diff --git a/histoqc/__main__.py b/histoqc/__main__.py
index d86ff7d..1324cf2 100644
--- a/histoqc/__main__.py
+++ b/histoqc/__main__.py
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ def main(argv=None):
     parser.add_argument('--symlink', metavar="TARGET_DIR",
                         help="create symlink to outdir in TARGET_DIR",
                         default=None)
+    parser.add_argument('--debug', action='store_true', help="trigger debugging behavior")
     args = parser.parse_args(argv)
 
     # --- multiprocessing and logging setup -----------------------------------
@@ -104,7 +105,7 @@ def main(argv=None):
     # --- create output directory and move log --------------------------------
     args.outdir = os.path.expanduser(args.outdir)
     os.makedirs(args.outdir, exist_ok=True)
-    move_logging_file_handler(logging.getLogger(), args.outdir)
+    move_logging_file_handler(logging.getLogger(), args.outdir, args.debug)
 
     if BatchedResultFile.results_in_path(args.outdir):
         if args.force:
@@ -162,10 +163,11 @@ def main(argv=None):
         'shared_dict': mpm.dict(),
         'num_files': num_files,
         'force': args.force,
-        'seed': args.seed
+        'seed': args.seed,
+        'debug': args.debug
     }
     failed = mpm.list()
-    setup_plotting_backend(lm.logger)
+    setup_plotting_backend(lm.logger, debug=args.debug)
 
     try:
         if args.nprocesses > 1:
diff --git a/histoqc/_pipeline.py b/histoqc/_pipeline.py
index 5012ce4..2c61e6d 100644
--- a/histoqc/_pipeline.py
+++ b/histoqc/_pipeline.py
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ def setup_logging(*, capture_warnings, filter_warnings):
     logging.captureWarnings(capture_warnings)
 
 
-def move_logging_file_handler(logger, destination):
+def move_logging_file_handler(logger, destination, debug=False):
     """point the logging file handlers to the new destination
 
     Parameters
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ def move_logging_file_handler(logger, destination):
         new_filename = shutil.move(handler.baseFilename, destination)
 
         new_handler = logging.FileHandler(new_filename, mode='a')
-        new_handler.setLevel(handler.level)
+        new_handler.setLevel(logging.DEBUG if debug else handler.level)
         new_handler.setFormatter(handler.formatter)
         logger.addHandler(new_handler)
 
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ def log_pipeline(config, log_manager):
 
 # --- worker process helpers ------------------------------------------
 
-def setup_plotting_backend(logger=None):
+def setup_plotting_backend(logger=None, debug=False):
     """loads the correct matplotlib backend
 
     Parameters
@@ -197,12 +197,13 @@ def setup_plotting_backend(logger=None):
         the logging.Logger instance
     """
     import matplotlib
-    if platform.system() != "Windows" and not os.environ.get('DISPLAY'):
-        if logger is not None:
-            logger.info('no display found. Using non-interactive Agg backend')
-        matplotlib.use('Agg')
-    else:
+
+    if debug and (platform.system() == "Windows" or os.environ.get('DISPLAY')):
         matplotlib.use('TkAgg')
+        logger.info("Display found and debug mode enabled. Using TkAgg backend for matplotlib.")
+
+    else:
+        matplotlib.use('Agg')
 
 
 class BatchedResultFile: