diff --git a/bigbluebutton-html5/private/config/settings.yml b/bigbluebutton-html5/private/config/settings.yml
index 89e53412488a..035c02e1208f 100755
--- a/bigbluebutton-html5/private/config/settings.yml
+++ b/bigbluebutton-html5/private/config/settings.yml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ public:
     # audio
     autoJoin: true
     # Set to false disables the listen only option in audio modal.
-    listenOnlyMode: false
+    listenOnlyMode: true
     forceListenOnly: false
     # Skips the echo test when connecting with microphone.
     skipCheck: false
@@ -853,8 +853,13 @@ public:
     callHangupMaximumRetries: 10
     echoTestNumber: 'echo'
     listenOnlyCallTimeout: 15000
-    # Experimental: enables a new audio mechanism that has a server-side,
-    # transparent listen only mode. See issue #14021.
+    # transparentListenOnly: whether the client should use the transparent 
+    # listen only mechanism. 
+    # It does not remove the "Listen Only" option from the audio modal
+    # by itself, but it allows users to switch modes on the fly and
+    # improves server CPU efficiency for microphone users.
+    # To disable the dedicated listen only option in the audio modal,
+    # see `listenOnlyMode`/`userdata-bbb_transparent_listen_only_mode`
     # userdata-bbb_transparent_listen_only supersedes this setting
     transparentListenOnly: true
     # Dev flag. Controls the WebRTC SDP negotiation role for SFU full audio.
diff --git a/bigbluebutton-web/grails-app/conf/bigbluebutton.properties b/bigbluebutton-web/grails-app/conf/bigbluebutton.properties
index c66a5c181ab8..0b7cff85cff1 100644
--- a/bigbluebutton-web/grails-app/conf/bigbluebutton.properties
+++ b/bigbluebutton-web/grails-app/conf/bigbluebutton.properties
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ userCameraCap=3
 maxPinnedCameras=3
 
 # Mute the meeting on start
-muteOnStart=false
+muteOnStart=true
 
 # Unmute users
 # Gives moderators permission to unmute other users
diff --git a/docs/docs/new-features.md b/docs/docs/new-features.md
index 724b97627798..52ad0aa4b5fa 100644
--- a/docs/docs/new-features.md
+++ b/docs/docs/new-features.md
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@ Modified/added events
 - `allowOverrideClientSettingsOnCreateCall=false` added
 - `sessionsCleanupDelayInMinutes=60` added
 - `graphqlWebsocketUrl=${bigbluebutton.web.serverURL}/graphql` added
+- `muteOnStart` default value set to `true` - which helps now that `transparentListenOnly` is enabled by default too. See (PR 20848)[https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton/issues/20848] for more info.
 
 #### Removed support for POST requests on `join` endpoint and Content-Type headers are now required