diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 686f2d778bd..68067625432 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@
 - Remove the Android `enablePerformanceV2` option and its `io.sentry.performance-v2.enable` manifest metadata. Performance V2 is always on ([#6458](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/6458))
   - App starts are measured from process start on Android 7.0+ (API 24), and slow and frozen frames are measured per span
   - `ActivityFramesTracker` is removed, and the `ActivityLifecycleIntegration` constructor no longer takes it
+- Screenshots attached to errors and user feedback now mask all text and images by default. Turn it off with `options.screenshot.setMaskAllText(false)` and `setMaskAllImages(false)`, or the `io.sentry.screenshot.mask-all-text` and `io.sentry.screenshot.mask-all-images` manifest options. Masking needs `sentry-android-replay`, so apps that depend on `sentry-android-core` alone get no screenshot until they add it or turn masking off ([#6437](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/6437))
 
 ### Improvements
 
diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ManifestMetadataReader.java b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ManifestMetadataReader.java
index 7695d86f0be..b50999ac1ef 100644
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ManifestMetadataReader.java
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ManifestMetadataReader.java
@@ -801,13 +801,12 @@ static void applyMetadata(
           options.setSpotlightConnectionUrl(spotlightUrl);
         }
 
-        // Screenshot masking options (default to false for backwards compatibility)
         options
             .getScreenshot()
-            .setMaskAllText(readBool(metadata, logger, SCREENSHOT_MASK_ALL_TEXT, false));
+            .setMaskAllText(readBool(metadata, logger, SCREENSHOT_MASK_ALL_TEXT, true));
         options
             .getScreenshot()
-            .setMaskAllImages(readBool(metadata, logger, SCREENSHOT_MASK_ALL_IMAGES, false));
+            .setMaskAllImages(readBool(metadata, logger, SCREENSHOT_MASK_ALL_IMAGES, true));
 
         if (options.getAnrProfilingSampleRate() == null) {
           final double anrProfilingSampleRate =
diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/SentryScreenshotOptions.java b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/SentryScreenshotOptions.java
index 6e1cceb760b..b028f7ffcc1 100644
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/SentryScreenshotOptions.java
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/SentryScreenshotOptions.java
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
  * Screenshot masking options for error screenshots. Extends the base {@link SentryMaskingOptions}
  * with screenshot-specific defaults.
  *
- * <p>By default, masking is disabled for screenshots. Enable masking by calling {@link
- * #setMaskAllText(boolean)} and/or {@link #setMaskAllImages(boolean)}.
+ * <p>By default, all text and images are masked. Disable masking by calling {@link
+ * #setMaskAllText(boolean)} and/or {@link #setMaskAllImages(boolean)} with {@code false}.
  *
  * <p>Note: Screenshot masking requires the {@code sentry-android-replay} module to be present at
  * runtime. If masking is enabled but the replay module is not available, no screenshot is captured
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@
 public final class SentryScreenshotOptions extends SentryMaskingOptions {
 
   public SentryScreenshotOptions() {
-    // Default to NO masking until next major version.
-    // maskViewClasses starts empty, so nothing is masked by default.
+    setMaskAllText(true);
+    setMaskAllImages(true);
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/internal/util/ScreenshotUtils.java b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/internal/util/ScreenshotUtils.java
index 657ba54cbd2..00d9cc37e3c 100644
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/internal/util/ScreenshotUtils.java
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/internal/util/ScreenshotUtils.java
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ public class ScreenshotUtils {
     final boolean isMaskingConfigured = !options.getScreenshot().getMaskViewClasses().isEmpty();
     if (isMaskingConfigured && !isReplayAvailable) {
       options
-          .getLogger()
+          .getFatalLogger()
           .log(SentryLevel.WARNING, "Screenshot masking requires sentry-android-replay module");
       return null;
     }
diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ManifestMetadataReaderTest.kt b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ManifestMetadataReaderTest.kt
index d7481c22b25..4a4dba19861 100644
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ManifestMetadataReaderTest.kt
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ManifestMetadataReaderTest.kt
@@ -2843,31 +2843,31 @@ class ManifestMetadataReaderTest {
   @Test
   fun `applyMetadata reads screenshot mask-all-text to options`() {
     // Arrange
-    val bundle = bundleOf(ManifestMetadataReader.SCREENSHOT_MASK_ALL_TEXT to true)
+    val bundle = bundleOf(ManifestMetadataReader.SCREENSHOT_MASK_ALL_TEXT to false)
     val context = fixture.getContext(metaData = bundle)
 
     // Act
     ManifestMetadataReader.applyMetadata(context, fixture.options, fixture.buildInfoProvider)
 
     // Assert
-    assertTrue(fixture.options.screenshot.maskViewClasses.contains("android.widget.TextView"))
+    assertFalse(fixture.options.screenshot.maskViewClasses.contains("android.widget.TextView"))
   }
 
   @Test
   fun `applyMetadata reads screenshot mask-all-images to options`() {
     // Arrange
-    val bundle = bundleOf(ManifestMetadataReader.SCREENSHOT_MASK_ALL_IMAGES to true)
+    val bundle = bundleOf(ManifestMetadataReader.SCREENSHOT_MASK_ALL_IMAGES to false)
     val context = fixture.getContext(metaData = bundle)
 
     // Act
     ManifestMetadataReader.applyMetadata(context, fixture.options, fixture.buildInfoProvider)
 
     // Assert
-    assertTrue(fixture.options.screenshot.maskViewClasses.contains("android.widget.ImageView"))
+    assertFalse(fixture.options.screenshot.maskViewClasses.contains("android.widget.ImageView"))
   }
 
