diff --git a/docs/management/advanced-options.asciidoc b/docs/management/advanced-options.asciidoc
index 325e6b08fff2..059163888e8a 100644
--- a/docs/management/advanced-options.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/management/advanced-options.asciidoc
@@ -38,8 +38,6 @@ document.
 `discover:aggs:terms:size`:: Determines how many terms will be visualized when clicking the "visualize" button, in the field drop downs, in the discover sidebar. The default value is `20`.
 `doc_table:highlight`:: Highlight results in Discover and Saved Searches Dashboard. Highlighting makes request slow when
 working on big documents. Set this property to `false` to disable highlighting.
-`doc_table:highlight:all_fields`:: Improves highlighting by using a separate `highlight_query` that uses `all_fields` mode on
-`query_string` queries. Set to `false` if you are using a `default_field` in your index.
 `courier:maxSegmentCount`:: Kibana splits requests in the Discover app into segments to limit the size of requests sent to
 the Elasticsearch cluster. This setting constrains the length of the segment list. Long segment lists can significantly
 increase request processing time.
diff --git a/src/core_plugins/kibana/common/highlight/__tests__/highlight_request.js b/src/core_plugins/kibana/common/highlight/__tests__/highlight_request.js
index 7250fa12ba8c..cb1ca7680fa3 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/kibana/common/highlight/__tests__/highlight_request.js
+++ b/src/core_plugins/kibana/common/highlight/__tests__/highlight_request.js
@@ -5,53 +5,19 @@ describe('getHighlightRequest', () => {
   let configMock;
   const getConfig = (key) => configMock[key];
   const queryStringQuery = { query_string: { query: 'foo' } };
-  const queryStringWithDefaultFieldQuery = { query_string: { query: 'foo', default_field: 'bar' } };
-  const queryStringWithFieldQuery = { query_string: { query: 'foo', fields: ['bar'] } };
-  const rangeQuery = { range: { '@timestamp': { gte: 0, lte: 0 } } };
-  const boolQueryWithSingleCondition = {
-    bool: {
-      must: queryStringQuery,
-    }
-  };
-  const boolQueryWithMultipleConditions = {
-    bool: {
-      must: [
-        queryStringQuery,
-        rangeQuery
-      ]
-    }
-  };
 
   beforeEach(function () {
     configMock = {};
     configMock['doc_table:highlight'] = true;
-    configMock['doc_table:highlight:all_fields'] = true;
   });
 
   it('should be a function', () => {
     expect(getHighlightRequest).to.be.a(Function);
   });
 
-  it('should add the all_fields param with query_string query without modifying original query', () => {
-    const request = getHighlightRequest(queryStringQuery, getConfig);
-    expect(request.fields['*']).to.have.property('highlight_query');
-    expect(request.fields['*'].highlight_query.query_string).to.have.property('all_fields');
-    expect(queryStringQuery.query_string).to.not.have.property('all_fields');
-  });
-
-  it('should add the all_fields param with bool query with single condition without modifying original query', () => {
-    const request = getHighlightRequest(boolQueryWithSingleCondition, getConfig);
-    expect(request.fields['*']).to.have.property('highlight_query');
-    expect(request.fields['*'].highlight_query.bool.must.query_string).to.have.property('all_fields');
-    expect(queryStringQuery.query_string).to.not.have.property('all_fields');
-  });
-
-  it('should add the all_fields param with bool query with multiple conditions without modifying original query', () => {
-    const request = getHighlightRequest(boolQueryWithMultipleConditions, getConfig);
-    expect(request.fields['*']).to.have.property('highlight_query');
-    expect(request.fields['*'].highlight_query.bool.must).to.have.length(boolQueryWithMultipleConditions.bool.must.length);
-    expect(request.fields['*'].highlight_query.bool.must[0].query_string).to.have.property('all_fields');
-    expect(queryStringQuery.query_string).to.not.have.property('all_fields');
+  it('should not modify the original query', () => {
+    getHighlightRequest(queryStringQuery, getConfig);
+    expect(queryStringQuery.query_string).to.not.have.property('highlight');
   });
 
   it('should return undefined if highlighting is turned off', () => {
@@ -60,12 +26,6 @@ describe('getHighlightRequest', () => {
     expect(request).to.be(undefined);
   });
 
