diff --git a/src/applications/transactions/editengine/PhabricatorEditEngine.php b/src/applications/transactions/editengine/PhabricatorEditEngine.php
--- a/src/applications/transactions/editengine/PhabricatorEditEngine.php
+++ b/src/applications/transactions/editengine/PhabricatorEditEngine.php
@@ -836,7 +836,17 @@
           unset($submit_fields[$key]);
           continue;
         }
+      }
+
+      // Before we read the submitted values, store a copy of what we would
+      // use if the form was empty so we can figure out which transactions are
+      // just setting things to their default values for the current form.
+      $defaults = array();
+      foreach ($submit_fields as $key => $field) {
+        $defaults[$key] = $field->getValueForTransaction();
+      }
 
+      foreach ($submit_fields as $key => $field) {
         $field->setIsSubmittedForm(true);
 
         if (!$field->shouldReadValueFromSubmit()) {
@@ -847,14 +857,22 @@
       }
 
       $xactions = array();
-      foreach ($submit_fields as $field) {
+      foreach ($submit_fields as $key => $field) {
+        $field_value = $field->getValueForTransaction();
+
         $type_xactions = $field->generateTransactions(
           clone $template,
           array(
-            'value' => $field->getValueForTransaction(),
+            'value' => $field_value,
           ));
 
         foreach ($type_xactions as $type_xaction) {
+          $default = $defaults[$key];
+
+          if ($default === $field->getValueForTransaction()) {
+            $type_xaction->setIsDefaultTransaction(true);
+          }
+
           $xactions[] = $type_xaction;
         }
       }
diff --git a/src/applications/transactions/editfield/PhabricatorEditField.php b/src/applications/transactions/editfield/PhabricatorEditField.php
--- a/src/applications/transactions/editfield/PhabricatorEditField.php
+++ b/src/applications/transactions/editfield/PhabricatorEditField.php
@@ -755,8 +755,4 @@
     return $edit_type->generateTransactions($template, $spec);
   }
 
-
-
-
-
 }
diff --git a/src/applications/transactions/editor/PhabricatorApplicationTransactionEditor.php b/src/applications/transactions/editor/PhabricatorApplicationTransactionEditor.php
--- a/src/applications/transactions/editor/PhabricatorApplicationTransactionEditor.php
+++ b/src/applications/transactions/editor/PhabricatorApplicationTransactionEditor.php
@@ -823,6 +823,12 @@
       throw $ex;
     }
 
+    foreach ($xactions as $xaction) {
+      if ($this->getIsNewObject()) {
+        $xaction->setIsCreateTransaction(true);
+      }
+    }
+
     // Now that we've merged, filtered, and combined transactions, check for
     // required capabilities.
     foreach ($xactions as $xaction) {
diff --git a/src/applications/transactions/storage/PhabricatorApplicationTransaction.php b/src/applications/transactions/storage/PhabricatorApplicationTransaction.php
--- a/src/applications/transactions/storage/PhabricatorApplicationTransaction.php
+++ b/src/applications/transactions/storage/PhabricatorApplicationTransaction.php
@@ -142,6 +142,22 @@
     return $this->comment;
   }
 
+  public function setIsCreateTransaction($create) {
+    return $this->setMetadataValue('core.create', $create);
+  }
+
+  public function getIsCreateTransaction() {
+    return (bool)$this->getMetadataValue('core.create', false);
+  }
+
+  public function setIsDefaultTransaction($default) {
+    return $this->setMetadataValue('core.default', $default);
+  }
+
+  public function getIsDefaultTransaction() {
+    return (bool)$this->getMetadataValue('core.default', false);
+  }
+
   public function attachComment(
     PhabricatorApplicationTransactionComment $comment) {
     $this->comment = $comment;
@@ -456,6 +472,39 @@
   }
 
   public function shouldHide() {
+    // Never hide comments.
+    if ($this->hasComment()) {
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    // Hide creation transactions if the old value is empty. These are
+    // transactions like "alice set the task tile to: ...", which are
+    // essentially never interesting.
+    if ($this->getIsCreateTransaction()) {
+      $old = $this->getOldValue();
+
+      if (is_array($old) && !$old) {
+        return true;
+      }
+
+      if (!strlen($old)) {
+        return true;
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Hide creation transactions setting values to defaults, even if
+    // the old value is not empty. For example, tasks may have a global
+    // default view policy of "All Users", but a particular form sets the
+    // policy to "Administrators". The transaction corresponding to this
+    // change is not interesting, since it is the default behavior of the
+    // form.
+
+    if ($this->getIsCreateTransaction()) {
+      if ($this->getIsDefaultTransaction()) {
+        return true;
+      }
+    }
+
     switch ($this->getTransactionType()) {
       case PhabricatorTransactions::TYPE_VIEW_POLICY:
       case PhabricatorTransactions::TYPE_EDIT_POLICY: