diff --git a/atlasdb-impl-shared/src/main/java/com/palantir/atlasdb/sweep/SweeperService.java b/atlasdb-impl-shared/src/main/java/com/palantir/atlasdb/sweep/SweeperService.java
index b9c9e69b27f..1a68449d9c4 100644
--- a/atlasdb-impl-shared/src/main/java/com/palantir/atlasdb/sweep/SweeperService.java
+++ b/atlasdb-impl-shared/src/main/java/com/palantir/atlasdb/sweep/SweeperService.java
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 import java.util.Optional;
 
 import javax.ws.rs.Consumes;
-import javax.ws.rs.DefaultValue;
 import javax.ws.rs.POST;
 import javax.ws.rs.Path;
 import javax.ws.rs.Produces;
@@ -60,7 +59,7 @@ default SweepTableResponse sweepTableFrom(String tableName, String startRow) {
     SweepTableResponse sweepTable(
             @QueryParam("tablename") String tableName,
             @QueryParam("startRow") Optional<String> startRow,
-            @Safe @QueryParam("fullSweep") @DefaultValue("true") Optional<Boolean> fullSweep,
+            @Safe @QueryParam("fullSweep") Optional<Boolean> fullSweep,
             @Safe @QueryParam("maxCellTsPairsToExamine") Optional<Integer> maxCellTsPairsToExamine,
             @Safe @QueryParam("candidateBatchSize") Optional<Integer> candidateBatchSize,
             @Safe @QueryParam("deleteBatchSize") Optional<Integer> deleteBatchSize);
diff --git a/atlasdb-impl-shared/src/main/java/com/palantir/atlasdb/sweep/SweeperServiceImpl.java b/atlasdb-impl-shared/src/main/java/com/palantir/atlasdb/sweep/SweeperServiceImpl.java
index dd65bcf05c6..99db582e62f 100644
--- a/atlasdb-impl-shared/src/main/java/com/palantir/atlasdb/sweep/SweeperServiceImpl.java
+++ b/atlasdb-impl-shared/src/main/java/com/palantir/atlasdb/sweep/SweeperServiceImpl.java
@@ -17,13 +17,21 @@
 
 import java.util.Optional;
 
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.palantir.atlasdb.encoding.PtBytes;
 import com.palantir.atlasdb.keyvalue.api.SweepResults;
 import com.palantir.atlasdb.keyvalue.api.TableReference;
+import com.palantir.atlasdb.logging.LoggingArgs;
+import com.palantir.logsafe.SafeArg;
+import com.palantir.logsafe.UnsafeArg;
 import com.palantir.remoting3.servers.jersey.WebPreconditions;
 
 public final class SweeperServiceImpl implements SweeperService {
+    private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(SweeperServiceImpl.class);
+
     private final SpecificTableSweeper specificTableSweeper;
     private final AdjustableSweepBatchConfigSource sweepBatchConfigSource;
 
@@ -48,17 +56,36 @@ public SweepTableResponse sweepTable(
         SweepBatchConfig config = buildConfigWithOverrides(maxCellTsPairsToExamine, candidateBatchSize,
                 deleteBatchSize);
 
-        SweepResults sweepResults = fullSweep.orElse(true)
-                ? runFullSweepWithoutSavingResults(
-                        tableRef,
-                        decodedStartRow,
-                        config)
-                : runOneBatchWithoutSavingResults(
-                        tableRef,
-                        decodedStartRow,
-                        config);
-
-        return SweepTableResponse.from(sweepResults);
+        return SweepTableResponse.from(runSweep(fullSweep, tableRef, decodedStartRow, config));
+    }
+
+    private SweepResults runSweep(Optional<Boolean> fullSweep, TableReference tableRef, byte[] decodedStartRow,
+            SweepBatchConfig config) {
+        if (!fullSweep.isPresent()) {
+            log.warn("fullSweep parameter was not specified, defaulting to true");
+        }
+
+        if (fullSweep.orElse(true)) {
+            log.info("Running sweep of full table {}, "
+                            + "with maxCellTsPairsToExamine: {}, candidateBatchSize: {}, deleteBatchSize: {}, "
+                            + "starting from row {}",
+                    LoggingArgs.tableRef(tableRef),
+                    SafeArg.of("maxCellTsPairsToExamine", config.maxCellTsPairsToExamine()),
+                    SafeArg.of("candidateBatchSize", config.candidateBatchSize()),
+                    SafeArg.of("deleteBatchSize", config.deleteBatchSize()),
+                    UnsafeArg.of("decodedStartRow", decodedStartRow));
+            return runFullSweepWithoutSavingResults(tableRef, decodedStartRow, config);
+        } else {
+            log.info("Running sweep of a single batch on table {}, "
+                            + "with maxCellTsPairsToExamine: {}, candidateBatchSize: {}, deleteBatchSize: {}, "
+                            + "starting from row {}",
+                    LoggingArgs.tableRef(tableRef),
+                    SafeArg.of("maxCellTsPairsToExamine", config.maxCellTsPairsToExamine()),
+                    SafeArg.of("candidateBatchSize", config.candidateBatchSize()),
+                    SafeArg.of("deleteBatchSize", config.deleteBatchSize()),
+                    UnsafeArg.of("decodedStartRow", decodedStartRow));
+            return runOneBatchWithoutSavingResults(tableRef, decodedStartRow, config);
+        }
     }
 
     private SweepBatchConfig buildConfigWithOverrides(
diff --git a/docs/source/release_notes/release-notes.rst b/docs/source/release_notes/release-notes.rst
index 303899307b2..f607d7a212e 100644
--- a/docs/source/release_notes/release-notes.rst
+++ b/docs/source/release_notes/release-notes.rst
@@ -66,6 +66,12 @@ develop
          - AtlasDB can now tag RC releases.
            (`Pull Request <https://github.com/palantir/atlasdb/pull/2641>`__)
 
+    *    - |improved| |logs|
+         - ``SweeperServiceImpl`` now logs when it starts sweeping and makes it clear if it is running full sweep or not
+
+    *    -
+         -
+
 .. <<<<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->>>>
 
 =======