReformatBib;
+    @FXML private TextField mainFileDir;
+    @FXML private CheckBox useBibLocationAsPrimary;
+    @FXML private Button autolinkRegexHelp;
+    @FXML private RadioButton autolinkFilesWithBibtex;
+    @FXML private ToggleGroup autolinkToggleGroup;
+    @FXML private RadioButton autolinkFilesOnlyBibtex;
+    @FXML private RadioButton autolinkUseRegex;
+    @FXML private TextField autolinkRegexTerm;
+    @FXML private CheckBox searchFilesOnOpen;
+    @FXML private CheckBox openBrowseOnCreate;
+    @FXML private CheckBox autosaveLocalLibraries;
+    @FXML private Button autosaveLocalLibrariesHelp;
+
     private final DialogService dialogService;
     private final JabRefPreferences preferences;
 
@@ -27,6 +61,10 @@ public FileTabView (DialogService dialogService, JabRefPreferences preferences)
 
     public void initialize() {
         viewModel = new FileTabViewModel(dialogService, preferences);
+
+        ActionFactory actionFactory = new ActionFactory(Globals.getKeyPrefs());
+        actionFactory.configureIconButton(StandardActions.HELP_REGEX_SEARCH, new HelpAction(HelpFile.REGEX_SEARCH),autolinkRegexHelp);
+        actionFactory.configureIconButton(StandardActions.HELP, new HelpAction(HelpFile.AUTOSAVE),autosaveLocalLibrariesHelp);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -54,4 +92,6 @@ public boolean validateSettings() {
     public String getTabName() {
         return Localization.lang("File");
     }
+
+    public void mainFileDirBrowse() { viewModel.mainFileDirBrowse(); }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/FileTabViewModel.java b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/FileTabViewModel.java
index 107e1affce9..a8b8b23b9c4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/FileTabViewModel.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/FileTabViewModel.java
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import org.jabref.gui.DialogService;
 import org.jabref.preferences.JabRefPreferences;
+import org.jabref.preferences.NewLineSeperator;
 
 public class FileTabViewModel implements PreferenceTabViewModel {
 
@@ -25,5 +26,9 @@ public void storeSettings() {
     public boolean validateSettings() {
          return true;
     }
+
+    public void mainFileDirBrowse () {
+        // ToDo
+    }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/GeneralTab.fxml b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/GeneralTab.fxml
index 8d1aadf4605..982106652d2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/GeneralTab.fxml
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/GeneralTab.fxml
@@ -1,85 +1,106 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 
-<?import javafx.geometry.Insets?>
 <?import javafx.scene.control.Button?>
 <?import javafx.scene.control.CheckBox?>
 <?import javafx.scene.control.ComboBox?>
 <?import javafx.scene.control.Label?>
 <?import javafx.scene.control.TextField?>
+<?import javafx.scene.control.Tooltip?>
 <?import javafx.scene.layout.ColumnConstraints?>
 <?import javafx.scene.layout.GridPane?>
+<?import javafx.scene.layout.HBox?>
 <?import javafx.scene.layout.RowConstraints?>
+<?import javafx.scene.layout.VBox?>
 
