diff --git a/components/SettingsUI/BehaviourSettings.tsx b/components/SettingsUI/BehaviourSettings.tsx
index 65a2b8f..72528a2 100644
--- a/components/SettingsUI/BehaviourSettings.tsx
+++ b/components/SettingsUI/BehaviourSettings.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import { PluginSettings } from "@/types/pluginSettings";
-import React from "react";
+import React, { useMemo } from "react";
 import { SettingItem } from "./SettingItem";
 import { FrontmatterMappingsSettings } from "./FrontmatterMappingsSettings";
+import { BaseNoteStatusService } from "@/core/noteStatusService";
 
 export type Props = {
 	settings: PluginSettings;
@@ -9,10 +10,51 @@ export type Props = {
 };
 
 export const BehaviourSettings: React.FC<Props> = ({ settings, onChange }) => {
+	const availableStatuses = useMemo(() => {
+		return BaseNoteStatusService.getAllAvailableStatuses();
+	}, [
+		settings.templates,
+		settings.customStatuses,
+		settings.enabledTemplates,
+	]);
+
 	return (
 		<div>
 			<h3>Status tag</h3>
 
+			<SettingItem
+				name="Default status for new notes"
+				description="Automatically apply this status to newly created notes."
+			>
+				<select
+					value={settings.defaultStatusForNewNotes || ""}
+					onChange={(e) => {
+						const value = e.target.value;
+						onChange(
+							"defaultStatusForNewNotes",
+							value === "" ? null : value,
+						);
+					}}
+				>
+					<option value="">None</option>
+					{availableStatuses.map((status) => {
+						const identifier =
+							BaseNoteStatusService.formatStatusIdentifier({
+								templateId: status.templateId,
+								name: status.name,
+							});
+						const displayName = status.templateId
+							? `${status.name} (${status.templateId})`
+							: status.name;
+						return (
+							<option key={identifier} value={identifier}>
+								{displayName}
+							</option>
+						);
+					})}
+				</select>
+			</SettingItem>
+
 			<SettingItem
 				name="Enable multiple statuses"
 				description="Allow notes to have multiple statuses at the same time"
diff --git a/constants/defaultSettings.ts b/constants/defaultSettings.ts
index 608fd1c..f8fc3d4 100644
--- a/constants/defaultSettings.ts
+++ b/constants/defaultSettings.ts
@@ -68,4 +68,5 @@ export const DEFAULT_PLUGIN_SETTINGS: PluginSettings = {
 	],
 	enableNonMarkdownSync: false,
 	nonMarkdownSyncPath: "_note-status-data.json",
+	defaultStatusForNewNotes: null,
 };
diff --git a/core/settingsService.ts b/core/settingsService.ts
index 3d5a880..42c8348 100644
--- a/core/settingsService.ts
+++ b/core/settingsService.ts
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ export const SETTINGS_GROUPS: Record<SyncGroup, (keyof PluginSettings)[]> = {
 		"singleStatusStorageMode",
 		"strictStatuses",
 		"enableStatusOverviewPopup",
+		"defaultStatusForNewNotes",
 	],
 	storage: [
 		"tagPrefix",
diff --git a/main.tsx b/main.tsx
index aab14ed..93165fd 100644
--- a/main.tsx
+++ b/main.tsx
@@ -3,7 +3,10 @@ import StatusBarIntegration from "integrations/status-bar/status-bar";
 import eventBus from "core/eventBus";
 import { PluginSettingIntegration } from "./integrations/settings/pluginSettings";
 import settingsService from "./core/settingsService";
-import { BaseNoteStatusService } from "./core/noteStatusService";
+import {
+	BaseNoteStatusService,
+	NoteStatusService,
+} from "./core/noteStatusService";
 import { StatusModalIntegration } from "./integrations/modals/statusModalIntegration";
 import ContextMenuIntegration from "./integrations/context-menu/contextMenuIntegration";
 import { FileExplorerIntegration } from "./integrations/file-explorer/file-explorer-integration";
@@ -240,6 +243,42 @@ export default class NoteStatusPlugin extends Plugin {
 			"main-status-popup-setting-subscriptor",
 		);
 
+		this.registerEvent(
+			this.app.vault.on("create", async (file) => {
+				if (
+					file instanceof TFile &&
+					file.extension === "md" &&
+					settingsService.settings.defaultStatusForNewNotes
+				) {
+					// Wait a bit to ensure metadata is processed or templates are applied
+					setTimeout(async () => {
+						// Ensure file still exists
+						if (!this.app.vault.getAbstractFileByPath(file.path)) {
+							return;
+						}
+
+						const noteStatusService = new NoteStatusService(file);
+						// Populate statuses to see if it already has any
+						noteStatusService.populateStatuses();
+
+						const groupedStatuses =
+							noteStatusService.getStatusesByAllKeys();
+						const hasStatuses = Object.values(groupedStatuses).some(
+							(statuses) => statuses.length > 0,
+						);
+
+						if (!hasStatuses) {
+							await noteStatusService.addStatus(
+								settingsService.settings.tagPrefix,
+								settingsService.settings
+									.defaultStatusForNewNotes as string,
+							);
+						}
+					}, 500); // Increased delay to allow more time for templates
+				}
+			}),
+		);
+
 		this.registerEvent(
 			this.app.vault.on("rename", (file) => {
 				if (file instanceof TFile) {
diff --git a/types/pluginSettings.ts b/types/pluginSettings.ts
index 619552e..f93e121 100644
--- a/types/pluginSettings.ts
+++ b/types/pluginSettings.ts
@@ -84,5 +84,6 @@ export type PluginSettings = {
 	syncGroups: SyncGroup[]; // Selected groups of settings to synchronize
 	enableNonMarkdownSync: boolean; // Whether to sync non-markdown statuses to a vault file
 	nonMarkdownSyncPath: string; // Path to the non-markdown sync file
+	defaultStatusForNewNotes: string | null; // Default status to apply to new notes
 	[key: string]: unknown;
 };