diff --git a/cypress/e2e/share-link.js b/cypress/e2e/share-link.js
index 2c61d12154..49999bef03 100644
--- a/cypress/e2e/share-link.js
+++ b/cypress/e2e/share-link.js
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ const otherUser = new User(randHash(), randHash())
 
 describe.skip('Public sharing of office documents', () => {
 	before(function() {
+		cy.nextcloudTestingAppConfigSet('richdocuments', 'doc_format', '')
 		cy.createUser(shareOwner)
 		cy.createUser(otherUser)
 
diff --git a/cypress/e2e/talk.spec.js b/cypress/e2e/talk.spec.js
index c1854fc67c..7cac42a9d5 100644
--- a/cypress/e2e/talk.spec.js
+++ b/cypress/e2e/talk.spec.js
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ describe('Talk integraiton integration', function() {
 		cy.nextcloudTestingAppConfigSet('files', 'watermark_text', '{userId}')
 		cy.nextcloudTestingAppConfigSet('files', 'watermark_shareTalkPublic', 'no')
 		cy.nextcloudTestingAppConfigSet('richdocuments', 'uiDefaults-UIMode', 'notebookbar')
+		cy.nextcloudTestingAppConfigSet('richdocuments', 'doc_format', '')
 	}
 
 	before(function() {
diff --git a/cypress/e2e/templates.spec.js b/cypress/e2e/templates.spec.js
index 5310ecc466..5fc8d8a28a 100644
--- a/cypress/e2e/templates.spec.js
+++ b/cypress/e2e/templates.spec.js
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ describe('Global templates', function() {
 
 	let randUser
 	before(function() {
+		cy.nextcloudTestingAppConfigSet('richdocuments', 'doc_format', '')
 		cy.createRandomUser().then(user => {
 			randUser = user
 			cy.createFolder(randUser, 'Templates-user')
diff --git a/lib/AppConfig.php b/lib/AppConfig.php
index 8b24ff48f3..cbbe46b475 100644
--- a/lib/AppConfig.php
+++ b/lib/AppConfig.php
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ class AppConfig {
 		'watermark_allTagsList' => [],
 		'watermark_linkTagsList' => [],
 		'token_ttl' => 36000, // 10 hours
+		'doc_format' => 'ooxml',
 	];
 
 	public const WATERMARK_APP_NAMESPACE = 'files';
diff --git a/lib/Listener/RegisterTemplateFileCreatorListener.php b/lib/Listener/RegisterTemplateFileCreatorListener.php
index 1f42c8dc0b..d17b1d208c 100644
--- a/lib/Listener/RegisterTemplateFileCreatorListener.php
+++ b/lib/Listener/RegisterTemplateFileCreatorListener.php
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ public function handle(Event $event): void {
 		}
 
 		$templateManager = $event->getTemplateManager();
-		$ooxml = $this->config->getAppValue(Application::APPNAME, 'doc_format', '') === 'ooxml';
+		$ooxml = $this->config->getAppValue(Application::APPNAME, 'doc_format', 'ooxml') === 'ooxml';
 		$appPath = $this->appManager->getAppPath('richdocuments');
 
 		$templateManager->registerTemplateFileCreator(function () use ($ooxml, $appPath) {
diff --git a/lib/Service/SlideDeckService.php b/lib/Service/SlideDeckService.php
index 4203791f3e..e15335b224 100644
--- a/lib/Service/SlideDeckService.php
+++ b/lib/Service/SlideDeckService.php
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public function __construct(
 	public function generateSlideDeck(?string $userId, string $presentationText) {
 		$rawModelOutput = $this->runLLMQuery($userId, $presentationText);
 
-		$ooxml = $this->config->getAppValue(Application::APPNAME, 'doc_format', '') === 'ooxml';
+		$ooxml = $this->config->getAppValue(Application::APPNAME, 'doc_format', 'ooxml') === 'ooxml';
 		$format = $ooxml ? 'pptx' : 'odp';
 		$emptyPresentation = $this->getBlankPresentation($format);
 
diff --git a/lib/Settings/Admin.php b/lib/Settings/Admin.php
index 4a63621eed..b9475b22c0 100644
--- a/lib/Settings/Admin.php
+++ b/lib/Settings/Admin.php
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ public function getForm(): TemplateResponse {
 					'wopi_allowlist' => $this->config->getAppValue('richdocuments', 'wopi_allowlist'),
 					'edit_groups' => $this->config->getAppValue('richdocuments', 'edit_groups'),
 					'use_groups' => $this->config->getAppValue('richdocuments', 'use_groups'),
-					'doc_format' => $this->config->getAppValue('richdocuments', 'doc_format'),
+					'doc_format' => $this->config->getAppValue('richdocuments', 'doc_format', 'ooxml'),
 					'external_apps' => $this->config->getAppValue('richdocuments', 'external_apps'),
 					'canonical_webroot' => $this->config->getAppValue('richdocuments', 'canonical_webroot'),
 					'disable_certificate_verification' => $this->config->getAppValue('richdocuments', 'disable_certificate_verification', '') === 'yes',
diff --git a/lib/TemplateManager.php b/lib/TemplateManager.php
index b6553c1fac..6128d22100 100644
--- a/lib/TemplateManager.php
+++ b/lib/TemplateManager.php
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ private function getEmptyTemplateDir() {
 	 * @return array
 	 */
 	public function formatNodeReturn(File $template) {
-		$ooxml = $this->config->getAppValue(Application::APPNAME, 'doc_format', '') === 'ooxml';
+		$ooxml = $this->config->getAppValue(Application::APPNAME, 'doc_format', 'ooxml') === 'ooxml';
 		$documentType = $this->flipTypes()[$template->getMimeType()];
 		return [
 			'id' => $template->getId(),
@@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ public function isTemplate($fileId) {
 	}
 
 	public function formatEmpty(File $template) {
-		$ooxml = $this->config->getAppValue(Application::APPNAME, 'doc_format', '') === 'ooxml';
+		$ooxml = $this->config->getAppValue(Application::APPNAME, 'doc_format', 'ooxml') === 'ooxml';
 		$documentType = $this->flipTypes()[$template->getMimeType()];
 		return [
 			'id' => $template->getId(),
diff --git a/src/components/AdminSettings.vue b/src/components/AdminSettings.vue
index 492ea11d98..9f8c331ec8 100644
--- a/src/components/AdminSettings.vue
+++ b/src/components/AdminSettings.vue
@@ -532,6 +532,7 @@ export default {
 				fonts: [],
 				hasSettingIframeSupport: false,
 				setting_iframe_url: '',
+				doc_format: null,
 			},
 			accessToken: '',
 			accessTokenTTL: '',