diff --git a/application/src/Form/UserForm.php b/application/src/Form/UserForm.php
index df22116270..26b5abc426 100644
--- a/application/src/Form/UserForm.php
+++ b/application/src/Form/UserForm.php
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 namespace Omeka\Form;
 
 use Omeka\Form\Element\ResourceSelect;
+use Omeka\Form\Element\SiteSelect;
 use Omeka\Permissions\Acl;
 use Omeka\Settings\Settings;
 use Omeka\Settings\UserSettings;
@@ -122,7 +123,9 @@ public function init()
         if (null === $locale) {
             $locale = $this->settings->get('locale');
         }
-        $this->get('user-settings')->add([
+
+        $settingsFieldset = $this->get('user-settings');
+        $settingsFieldset->add([
             'name' => 'locale',
             'type' => 'Omeka\Form\Element\LocaleSelect',
             'options' => [
@@ -135,7 +138,7 @@ public function init()
                 'id' => 'locale',
             ],
         ]);
-        $this->get('user-settings')->add([
+        $settingsFieldset->add([
             'name' => 'default_resource_template',
             'type' => ResourceSelect::class,
             'attributes' => [
@@ -158,6 +161,21 @@ public function init()
                 ],
             ],
         ]);
+        $settingsFieldset->add([
+            'name' => 'default_item_sites',
+            'type' => SiteSelect::class,
+            'attributes' => [
+                'value' => $userId ? $this->userSettings->get('default_item_sites', null, $userId) : [],
+                'class' => 'chosen-select',
+                'data-placeholder' => 'Select sites', // @translate
+                'multiple' => true,
+                'id' => 'default_sites',
+            ],
+            'options' => [
+                'label' => 'Default sites for items', // @translate
+                'empty_option' => '',
+            ],
+        ]);
 
         if ($this->getOption('include_password')) {
             if ($this->getOption('current_password')) {
diff --git a/application/view/omeka/admin/item/manage-sites.phtml b/application/view/omeka/admin/item/manage-sites.phtml
index 8d0ca847dd..a0ae950a75 100644
--- a/application/view/omeka/admin/item/manage-sites.phtml
+++ b/application/view/omeka/admin/item/manage-sites.phtml
@@ -1,14 +1,24 @@
 <?php
-$siteRepresentations = $item
-    ? $item->sites()
-    : $this->api()->search('sites', ['assign_new_items' => true])->getContent();
+if ($item) {
+    $siteRepresentations = $item->sites();
+} else {
+    $siteRepresentations = $this->api()->search('sites', ['assign_new_items' => true])->getContent();
+
+    $userDefaultSites = $this->userSetting('default_item_sites');
+    if (is_array($userDefaultSites)) {
+        $userDefaultSiteRepresentations = $this->api()->search('sites', ['id' => $userDefaultSites])->getContent();
+        $siteRepresentations = array_merge($siteRepresentations, $userDefaultSiteRepresentations);
+    }
+}
+
 $sites = [];
 foreach ($siteRepresentations as $siteRepresentation) {
-  $sites[] = [
-    'id' => $siteRepresentation->id(),
-    'title' => $siteRepresentation->title(),
-    'email' => $siteRepresentation->owner(),
-  ];
+    $id = $siteRepresentation->id();
+    $sites[$id] = [
+        'id' => $id,
+        'title' => $siteRepresentation->title(),
+        'email' => $siteRepresentation->owner(),
+    ];
 }
 
 $siteTemplate = '
@@ -23,7 +33,7 @@ $siteTemplate = '
     </td>
 </tr>';
 ?>
-<table id="item-sites" data-existing-rows="<?php echo $this->escapeHtml(json_encode($sites)); ?>" data-row-template="<?php echo $this->escapeHtml($siteTemplate); ?>" data-tablesaw-mode="stack" class="selector-table tablesaw tablesaw-stack <?php echo ($item && (count($sites) > 0)) ? '' : 'empty'; ?>">
+<table id="item-sites" data-existing-rows="<?php echo $this->escapeHtml(json_encode(array_values($sites))); ?>" data-row-template="<?php echo $this->escapeHtml($siteTemplate); ?>" data-tablesaw-mode="stack" class="selector-table tablesaw tablesaw-stack <?php echo ($item && (count($sites) > 0)) ? '' : 'empty'; ?>">
     <thead>
     <tr>
         <th><?php echo $this->translate('Title'); ?></th>
@@ -44,4 +54,4 @@ $siteTemplate = '
 
 <script>
   Omeka.initializeSelector('#item-sites', '#site-selector');
-</script>
\ No newline at end of file
+</script>