diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposer.js b/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposer.js
index 8a3b128908..88230062fe 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposer.js
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposer.js
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ export default class MessageComposer extends React.Component {
             inputState: {
                 style: [],
                 blockType: null,
-                isRichtextEnabled: UserSettingsStore.getSyncedSetting('MessageComposerInput.isRichTextEnabled', true),
+                isRichtextEnabled: UserSettingsStore.getSyncedSetting('MessageComposerInput.isRichTextEnabled', false),
                 wordCount: 0,
             },
             showFormatting: UserSettingsStore.getSyncedSetting('MessageComposer.showFormatting', false),
diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js b/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js
index 417d003226..8efd2fa579 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ export default class MessageComposerInput extends React.Component {
         this.setDisplayedCompletion = this.setDisplayedCompletion.bind(this);
         this.onMarkdownToggleClicked = this.onMarkdownToggleClicked.bind(this);
 
-        const isRichtextEnabled = UserSettingsStore.getSyncedSetting('MessageComposerInput.isRichTextEnabled', true);
+        const isRichtextEnabled = UserSettingsStore.getSyncedSetting('MessageComposerInput.isRichTextEnabled', false);
 
         this.state = {
             // whether we're in rich text or markdown mode