diff --git a/R/to_numeric.R b/R/to_numeric.R
index e38e12e80..3e75bccbd 100644
--- a/R/to_numeric.R
+++ b/R/to_numeric.R
@@ -17,11 +17,11 @@
 #' @inheritParams extract_column_names
 #' @inheritParams categorize
 #'
-#' @note By default, `to_numeric()` converts factors into "binary" dummies, i.e.
+#' @note When factors should be converted into multiple "binary" dummies, i.e.
 #' each factor level is converted into a separate column filled with a binary
-#' 0-1 value. If only one column is required, use `dummy_factors = FALSE`. If
-#' you want to preserve the original factor levels (in case these represent
-#' numeric values), use `preserve_levels = TRUE`.
+#' 0-1 value, set `dummy_factors = TRUE`. If you want to preserve the original
+#' factor levels (in case these represent numeric values), use
+#' `preserve_levels = TRUE`.
 #'
 #' @section Selection of variables - `select` argument:
 #' For most functions that have a `select` argument the complete input data
@@ -34,12 +34,12 @@
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' to_numeric(head(ToothGrowth))
-#' to_numeric(head(ToothGrowth), dummy_factors = FALSE)
+#' to_numeric(head(ToothGrowth), dummy_factors = TRUE)
 #'
 #' # factors
 #' x <- as.factor(mtcars$gear)
-#' to_numeric(x, dummy_factors = FALSE)
-#' to_numeric(x, dummy_factors = FALSE, preserve_levels = TRUE)
+#' to_numeric(x)
+#' to_numeric(x, preserve_levels = TRUE)
 #' # same as:
 #' coerce_to_numeric(x)
 #'
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ to_numeric.default <- function(x, verbose = TRUE, ...) {
 to_numeric.data.frame <- function(x,
                                   select = NULL,
                                   exclude = NULL,
-                                  dummy_factors = TRUE,
+                                  dummy_factors = FALSE,
                                   preserve_levels = FALSE,
                                   lowest = NULL,
                                   append = FALSE,
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ to_numeric.POSIXlt <- to_numeric.Date
 
 #' @export
 to_numeric.factor <- function(x,
-                              dummy_factors = TRUE,
+                              dummy_factors = FALSE,
                               preserve_levels = FALSE,
                               lowest = NULL,
                               verbose = TRUE,
diff --git a/man/to_numeric.Rd b/man/to_numeric.Rd
index 7478c9579..634906e4a 100644
--- a/man/to_numeric.Rd
+++ b/man/to_numeric.Rd
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ to_numeric(x, ...)
   x,
   select = NULL,
   exclude = NULL,
-  dummy_factors = TRUE,
+  dummy_factors = FALSE,
   preserve_levels = FALSE,
   lowest = NULL,
   append = FALSE,
@@ -107,11 +107,11 @@ either numeric levels or dummy variables. The "counterpart" to convert
 variables into factors is \code{to_factor()}.
 }
 \note{
-By default, \code{to_numeric()} converts factors into "binary" dummies, i.e.
+When factors should be converted into multiple "binary" dummies, i.e.
 each factor level is converted into a separate column filled with a binary
-0-1 value. If only one column is required, use \code{dummy_factors = FALSE}. If
-you want to preserve the original factor levels (in case these represent
-numeric values), use \code{preserve_levels = TRUE}.
+0-1 value, set \code{dummy_factors = TRUE}. If you want to preserve the original
+factor levels (in case these represent numeric values), use
+\code{preserve_levels = TRUE}.
 }
 \section{Selection of variables - \code{select} argument}{
 
@@ -126,12 +126,12 @@ to also include the original variables in the returned data frame.
 
 \examples{
 to_numeric(head(ToothGrowth))
-to_numeric(head(ToothGrowth), dummy_factors = FALSE)
+to_numeric(head(ToothGrowth), dummy_factors = TRUE)
 
 # factors
 x <- as.factor(mtcars$gear)
-to_numeric(x, dummy_factors = FALSE)
-to_numeric(x, dummy_factors = FALSE, preserve_levels = TRUE)
+to_numeric(x)
+to_numeric(x, preserve_levels = TRUE)
 # same as:
 coerce_to_numeric(x)
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/data_to_numeric.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/data_to_numeric.md
index 42cb00b67..e963890a5 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/_snaps/data_to_numeric.md
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/data_to_numeric.md
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # convert data frame to numeric
 
     Code
-      to_numeric(head(ToothGrowth))
+      to_numeric(head(ToothGrowth), dummy_factors = TRUE)
     Output
          len supp.OJ supp.VC dose
       1  4.2       0       1  0.5
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 # convert factor to numeric
 
     Code
-      to_numeric(f)
+      to_numeric(f, dummy_factors = TRUE)
     Output
          a c i s t
       1  0 0 0 1 0
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-data_to_numeric.R b/tests/testthat/test-data_to_numeric.R
index 464c35e8d..816591ac0 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-data_to_numeric.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-data_to_numeric.R
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 test_that("convert data frame to numeric", {
-  expect_snapshot(to_numeric(head(ToothGrowth)))
+  expect_snapshot(to_numeric(head(ToothGrowth), dummy_factors = TRUE))
   expect_snapshot(to_numeric(head(ToothGrowth), dummy_factors = FALSE))
 })
 
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ test_that("convert character to numeric lowest", {
 
 test_that("convert factor to numeric", {
   f <- factor(substring("statistics", 1:10, 1:10))
-  expect_snapshot(to_numeric(f))
+  expect_snapshot(to_numeric(f, dummy_factors = TRUE))
 })
 
 test_that("convert factor to numeric", {
@@ -67,12 +67,12 @@ test_that("convert factor to numeric, dummy factors", {
 test_that("convert factor to numeric, append", {
   data(efc)
   expect_identical(
-    colnames(to_numeric(efc)),
+    colnames(to_numeric(efc, dummy_factors = TRUE)),
     c("c12hour", "e16sex", "e42dep.1", "e42dep.2", "e42dep.3", "e42dep.4", "c172code", "neg_c_7"),
     ignore_attr = TRUE
   )
   expect_identical(
-    colnames(to_numeric(efc, append = TRUE)),
+    colnames(to_numeric(efc, dummy_factors = TRUE, append = TRUE)),
     c(
       "c12hour", "e16sex", "e42dep", "c172code", "neg_c_7", "e42dep_n",
       "e42dep_n.1", "e42dep_n.2", "e42dep_n.3", "e42dep_n.4"