-<?import javafx.scene.control.Tooltip?>
-<fx:root xmlns:fx="http://javafx.com/fxml/1"
-         type="GridPane"
-         xmlns="http://javafx.com/javafx/8.0.212"
-         fx:controller="org.jabref.gui.preferences.GeneralTabView">
-
-    <columnConstraints>
-        <ColumnConstraints hgrow="SOMETIMES" maxWidth="-Infinity" minWidth="10.0" prefWidth="250.0"/>
-        <ColumnConstraints hgrow="ALWAYS" maxWidth="-Infinity" minWidth="250.0"/>
-        <ColumnConstraints hgrow="SOMETIMES" minWidth="10.0" prefWidth="80.0"/>
-        <ColumnConstraints halignment="RIGHT" hgrow="NEVER" maxWidth="30.0" minWidth="30.0" prefWidth="30.0"/>
-    </columnConstraints>
-    <rowConstraints>
-        <RowConstraints valignment="CENTER" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-        <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
-    </rowConstraints>
-    <children>
-        <Label styleClass="sectionHeader" text="%General" />
-        <Label text="%Language" GridPane.rowIndex="1" />
-        <ComboBox fx:id="language" prefWidth="200.0" GridPane.columnIndex="1" GridPane.hgrow="NEVER" GridPane.rowIndex="1" />
-        <Label text="%Default encoding" GridPane.rowIndex="2" />
-        <ComboBox fx:id="defaultEncoding" prefWidth="200.0" GridPane.columnIndex="1" GridPane.hgrow="NEVER" GridPane.rowIndex="2" />
-        <Label text="%Default bibliography mode" GridPane.rowIndex="3" />
-        <ComboBox fx:id="biblatexMode" prefWidth="200.0" GridPane.columnIndex="1" GridPane.hgrow="NEVER" GridPane.rowIndex="3" />
-        <CheckBox fx:id="inspectionWarningDuplicate" text="%Warn about unresolved duplicates when closing inspection window" GridPane.columnSpan="3" GridPane.rowIndex="4" />
-        <CheckBox fx:id="confirmDelete" text="%Show confirmation dialog when deleting entries" GridPane.columnSpan="3" GridPane.rowIndex="5" />
-        <CheckBox fx:id="enforceLegalKeys" text="%Enforce legal characters in BibTeX keys" GridPane.columnSpan="3" GridPane.rowIndex="6" />
-        <CheckBox fx:id="memoryStickMode" text="%Load and Save preferences from/to jabref.xml on start-up (memory stick mode)" GridPane.columnSpan="3" GridPane.rowIndex="7" />
-        <CheckBox fx:id="collectTelemetry" text="%Collect and share telemetry data to help improve JabRef." GridPane.columnSpan="3" GridPane.rowIndex="8" />
-        <CheckBox fx:id="showAdvancedHints" text="%Show advanced hints (i.e. helpful tooltips, suggestions and explanation)" GridPane.columnSpan="3" GridPane.rowIndex="9" />
+<fx:root spacing="10.0" type="VBox" xmlns="http://javafx.com/javafx/11.0.1" xmlns:fx="http://javafx.com/fxml/1" fx:controller="org.jabref.gui.preferences.GeneralTabView">
+   <children>
+        <Label prefWidth="650.0" styleClass="sectionHeader" text="%General" />
+      <GridPane>
+        <columnConstraints>
+          <ColumnConstraints hgrow="SOMETIMES" maxWidth="319.66668701171875" minWidth="10.0" prefWidth="197.0" />
+          <ColumnConstraints hgrow="SOMETIMES" maxWidth="466.33331298828125" minWidth="10.0" prefWidth="453.0" />
+        </columnConstraints>
+        <rowConstraints>
+          <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
+            <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="10.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
+          <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
+            <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="10.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
+          <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
+        </rowConstraints>
+         <children>
+              <Label text="%Language" />
+              <ComboBox fx:id="language" prefWidth="200.0" GridPane.columnIndex="1" />
+              <Label text="%Default encoding" GridPane.rowIndex="2" />
+              <ComboBox fx:id="defaultEncoding" prefWidth="200.0" GridPane.columnIndex="1" GridPane.rowIndex="2" />
+              <Label text="%Default bibliography mode" GridPane.rowIndex="4" />
+              <ComboBox fx:id="biblatexMode" prefWidth="200.0" GridPane.columnIndex="1" GridPane.rowIndex="4" />
+         </children>
+      </GridPane>
+        <CheckBox fx:id="inspectionWarningDuplicate" text="%Warn about unresolved duplicates when closing inspection window" />
+        <CheckBox fx:id="confirmDelete" text="%Show confirmation dialog when deleting entries" />
+        <CheckBox fx:id="enforceLegalKeys" text="%Enforce legal characters in BibTeX keys" />
+        <CheckBox fx:id="memoryStickMode" text="%Load and Save preferences from/to jabref.xml on start-up (memory stick mode)" />
+        <CheckBox fx:id="collectTelemetry" text="%Collect and share telemetry data to help improve JabRef." />
+        <CheckBox fx:id="showAdvancedHints" text="%Show advanced hints (i.e. helpful tooltips, suggestions and explanation)" />
 
