diff --git a/Common/DefaultOptions.h b/Common/DefaultOptions.h
index 692f34bc1cfb34fbc7e96445bff2769c7c2ff904..d9f5e9ff064a0dba68b83022b9b5e15ea694284c 100644
--- a/Common/DefaultOptions.h
+++ b/Common/DefaultOptions.h
@@ -674,7 +674,7 @@ StringXNumber GeneralOptions_Number[] = {
   { F|O, "MouseSelection" , opt_general_mouse_selection , 1. ,
     "Enable mouse selection" },
 
-  { F|S, "NonModalWindows" , opt_general_non_modal_windows , 1. , 
+  { F|S, "NonModalWindows" , opt_general_non_modal_windows , 0. , 
     "Force all Gmsh windows to be \"on top\" (\"non-modal\" in Microsoft Windows terminlogy)" },
   { F|O, "NoPopup" , opt_general_nopopup , 0. , 
     "Disable interactive dialog windows in scripts (and use default values instead)" },