diff --git a/BrewBar/BrewBarApp.swift b/BrewBar/BrewBarApp.swift
index be2a4fd..9db5507 100644
--- a/BrewBar/BrewBarApp.swift
+++ b/BrewBar/BrewBarApp.swift
@@ -344,9 +344,16 @@ class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {
 
     // MARK: - Logs
 
+    /// oldest content is dropped past this size, or the buffer grows forever
+    /// and every log() re-renders an ever-larger string into the text view
+    let maxLogLength = 100_000
+
     func log(_ text: String) {
         DispatchQueue.main.async {
             self.logBuffer += text
+            if self.logBuffer.count > self.maxLogLength {
+                self.logBuffer = String(self.logBuffer.suffix(self.maxLogLength))
+            }
             self.logWindow?.update(text: self.logBuffer)
         }
     }