-        <Label styleClass="sectionHeader" text="%Entry owner" GridPane.rowIndex="10" />
-        <CheckBox fx:id="markOwner" text="%Mark new entries with owner name" GridPane.rowIndex="11" />
-        <TextField fx:id="markOwnerName" GridPane.columnIndex="1" GridPane.rowIndex="11" />
-        <CheckBox fx:id="markOwnerOverwrite" text="%Overwrite" GridPane.columnIndex="2" GridPane.rowIndex="11">
-            <GridPane.margin>
-                <Insets left="5.0" />
-            </GridPane.margin>
-            <tooltip><Tooltip text="%If a pasted or imported entry already has the field set, overwrite." /></tooltip>
-        </CheckBox>
-        <Button fx:id="markOwnerHelp" GridPane.columnIndex="3" GridPane.rowIndex="11" />
+              <Label styleClass="sectionHeader" text="%Entry owner" />
+      <HBox alignment="CENTER_LEFT" spacing="10.0">
+         <children>
+              <CheckBox fx:id="markOwner" text="%Mark new entries with owner name" />
+              <TextField fx:id="markOwnerName" HBox.hgrow="ALWAYS" />
+              <CheckBox fx:id="markOwnerOverwrite" text="%Overwrite">
+                  <tooltip>
+                  <Tooltip text="%If a pasted or imported entry already has the field set, overwrite." />
+               </tooltip>
+              </CheckBox>
+              <Button fx:id="markOwnerHelp" prefWidth="20.0" />
+         </children>
+      </HBox>
 
-        <Label styleClass="sectionHeader" text="%Time stamp" GridPane.rowIndex="12" />
-        <CheckBox fx:id="markTimestamp" text="%Mark new entries with addition date" GridPane.columnSpan="3" GridPane.rowIndex="13" />
-        <Label text="%Date format" GridPane.rowIndex="14" />
-        <TextField fx:id="markTimeStampFormat" GridPane.columnIndex="1" GridPane.rowIndex="14" />
-        <CheckBox fx:id="markTimeStampOverwrite" text="%Overwrite" GridPane.columnIndex="2" GridPane.rowIndex="14">
-            <GridPane.margin>
-                <Insets left="5.0" />
-            </GridPane.margin>
-            <tooltip><Tooltip text="%If a pasted or imported entry already has the field set, overwrite." /></tooltip>
-        </CheckBox>
-        <Label text="%Field name" GridPane.rowIndex="15" />
-        <TextField fx:id="markTimeStampFieldName" GridPane.columnIndex="1" GridPane.rowIndex="15" />
-        <Button fx:id="markTimeStampHelp" GridPane.columnIndex="3" GridPane.rowIndex="15" />
-        <CheckBox fx:id="updateTimeStamp" text="%Update timestamp on modification" GridPane.rowIndex="16" />
-    </children>
+              <Label styleClass="sectionHeader" text="%Time stamp" />
+        <CheckBox fx:id="markTimestamp" prefWidth="650.0" text="%Mark new entries with addition date" />
+      <HBox spacing="10.0">
+         <children>
+            <GridPane HBox.hgrow="ALWAYS">
+               <columnConstraints>
+                  <ColumnConstraints hgrow="SOMETIMES" />
+                  <ColumnConstraints hgrow="SOMETIMES" maxWidth="10.0" minWidth="10.0" prefWidth="10.0" />
+                  <ColumnConstraints hgrow="SOMETIMES" maxWidth="1.7976931348623157E308" />
+               </columnConstraints>
+               <rowConstraints>
+                  <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
+                  <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="10.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
+                  <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
+               </rowConstraints>
+               <children>
+                    <TextField fx:id="markTimeStampFormat" GridPane.columnIndex="2" GridPane.hgrow="ALWAYS" />
+                    <Label text="%Field name" GridPane.rowIndex="2" />
+                    <Label text="%Date format" GridPane.hgrow="SOMETIMES" />
+                    <TextField fx:id="markTimeStampFieldName" GridPane.columnIndex="2" GridPane.rowIndex="2" />
+               </children>
+            </GridPane>
+            <GridPane>
+               <columnConstraints>
+                  <ColumnConstraints hgrow="SOMETIMES" minWidth="10.0" />
+                  <ColumnConstraints hgrow="SOMETIMES" minWidth="10.0" prefWidth="10.0" />
+                  <ColumnConstraints hgrow="SOMETIMES" minWidth="20.0" prefWidth="20.0" />
+               </columnConstraints>
+               <rowConstraints>
+                  <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
+                  <RowConstraints minHeight="10.0" prefHeight="30.0" vgrow="SOMETIMES" />
+               </rowConstraints>
+               <children>
+                    <CheckBox fx:id="markTimeStampOverwrite" text="%Overwrite">
+                        <tooltip>
+                        <Tooltip text="%If a pasted or imported entry already has the field set, overwrite." />
+                     </tooltip>
+                    </CheckBox>
+                    <Button fx:id="markTimeStampHelp" prefWidth="20.0" GridPane.columnIndex="2" GridPane.rowIndex="1" />
+               </children>
+            </GridPane>
+         </children>
+      </HBox>
+      <HBox spacing="10.0" />
+        <CheckBox fx:id="updateTimeStamp" prefWidth="650.0" text="%Update timestamp on modification" />
+   </children>
 </fx:root>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/GeneralTabView.java b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/GeneralTabView.java
index aaf6560545a..582dc4d0c25 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/GeneralTabView.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/GeneralTabView.java
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 import javafx.scene.control.CheckBox;
 import javafx.scene.control.ComboBox;
 import javafx.scene.control.TextField;
-import javafx.scene.layout.GridPane;
+import javafx.scene.layout.VBox;
 