-  it('should not add the highlight_query param if all_fields is turned off', () => {
-    configMock['doc_table:highlight:all_fields'] = false;
-    const request = getHighlightRequest(queryStringQuery, getConfig);
-    expect(request.fields['*']).to.not.have.property('highlight_query');
-  });
-
   it('should enable/disable highlighting if config is changed', () => {
     let request = getHighlightRequest(queryStringQuery, getConfig);
     expect(request).to.not.be(undefined);
@@ -74,20 +34,4 @@ describe('getHighlightRequest', () => {
     request = getHighlightRequest(queryStringQuery, getConfig);
     expect(request).to.be(undefined);
   });
-
-  it('should not add the all_fields param with query_string query when default_field is specified', () => {
-    const request = getHighlightRequest(queryStringWithDefaultFieldQuery, getConfig);
-    expect(request.fields['*']).to.have.property('highlight_query');
-    expect(request.fields['*'].highlight_query.query_string).to.have.property('default_field');
-    expect(request.fields['*'].highlight_query.query_string).to.not.have.property('all_fields');
-    expect(queryStringQuery.query_string).to.not.have.property('all_fields');
-  });
-
-  it('should not add the all_fields param with query_string query when fields are specified', () => {
-    const request = getHighlightRequest(queryStringWithFieldQuery, getConfig);
-    expect(request.fields['*']).to.have.property('highlight_query');
-    expect(request.fields['*'].highlight_query.query_string).to.have.property('fields');
-    expect(request.fields['*'].highlight_query.query_string).to.not.have.property('all_fields');
-    expect(queryStringQuery.query_string).to.not.have.property('all_fields');
-  });
 });
diff --git a/src/core_plugins/kibana/common/highlight/highlight_request.js b/src/core_plugins/kibana/common/highlight/highlight_request.js
index 23230f7ebfc5..59f39db88d01 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/kibana/common/highlight/highlight_request.js
+++ b/src/core_plugins/kibana/common/highlight/highlight_request.js
@@ -1,43 +1,15 @@
-import _ from 'lodash';
 import { highlightTags } from './highlight_tags';
 
 const FRAGMENT_SIZE = Math.pow(2, 31) - 1; // Max allowed value for fragment_size (limit of a java int)
 
-/**
-  * Returns a clone of the query with `"all_fields": true` set on any `query_string` queries
-  */
-function getHighlightQuery(query) {
-  const clone = _.cloneDeep(query);
-
-  if (
-    _.has(clone, 'query_string')
-    && !_.has(clone, ['query_string', 'default_field'])
-    && !_.has(clone, ['query_string', 'fields'])
-  ) {
-    clone.query_string.all_fields = true;
-  } else if (_.has(clone, 'bool.must')) {
-    if (Array.isArray(clone.bool.must)) {
-      clone.bool.must = clone.bool.must.map(getHighlightQuery);
-    } else {
-      clone.bool.must = getHighlightQuery(clone.bool.must);
-    }
-  }
-
-  return clone;
-}
-
 export function getHighlightRequest(query, getConfig) {
   if (!getConfig('doc_table:highlight')) return;
 
-  const fieldsParams = getConfig('doc_table:highlight:all_fields')
-    ? { highlight_query: getHighlightQuery(query) }
-    : {};
-
   return {
     pre_tags: [highlightTags.pre],
     post_tags: [highlightTags.post],
     fields: {
-      '*': fieldsParams
+      '*': {}
     },
     fragment_size: FRAGMENT_SIZE
   };
diff --git a/src/core_plugins/kibana/ui_setting_defaults.js b/src/core_plugins/kibana/ui_setting_defaults.js
index be0eaff2bb3a..b12faf5a6dfc 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/kibana/ui_setting_defaults.js
+++ b/src/core_plugins/kibana/ui_setting_defaults.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ export function getUiSettingDefaults() {
       readonly: true
     },
     'query:queryString:options': {
-      value: '{ "analyze_wildcard": true }',
+      value: '{ "analyze_wildcard": true, "default_field": "*" }',
       description: '<a href="https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/query-dsl-query-string-query.html" target="_blank">Options</a> for the lucene query string parser',
       type: 'json'
     },
@@ -91,11 +91,6 @@ export function getUiSettingDefaults() {
       description: 'Highlight results in Discover and Saved Searches Dashboard.' +
         'Highlighting makes requests slow when working on big documents.',
     },
-    'doc_table:highlight:all_fields': {
-      value: true,
-      description: 'Improves highlighting by using a separate "highlight_query" that uses "all_fields" mode on "query_string" queries. ' +
-        'Set to false if you are using a "default_field" in your index.',
-    },
     'courier:maxSegmentCount': {
       value: 30,
       description: 'Requests in discover are split into segments to prevent massive requests from being sent to ' +