diff --git a/crates/editor/src/lib.rs b/crates/editor/src/lib.rs
index da1060b78d..4566badd98 100644
--- a/crates/editor/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/editor/src/lib.rs
@@ -518,7 +518,9 @@ impl Editor {
         _: &workspace::OpenNew,
         cx: &mut ViewContext<Workspace>,
     ) {
-        let buffer = cx.add_model(|cx| Buffer::new(0, "", cx));
+        let buffer = cx.add_model(|cx| {
+            Buffer::new(0, "", cx).with_language(Some(language::PLAIN_TEXT.clone()), None, cx)
+        });
         workspace.add_item(BufferItemHandle(buffer), cx);
     }
 
diff --git a/crates/language/src/language.rs b/crates/language/src/language.rs
index 8cb40438ac..f8201b179b 100644
--- a/crates/language/src/language.rs
+++ b/crates/language/src/language.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use crate::HighlightMap;
 use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
 use gpui::{executor::Background, AppContext};
+use lazy_static::lazy_static;
 use lsp::LanguageServer;
 use parking_lot::Mutex;
 use serde::Deserialize;
@@ -9,6 +10,19 @@ use theme::SyntaxTheme;
 use tree_sitter::{self, Query};
 pub use tree_sitter::{Parser, Tree};
 
+lazy_static! {
+    pub static ref PLAIN_TEXT: Arc<Language> = Arc::new(Language::new(
+        LanguageConfig {
+            name: "Plain Text".to_string(),
+            path_suffixes: Default::default(),
+            brackets: Default::default(),
+            line_comment: None,
+            language_server: None,
+        },
+        None,
+    ));
+}
+
 #[derive(Default, Deserialize)]
 pub struct LanguageConfig {
     pub name: String,
diff --git a/crates/language/src/lib.rs b/crates/language/src/lib.rs
index 4d16eb6a24..07602e227f 100644
--- a/crates/language/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/language/src/lib.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ pub use self::{
     highlight_map::{HighlightId, HighlightMap},
     language::{
         BracketPair, Grammar, Language, LanguageConfig, LanguageRegistry, LanguageServerConfig,
+        PLAIN_TEXT,
     },
 };
 use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
diff --git a/crates/zed/src/main.rs b/crates/zed/src/main.rs
index 16ca6ed67b..c6374c66e7 100644
--- a/crates/zed/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/zed/src/main.rs
@@ -27,6 +27,13 @@ fn main() {
     let theme = themes.get(DEFAULT_THEME_NAME).unwrap();
     let settings = Settings::new("Inconsolata", &app.font_cache(), theme)
         .unwrap()
+        .with_overrides(
+            language::PLAIN_TEXT.name(),
+            settings::Override {
+                soft_wrap: Some(settings::SoftWrap::PreferredLineLength),
+                ..Default::default()
+            },
+        )
         .with_overrides(
             "Markdown",
             settings::Override {