diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index dff8613b..a3882be0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ _Add new changes here_
 - Metrics are now stored in a nested dictionary (e.g. `metrics['train']['loss']` instead of `metrics["epoch_loss_train]`) ([#511](https://github.com/maps-as-data/MapReader/pull/511))
 - `plot_metric` method is simplified - see updated docs ([#511](https://github.com/maps-as-data/MapReader/pull/511))
 - Renamed `show_parent` as `show_patches` ([#511](https://github.com/maps-as-data/MapReader/pull/511))
+- Default value for `add_id` argument when plotting metadata in `SheetDownloader` is now `False` ([#529](https://github.com/maps-as-data/MapReader/pull/529))
 
 ## [v1.5.1](https://github.com/Living-with-machines/MapReader/releases/tag/v1.5.1) (2024-10-30)
 
diff --git a/mapreader/download/sheet_downloader.py b/mapreader/download/sheet_downloader.py
index 2eeec581..07e4f8c8 100644
--- a/mapreader/download/sheet_downloader.py
+++ b/mapreader/download/sheet_downloader.py
@@ -1131,7 +1131,7 @@ def plot_features_on_map(
         self,
         features: gpd.GeoDataFrame,
         map_extent: str | (list | tuple) | None = None,
-        add_id: bool | None = True,
+        add_id: bool = False,
     ) -> None:
         """
         Plot boundaries of map sheets on a map using cartopy.
@@ -1146,7 +1146,7 @@ def plot_features_on_map(
             If None, the map extent will be set automatically.
             By default None.
         add_id : bool, optional
-            Whether to add an ID (WFS ID number) to each map sheet, by default True.
+            Whether to add an ID (WFS ID number) to each map sheet, by default False.
         """
         plt.figure(figsize=[15, 15])
 
@@ -1188,7 +1188,7 @@ def plot_features_on_map(
     def plot_all_metadata_on_map(
         self,
         map_extent: str | (list | tuple) | None = None,
-        add_id: bool | None = True,
+        add_id: bool = False,
     ) -> None:
         """
         Plots boundaries of all map sheets in metadata on a map using cartopy.
@@ -1203,7 +1203,7 @@ def plot_all_metadata_on_map(
             If None, the map extent will be set automatically.
             By default None.
         add_id : bool, optional
-            Whether to add an ID (WFS ID number) to each map sheet, by default True.
+            Whether to add an ID (WFS ID number) to each map sheet, by default False.
         """
 
         self.plot_features_on_map(self.metadata, map_extent, add_id)
@@ -1211,7 +1211,7 @@ def plot_all_metadata_on_map(
     def plot_queries_on_map(
         self,
         map_extent: str | (list | tuple) | None = None,
-        add_id: bool | None = True,
+        add_id: bool = False,
     ) -> None:
         """
         Plots boundaries of query results on a map using cartopy.
@@ -1226,7 +1226,7 @@ def plot_queries_on_map(
             If None, the map extent will be set automatically.
             By default None.
         add_id : bool, optional
-            Whether to add an ID (WFS ID number) to each map sheet, by default True.
+            Whether to add an ID (WFS ID number) to each map sheet, by default False.
         """
 
         self.plot_features_on_map(self.found_queries, map_extent, add_id)