   @Test
-  fun `applyMetadata without specifying screenshot mask-all-text, stays false`() {
+  fun `applyMetadata without specifying screenshot mask-all-text, stays true`() {
     // Arrange
     val context = fixture.getContext()
 
@@ -2875,11 +2875,11 @@ class ManifestMetadataReaderTest {
     ManifestMetadataReader.applyMetadata(context, fixture.options, fixture.buildInfoProvider)
 
     // Assert
-    assertFalse(fixture.options.screenshot.maskViewClasses.contains("android.widget.TextView"))
+    assertTrue(fixture.options.screenshot.maskViewClasses.contains("android.widget.TextView"))
   }
 
   @Test
-  fun `applyMetadata without specifying screenshot mask-all-images, stays false`() {
+  fun `applyMetadata without specifying screenshot mask-all-images, stays true`() {
     // Arrange
     val context = fixture.getContext()
 
@@ -2887,7 +2887,7 @@ class ManifestMetadataReaderTest {
     ManifestMetadataReader.applyMetadata(context, fixture.options, fixture.buildInfoProvider)
 
     // Assert
-    assertFalse(fixture.options.screenshot.maskViewClasses.contains("android.widget.ImageView"))
+    assertTrue(fixture.options.screenshot.maskViewClasses.contains("android.widget.ImageView"))
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ScreenshotEventProcessorTest.kt b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ScreenshotEventProcessorTest.kt
index 0abb232b807..1dfb277175d 100644
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ScreenshotEventProcessorTest.kt
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ScreenshotEventProcessorTest.kt
@@ -73,7 +73,13 @@ class ScreenshotEventProcessorTest {
   private class Fixture {
     lateinit var activity: Activity
     val threadChecker = mock<IThreadChecker>()
-    val options = SentryAndroidOptions().apply { dsn = "https://key@sentry.io/proj" }
+    val options =
+      SentryAndroidOptions().apply {
+        dsn = "https://key@sentry.io/proj"
+        // Tests opt in to masking, so they also run without sentry-android-replay.
+        screenshot.setMaskAllText(false)
+        screenshot.setMaskAllImages(false)
+      }
     val mainProcessor = MainEventProcessor(options)
 
     init {
diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/SentryScreenshotOptionsTest.kt b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/SentryScreenshotOptionsTest.kt
index ad6d29b5614..ed7562d5323 100644
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/SentryScreenshotOptionsTest.kt
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/SentryScreenshotOptionsTest.kt
@@ -9,9 +9,12 @@ import kotlin.test.assertTrue
 class SentryScreenshotOptionsTest {
 
   @Test
-  fun `maskViewClasses is empty by default`() {
+  fun `masks all text and images by default`() {
     val options = SentryScreenshotOptions()
-    assertTrue(options.maskViewClasses.isEmpty())
+    assertTrue(options.maskViewClasses.contains(SentryMaskingOptions.TEXT_VIEW_CLASS_NAME))
+    assertTrue(options.maskViewClasses.contains(SentryMaskingOptions.IMAGE_VIEW_CLASS_NAME))
+    assertTrue(options.maskViewClasses.contains(SentryMaskingOptions.WEB_VIEW_CLASS_NAME))
+    assertEquals(8, options.maskViewClasses.size)
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -23,6 +26,8 @@ class SentryScreenshotOptionsTest {
   @Test
   fun `setMaskAllText true only adds TextView`() {
     val options = SentryScreenshotOptions()
+    options.setMaskAllText(false)
+    options.setMaskAllImages(false)
     options.setMaskAllText(true)
 
     assertTrue(options.maskViewClasses.contains(SentryMaskingOptions.TEXT_VIEW_CLASS_NAME))
@@ -35,6 +40,7 @@ class SentryScreenshotOptionsTest {
   @Test
   fun `setMaskAllImages true adds ImageView and sensitive view classes`() {
     val options = SentryScreenshotOptions()
+    options.setMaskAllImages(false)
     options.setMaskAllImages(true)
 
     assertTrue(options.maskViewClasses.contains(SentryMaskingOptions.IMAGE_VIEW_CLASS_NAME))
@@ -68,7 +74,7 @@ class SentryScreenshotOptionsTest {
     options.setMaskAllImages(true)
 
     // CopyOnWriteArraySet should prevent duplicates
-    assertEquals(7, options.maskViewClasses.size)
+    assertEquals(8, options.maskViewClasses.size)
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -108,6 +114,6 @@ class SentryScreenshotOptionsTest {
 
     options.setMaskAllImages(false)
 
-    assertTrue(options.maskViewClasses.isEmpty())
+    assertEquals(setOf(SentryMaskingOptions.TEXT_VIEW_CLASS_NAME), options.maskViewClasses)
   }
 }
diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/internal/util/ScreenshotUtilsMaskedScreenshotTest.kt b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/internal/util/ScreenshotUtilsMaskedScreenshotTest.kt
index 9bc6f9f85b0..9f6e220c2d2 100644
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/internal/util/ScreenshotUtilsMaskedScreenshotTest.kt
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/internal/util/ScreenshotUtilsMaskedScreenshotTest.kt
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@ class ScreenshotUtilsMaskedScreenshotTest {
       SentryAndroidOptions().apply {
         dsn = "https://key@sentry.io/proj"
         threadChecker = this@Fixture.threadChecker
+        // Tests opt in to masking, so they also run without sentry-android-replay.
+        screenshot.setMaskAllText(false)
+        screenshot.setMaskAllImages(false)
       }
     val buildInfoProvider = BuildInfoProvider(options.logger)