diff --git a/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/advanced.cpp b/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/advanced.cpp
index ea53093eb9..a70f68e11a 100644
--- a/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/advanced.cpp
+++ b/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/advanced.cpp
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ void KWinAdvancedCompositingOptions::load()
     KConfigGroup config(mKWinConfig, "Compositing");
     QString backend = config.readEntry("Backend", "OpenGL");
     ui.compositingType->setCurrentIndex((backend == "XRender") ? 1 : 0);
-    int hps = config.readEntry("HiddenPreviews", 0);
+    int hps = config.readEntry("HiddenPreviews", 3);
     if( hps == 1 ) // always
         ui.windowThumbnails->setCurrentIndex( 0 );
     else if( hps == 0 ) // never
diff --git a/options.cpp b/options.cpp
index d6b71183eb..8a105be038 100644
--- a/options.cpp
+++ b/options.cpp
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ void Options::reloadCompositingSettings(const CompositingPrefs& prefs)
     xrenderSmoothScale = config.readEntry("XRenderSmoothScale", false );
 
     hiddenPreviews = HiddenPreviewsShown;
-    int hps = config.readEntry( "HiddenPreviews", int(HiddenPreviewsShown) );
+    int hps = config.readEntry( "HiddenPreviews", 3 );
     if( hps == 0 )
         hiddenPreviews = HiddenPreviewsNever;
     else if( hps == 3 )