 import org.jabref.Globals;
 import org.jabref.gui.DialogService;
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 
 import com.airhacks.afterburner.views.ViewLoader;
 
-public class GeneralTabView extends GridPane implements PrefsTab {
+public class GeneralTabView extends VBox implements PrefsTab {
 
     @FXML private ComboBox<Language> language;
     @FXML private ComboBox<Charset> defaultEncoding;
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ public Node getBuilder() {
 
     @Override
     public void setValues() {
-        // Done by bindings
+        // ToDo: Remove this after conversion of all tabs
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferenceTabViewModel.java b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferenceTabViewModel.java
index 0a3507ad676..1d8d7f87e6e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferenceTabViewModel.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferenceTabViewModel.java
@@ -6,6 +6,5 @@ public interface PreferenceTabViewModel {
 
     void storeSettings();
 
-    boolean validateSettings();
-
+    boolean validateSettings(); // ToDo: Remove this after implementation of MVVMFX Validator
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferencesDialog.fxml b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferencesDialog.fxml
index 48bf2979668..db350db3111 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferencesDialog.fxml
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferencesDialog.fxml
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
                         </VBox>
                     </children>
                 </VBox>
-                <ScrollPane fx:id="preferencePaneContainer" maxHeight="Infinity" maxWidth="Infinity" />
+                <ScrollPane fx:id="preferencePaneContainer" styleClass="preferencePaneContainer" maxHeight="Infinity" maxWidth="Infinity" />
             </items>
         </SplitPane>
     </content>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferencesDialogView.java b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferencesDialogView.java
index 6da1cc06d96..e2ef91cc738 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferencesDialogView.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferencesDialogView.java
@@ -57,9 +57,7 @@ public PreferencesDialogView(JabRefFrame frame, TaskExecutor taskExecutor) {
 
     @FXML
     private void initialize () {
-        viewModel = new PreferencesDialogViewModel(dialogService, taskExecutor, frame, this);
-        getDialogPane().getScene().getStylesheets().add(this.getClass().getResource("PreferencesDialog.css").toExternalForm());
-        preferencePaneContainer.getStyleClass().add("preferencePaneContainer");
+        viewModel = new PreferencesDialogViewModel(dialogService, taskExecutor, frame);
 
         preferenceTabList.itemsProperty().setValue(viewModel.getPreferenceTabs());
 
@@ -86,7 +84,7 @@ private void initialize () {
                 .withText(PrefsTab::getTabName)
                 .install(preferenceTabList);
 
-        setValues();
+        viewModel.setValues(); // ToDo: Remove this after conversion of all tabs
     }
 
