diff --git a/swh/web/assets/src/bundles/admin/deposit.js b/swh/web/assets/src/bundles/admin/deposit.js
index 79d3d5bb..9dc3ace2 100644
--- a/swh/web/assets/src/bundles/admin/deposit.js
+++ b/swh/web/assets/src/bundles/admin/deposit.js
@@ -1,198 +1,210 @@
 /**
  * Copyright (C) 2018-2020  The Software Heritage developers
  * See the AUTHORS file at the top-level directory of this distribution
  * License: GNU Affero General Public License version 3, or any later version
  * See top-level LICENSE file for more information
  */
 
 function genSwhLink(data, type) {
   if (type === 'display') {
     if (data && data.startsWith('swh')) {
       let browseUrl = Urls.browse_swh_id(data);
       return `<a href="${browseUrl}">${data}</a>`;
     }
   }
   return data;
 }
 
 function filterDataWithExcludePattern(data, excludePattern) {
-  /** Return true if the data is to be filtered, false otherwise. */
+  /* Return true if the data is to be filtered, false otherwise.
+
+    Args:
+      data (dict): row dict data
+      excludePattern (str): pattern to lookup in data columns
+
+    Returns:
+      true if the data is to be excluded (because it matches), false otherwise
+
+   */
+  if (excludePattern === '') {
+    return false; // otherwise, everything gets excluded
+  }
   for (const key in data) {
     let value = data[key];
     if ((typeof value === 'string' || value instanceof String) &&
         value.search(excludePattern) !== -1) {
       return true; // exclude the data from filtering
     }
   }
   return false;
 }
 
 export function initDepositAdmin() {
   let depositsTable;
   $(document).ready(() => {
     $.fn.dataTable.ext.errMode = 'none';
     depositsTable = $('#swh-admin-deposit-list')
       .on('error.dt', (e, settings, techNote, message) => {
         $('#swh-admin-deposit-list-error').text(message);
       })
       .DataTable({
         serverSide: true,
         processing: true,
         // let's define the order of table options display
         // f: (f)ilter
         // l: (l)ength changing
         // r: p(r)ocessing
         // t: (t)able
         // i: (i)nfo
         // p: (p)agination
         // see https://datatables.net/examples/basic_init/dom.html
         dom: '<<f<"#list-exclude">l>rt<"bottom"ip>>',
         // div#list-exclude is a custom filter added next to dataTable
         // initialization below through js dom manipulation, see
         // https://datatables.net/examples/advanced_init/dom_toolbar.html
         ajax: {
           url: Urls.admin_deposit_list(),
           // filtering data set depending on the exclude search input
           dataFilter: function(dataResponse) {
             /* Filter out data returned by the server to exclude entries
                matching the exclude pattern.
 
               Args
                 dataResponse (str): the json response in string
 
               Returns:
                 json response altered (in string)
              */
             //
             let data = jQuery.parseJSON(dataResponse);
             let excludePattern = $('#swh-admin-deposit-list-exclude-filter').val();
             let recordsFiltered = 0;
             let filteredData = [];
             for (const row of data.data) {
               if (filterDataWithExcludePattern(row, excludePattern)) {
                 recordsFiltered += 1;
               } else {
                 filteredData.push(row);
               }
             }
             // update data values
             data['recordsFiltered'] = recordsFiltered;
             data['data'] = filteredData;
             return JSON.stringify(data);
           }
         },
         columns: [
           {
             data: 'id',
             name: 'id'
           },
           {
             data: 'swh_id_context',
             name: 'swh_id_context',
             render: (data, type, row) => {
               if (data && type === 'display') {
                 let originPattern = ';origin=';
                 let originPatternIdx = data.indexOf(originPattern);
                 if (originPatternIdx !== -1) {
                   let originUrl = data.slice(originPatternIdx + originPattern.length);
                   let nextSepPattern = ';';
                   let nextSepPatternIdx = originUrl.indexOf(nextSepPattern);
                   if (nextSepPatternIdx !== -1) { /* Remove extra context */
                     originUrl = originUrl.slice(0, nextSepPatternIdx);
                   }
                   return `<a href="${originUrl}">${originUrl}</a>`;
                 }
               }
               return data;
             }
           },
           {
             data: 'reception_date',
             name: 'reception_date',
             render: (data, type, row) => {
               if (type === 'display') {
                 let date = new Date(data);
                 return date.toLocaleString();
               }
               return data;
             }
           },
           {
             data: 'status',
             name: 'status'
           },
           {
             data: 'status_detail',
             name: 'status_detail',
             render: (data, type, row) => {
               if (type === 'display' && data) {
                 let text = data;
                 if (typeof data === 'object') {
                   text = JSON.stringify(data, null, 4);
                 }
                 return `<div style="width: 200px; white-space: pre; overflow-x: auto;">${text}</div>`;
               }
               return data;
             },
             orderable: false,
             visible: false
           },
           {
             data: 'swh_id',
             name: 'swh_id',
             render: (data, type, row) => {
               return genSwhLink(data, type);
             },
             orderable: false,
             visible: false
           },
           {
             data: 'swh_id_context',
             name: 'swh_id_context',
             render: (data, type, row) => {
               return genSwhLink(data, type);
             },
             orderable: false,
             visible: false
           }
         ],
         scrollX: true,
         scrollY: '50vh',
         scrollCollapse: true,
         order: [[0, 'desc']]
       });
 
     // Some more customization is needed on the table
     $('div#list-exclude').html(`<div id="swh-admin-deposit-list-exclude-wrapper">
     <div id="swh-admin-deposit-list-exclude-div-wrapper" class="dataTables_filter">
       <label>
         Exclude:<input id="swh-admin-deposit-list-exclude-filter"
                        type="search"
                        value="check-deposit"
                        class="form-control form-control-sm"
                        placeholder="exclude-pattern" aria-controls="swh-admin-deposit-list">
           </input>
       </label>
     </div>
   </div>
 `);
     // Adding exclusion pattern update behavior, when typing, update search
     $('#swh-admin-deposit-list-exclude-filter').keyup(function() {
       depositsTable.draw();
     });
     // at last draw the table
     depositsTable.draw();
   });
 
   $('a.toggle-col').on('click', function(e) {
     e.preventDefault();
     var column = depositsTable.column($(this).attr('data-column'));
     column.visible(!column.visible());
     if (column.visible()) {
       $(this).removeClass('col-hidden');
     } else {
       $(this).addClass('col-hidden');
     }
   });
 
 }