diff --git a/filterwidget.py b/filterwidget.py
index 2fa2c2b..f2f88bb 100644
--- a/filterwidget.py
+++ b/filterwidget.py
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ class FilterWidget(QWidget):
         query = self.query_field.text()
         ignore_case = self.ignore_case.isChecked()
         if len(query) == 0:
+            self.filter_model.truncate()
             return
 
         # cancel previous search
@@ -135,7 +136,8 @@ class FilterWidget(QWidget):
             else:
                 regex = re.compile(re.escape(query), flags=flags)
         except:
-            # query was not a valid regex -> abort
+            # query was not a valid regex -> clear search hits, then abort
+            self.filter_model.truncate()
             return
 
         self.filter_task = FilterTask(
diff --git a/logFileModel.py b/logFileModel.py
index f8b26a8..edd2aa2 100644
--- a/logFileModel.py
+++ b/logFileModel.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from settings import Settings
 
 class LogFileModel:
 
-    def __init__(self, file:str, settings: Settings):
+    def __init__(self, file: str, settings: Settings):
         self.settings = settings
         self._file = os.path.realpath(file)
         self._lock = threading.RLock()
@@ -34,28 +34,29 @@ class LogFileModel:
                 return bytes.decode("utf8", errors="ignore")
 
     def data(self, byte_offset, scroll_lines, lines) -> List[Line]:
-        #print("data(%s, %s, %s)" % (byte_offset, scroll_lines, lines))
+        # print("data(%s, %s, %s)" % (byte_offset, scroll_lines, lines))
         lines_before_offset: List[Line] = []
         lines_after_offset: List[Line] = []
-        lines_to_find = lines  + abs(scroll_lines)
+        lines_to_find = lines + abs(scroll_lines)
         lines_to_return = math.ceil(lines)
 
-        #start = time.time()
+        # start = time.time()
         with self._lock:
-            #print("data lock acquision %.4f" % (time.time() -start))
+            # print("data lock acquision %.4f" % (time.time() -start))
             # TODO handle lines longer than 4096 bytes
             # TODO abort file open after a few secons: https://docs.python.org/3/library/signal.html#example
             with open(self._file, 'rb') as f:
                 offset = min(byte_offset, self.byte_count())
                 offset = max(0, offset - self.settings.max_line_length())
 
-                #print("offset: %s" % (offset))
+                # print("offset: %s" % (offset))
 
                 eof_reached = True
                 f.seek(offset)
                 while l := f.readline():
                     new_offset = f.tell()
-                    line = Line(offset, new_offset, l.decode("utf8", errors="ignore").replace("\r", "").replace("\n", ""))
+                    line = Line(offset, new_offset,
+                                l.decode("utf8", errors="ignore").replace("\r", "").replace("\n", ""))
                     # print("%s %s" %(line.byte_offset(), line.line()))
                     if offset < byte_offset:
                         lines_before_offset.append(line)
@@ -68,12 +69,12 @@ class LogFileModel:
 
             all_lines = lines_before_offset + lines_after_offset
             start = max(0, len(lines_before_offset) + scroll_lines)
-            if start + lines_to_return-1 < len(all_lines):
-                result = all_lines[start:start+lines_to_return]
+            if start + lines_to_return - 1 < len(all_lines):
+                result = all_lines[start:start + lines_to_return]
             else:
-                result = all_lines[-lines_to_return+1:]
+                result = all_lines[-lines_to_return + 1:]
 
-            #print("returning %s lines" % (len(result)))
+            # print("returning %s lines" % (len(result)))
             return result
 
     def byte_count(self) -> int:
@@ -87,5 +88,4 @@ class LogFileModel:
 
     def truncate(self):
         with open(self._file, 'a') as f:
-            print("truncating")
-            f.truncate(0)
\ No newline at end of file
+            f.truncate(0)