diff --git a/src/filewidgets/kdiroperator.cpp b/src/filewidgets/kdiroperator.cpp
--- a/src/filewidgets/kdiroperator.cpp
+++ b/src/filewidgets/kdiroperator.cpp
@@ -2107,7 +2107,7 @@
 void KDirOperator::readConfig(const KConfigGroup &configGroup)
 {
     d->defaultView = 0;
-    QString viewStyle = configGroup.readEntry("View Style", "Simple");
+    QString viewStyle = configGroup.readEntry("View Style", "DetailTree");
     if (viewStyle == QLatin1String("Detail")) {
         d->defaultView |= KFile::Detail;
     } else if (viewStyle == QLatin1String("Tree")) {