how to make search bar open in desktop

Hi there,

depends on what and where the search field is.
If you can share a link to where i can see the existing search icon i can advise on whats possible.

http://thefinterest.kinsta.cloud/

It's kind of tricky, give this CSS a try, but as the search bar is set to position: absolute , you'll need to write custom CSS to avoid overlapping between menu items and the search bar:

body .navigation-search {
    left: 0;
    right: 0;
    pointer-events: auto;
    visibility: visible;
    opacity: 1;
} 

thank you very much!

Is there a way to add text to the placeholder?

Yes, give this PHP snippet a try:
https://docs.generatepress.com/article/generate_navigation_search_output/#add-a-placeholder

Thank you very much!

No problem :)