Drupal 7 Views 3 exposed filter preselected
Use a custom module for this

function MYMODULE_form_views_exposed_form_alter(&amp;$form, &amp;$form_state) {
  if (!isset($form_state['view']-&gt;exposed_input['&lt;filter_field&gt;'])) {
    // OK to set the default value
    $form_state['input']['&lt;filter_field&gt;'] = '&lt;new_default_value&gt;';
  }
}


Where filter_field is the name of the exposed filter and new_default_value is the key of the value you want as the default.

Got the idea from this article