     @FXML
@@ -117,19 +115,4 @@ void showAllPreferences() {
     void resetPreferences() {
         viewModel.resetPreferences();
     }
-
-    /**
-     * Sets the values in each preference tab according to Globals.prefs.
-     * Currently the PreferenceDialogViewModel uses this method, which,
-     * I believe, is not allowed in the MVVM-model. Fixing this would
-     * probably require refactoring the JabRefPreferences to use
-     * Properties probably (?), which would go way beyond this PR.
-     * So this is just deprecated and awaits refactoring.
-     */
-    @Deprecated
-    public void setValues() {
-        for (PrefsTab prefsTab : viewModel.getPreferenceTabs()) {
-            prefsTab.setValues();
-        }
-    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferencesDialogViewModel.java b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferencesDialogViewModel.java
index bf8ebcfc1e6..3da78bb6b96 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferencesDialogViewModel.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PreferencesDialogViewModel.java
@@ -36,15 +36,13 @@ public class PreferencesDialogViewModel extends AbstractViewModel {
     private final TaskExecutor taskExecutor;
     private final JabRefPreferences prefs;
     private final ObservableList<PrefsTab> preferenceTabs;
-    private final PreferencesDialogView view;
     private final JabRefFrame frame;
 
-    public PreferencesDialogViewModel(DialogService dialogService, TaskExecutor taskExecutor, JabRefFrame frame, PreferencesDialogView view) {
+    public PreferencesDialogViewModel(DialogService dialogService, TaskExecutor taskExecutor, JabRefFrame frame) {
         this.dialogService = dialogService;
         this.taskExecutor = taskExecutor;
         this.prefs = Globals.prefs;
         this.frame = frame;
-        this.view = view;
 
         preferenceTabs = FXCollections.observableArrayList();
         preferenceTabs.add(new GeneralTabView(dialogService, prefs));
@@ -136,7 +134,7 @@ public void resetPreferences() {
 
     private void updateAfterPreferenceChanges() {
 
-        view.setValues();
+        setValues();
 
         List<TemplateExporter> customExporters = prefs.getCustomExportFormats(Globals.journalAbbreviationLoader);
         LayoutFormatterPreferences layoutPreferences = prefs.getLayoutFormatterPreferences(Globals.journalAbbreviationLoader);
@@ -164,4 +162,10 @@ public void storeAllSettings() {
         frame.getGlobalSearchBar().updateHintVisibility();
         dialogService.notify(Localization.lang("Preferences recorded."));
     }
+
+    public void setValues() {
+        for (PrefsTab prefsTab : preferenceTabs) {
+            prefsTab.setValues();
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PrefsTab.java b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PrefsTab.java
index 47bf3fd77cf..56c8f1149cc 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PrefsTab.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/preferences/PrefsTab.java
@@ -19,14 +19,14 @@ interface PrefsTab {
      * is ILLEGAL to set values only at construction time, because the dialog
      * will be reused and updated.
      */
-    void setValues();
+    void setValues(); // ToDo: Remove this after conversion of all tabs
 
     /**
      * This method is called when the user presses OK in the
      * Preferences dialog. Implementing classes must make sure all
      * settings presented get stored in JabRefPreferences.
      */
-    void storeSettings();
+    void storeSettings(); // ToDo: Call directly in ViewModel after conversion of all tabs
 
     /**
      * This method is called before the {@link #storeSettings()} method,
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ interface PrefsTab {
      * If the tab is *not* ready, it should display a message to the user
      * informing about the illegal setting.
      */
-    boolean validateSettings();
+    boolean validateSettings(); // ToDo: Call directly in ViewModel after conversion of all tabs
 
     /**
      * Should return the localized identifier to use for the tab.
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/preferences/NewLineSeperator.java b/src/main/java/org/jabref/preferences/NewLineSeperator.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9084b97cc91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/preferences/NewLineSeperator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package org.jabref.preferences;
+
+public enum NewLineSeperator {
+    CR,
+    LF,
+    CRLF;
+
+    /**
+     * An enum which contains the possible NewLineSeperators
+     * Possible are CR ("\n"), LF ("\r") and the windows standard CR/LF.
+     */
+
+    /**
+     * @return the name of the current mode as String
+     */
+    public String getEscapeSign() {
+        switch (this) {
+            case CR:
+                return "\r";
+            case LF:
+                return "\n";
+            default:
+                return "\r\n";
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the {@link NewLineSeperator} that equals the given string.
+     **/
+    public static NewLineSeperator parse(String data) {
+        switch (data) {
+            case "\r":
+                return CR;
+            case "\n":
+                return LF;
+            default:
+                return CRLF;
+        }
+    }
+}
+