diff --git a/doc/api/next_api_changes/behavior/22254-DS.rst b/doc/api/next_api_changes/behavior/22254-DS.rst
deleted file mode 100644
index 83e53ae60477..000000000000
--- a/doc/api/next_api_changes/behavior/22254-DS.rst
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-QuadMesh cursor data disabled by default
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-Showing the cursor data of a `.QuadMesh` is now disabled by default, as it has
-significant performance issues with large meshes. To manually enable this
-use :meth:`.QuadMesh.set_show_cursor_data`.
diff --git a/doc/api/next_api_changes/behavior/22691-JMK.rst b/doc/api/next_api_changes/behavior/22691-JMK.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..24519d97e371
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/api/next_api_changes/behavior/22691-JMK.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+QuadMesh mouseover defaults to False
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+New in 3.5, `.QuadMesh.get_cursor_data` allows display of data values
+under the cursor.  However, this can be very slow for large meshes, so
+by `.QuadMesh.set_mouseover` defaults to *False*.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/collections.py b/lib/matplotlib/collections.py
index e48fe55f51c3..1fe17f3e982e 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/collections.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/collections.py
@@ -1999,7 +1999,6 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         self._shading = shading
         self._bbox = transforms.Bbox.unit()
         self._bbox.update_from_data_xy(self._coordinates.reshape(-1, 2))
-        self._show_cursor_data = False
         # super init delayed after own init because array kwarg requires
         # self._coordinates and self._shading
         super().__init__(**kwargs)
@@ -2198,23 +2197,7 @@ def draw(self, renderer):
         renderer.close_group(self.__class__.__name__)
         self.stale = False
 
-    def set_show_cursor_data(self, show_cursor_data):
-        """
-        Set whether cursor data should be shown.
-
-        Notes
-        -----
-        This is set to `False` by default for new quad meshes. Showing cursor
-        data can have significant performance impacts for large meshes.
-        """
-        self._show_cursor_data = show_cursor_data
-
-    def get_show_cursor_data(self):
-        return self._show_cursor_data
-
     def get_cursor_data(self, event):
-        if not self._show_cursor_data:
-            return
         contained, info = self.contains(event)
         if len(info["ind"]) == 1:
             ind, = info["ind"]
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_collections.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_collections.py
index acca60fd01c1..2dffdf9cf893 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_collections.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_collections.py
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 
 import matplotlib as mpl
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
-from matplotlib.backend_bases import MouseEvent
 import matplotlib.collections as mcollections
 import matplotlib.colors as mcolors
 import matplotlib.transforms as mtransforms
@@ -1039,26 +1038,6 @@ def test_array_wrong_dimensions():
     pc.update_scalarmappable()
 
 
-def test_quadmesh_cursor_data():
-    fig, ax = plt.subplots()
-    *_, qm = ax.hist2d(
-        np.arange(11)**2, 100 + np.arange(11)**2)  # width-10 bins
-
-    x, y = ax.transData.transform([1, 101])
-    event = MouseEvent('motion_notify_event', fig.canvas, x, y)
-
-    assert qm.get_show_cursor_data() is False
-    assert qm.get_cursor_data(event) is None
-
-    qm.set_show_cursor_data(True)
-    assert qm.get_cursor_data(event) == 4  # (0**2, 1**2, 2**2, 3**2)
-
-    # Outside the quadmesh bounds
-    x, y = ax.transData.transform([-1, 101])
-    event = MouseEvent('motion_notify_event', fig.canvas, x, y)
-    assert qm.get_cursor_data(event) is None
-
-
 def test_get_segments():
     segments = np.tile(np.linspace(0, 1, 256), (2, 1)).T
     lc = LineCollection([segments])