diff --git a/framework/yii/grid/DataColumn.php b/framework/yii/grid/DataColumn.php
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/framework/yii/grid/DataColumn.php
+++ b/framework/yii/grid/DataColumn.php
@@ -35,8 +35,10 @@ class DataColumn extends Column
 	/**
 	 * @var string in which format should the value of each data model be displayed as (e.g. "text", "html").
 	 * Supported formats are determined by the [[GridView::formatter|formatter]] used by the [[GridView]].
+	 * Default format is "text" which will format the value as an HTML-encoded plain text when
+	 * [[\yii\base\Formatter]] or [[\yii\i18n\Formatter]] is used.
 	 */
-	public $format;
+	public $format = 'text';
 	/**
 	 * @var boolean whether to allow sorting by this column. If true and [[attribute]] is found in
 	 * the sort definition of [[GridView::dataProvider]], then the header cell of this column
set default format for gridview to text

default format is text in short format so it should also be
like that in array() defintion.