--- a/src/qtgui/guiutils.cpp
+++ b/src/qtgui/guiutils.cpp
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@
 	       "/Recoll/prefs/showResultsAsTable", Bool, false);
     SETTING_RW(prefs.maxhltextmbs, "/Recoll/prefs/preview/maxhltextmbs", Int, 3);
     SETTING_RW(prefs.previewPlainPre, 
-	       "/Recoll/prefs/preview/plainPre", Bool, false);
+	       "/Recoll/prefs/preview/plainPre", Bool, true);
     SETTING_RW(prefs.qtermcolor, "/Recoll/prefs/qtermcolor", String, "blue");
     if (!writing && prefs.qtermcolor == "")
 	prefs.qtermcolor = "blue";