diff --git a/dvc/command/experiments.py b/dvc/command/experiments.py
index 802d206bf..9b68a4666 100644
--- a/dvc/command/experiments.py
+++ b/dvc/command/experiments.py
@@ -764,10 +764,10 @@ def add_parser(subparsers, parent_parser):
         formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter,
     )
     experiments_apply_parser.add_argument(
-        "-f",
-        "--force",
-        action="store_true",
-        help="Overwrite any conflicting changes.",
+        "--no-force",
+        action="store_false",
+        dest="force",
+        help="Fail if this command would overwrite conflicting changes.",
     )
     experiments_apply_parser.add_argument(
         "experiment", help="Experiment to be applied.",
diff --git a/dvc/repo/experiments/apply.py b/dvc/repo/experiments/apply.py
index ed660dc0b..0e57d71d7 100644
--- a/dvc/repo/experiments/apply.py
+++ b/dvc/repo/experiments/apply.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 @locked
 @scm_context
-def apply(repo, rev, force=False, **kwargs):
+def apply(repo, rev, force=True, **kwargs):
     from dvc.repo.checkout import checkout as dvc_checkout
     from dvc.scm.base import MergeConflictError, SCMError
 
diff --git a/tests/func/experiments/test_checkpoints.py b/tests/func/experiments/test_checkpoints.py
index 1c3d56755..3c707d992 100644
--- a/tests/func/experiments/test_checkpoints.py
+++ b/tests/func/experiments/test_checkpoints.py
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ def test_resume_branch(tmp_dir, scm, dvc, checkpoint_stage, workspace):
     )
     checkpoint_a = first(results)
 
-    dvc.experiments.apply(branch_rev, force=True)
+    dvc.experiments.apply(branch_rev)
     results = dvc.experiments.run(
         checkpoint_stage.addressing,
         checkpoint_resume=branch_rev,
diff --git a/tests/func/experiments/test_experiments.py b/tests/func/experiments/test_experiments.py
index 5ff859f02..a10c7ca68 100644
--- a/tests/func/experiments/test_experiments.py
+++ b/tests/func/experiments/test_experiments.py
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ def test_apply(tmp_dir, scm, dvc, exp_stage, queue):
     )
 
     with pytest.raises(ApplyConflictError):
-        dvc.experiments.apply(exp_b)
+        dvc.experiments.apply(exp_b, force=False)
         # failed apply should revert everything to prior state
         assert (tmp_dir / "params.yaml").read_text().strip() == "foo: 2"
         assert (
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ def test_apply(tmp_dir, scm, dvc, exp_stage, queue):
             else "foo: 2"
         )
 
-    dvc.experiments.apply(exp_b, force=True)
+    dvc.experiments.apply(exp_b)
     assert (tmp_dir / "params.yaml").read_text().strip() == "foo: 3"
     assert (
         (tmp_dir / "metrics.yaml").read_text().strip() == metrics_original
diff --git a/tests/func/experiments/test_gc.py b/tests/func/experiments/test_gc.py
index 7a48a03e2..e5f9069ca 100644
--- a/tests/func/experiments/test_gc.py
+++ b/tests/func/experiments/test_gc.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ def test_all_commits(tmp_dir, scm, dvc, queued, expected):
     exp_rev = first(results)
     dvc.experiments.run(stage.addressing, params=["foo=3"], queue=True)
 
-    dvc.experiments.apply(exp_rev, force=True)
+    dvc.experiments.apply(exp_rev)
     scm.add(["dvc.yaml", "dvc.lock", "copy.py", "params.yaml", "metrics.yaml"])
     scm.commit("v2")
 
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ def test_all_branches(tmp_dir, scm, dvc, queued, expected):
     exp_rev = first(results)
     dvc.experiments.run(stage.addressing, params=["foo=3"], queue=True)
 
-    dvc.experiments.apply(exp_rev, force=True)
+    dvc.experiments.apply(exp_rev)
     scm.add(["dvc.yaml", "dvc.lock", "copy.py", "params.yaml", "metrics.yaml"])
     scm.commit("v2")
 
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ def test_all_branches(tmp_dir, scm, dvc, queued, expected):
     dvc.experiments.run(stage.addressing, params=["foo=5"], queue=True)
     exp_rev = first(results)
 
-    dvc.experiments.apply(exp_rev, force=True)
+    dvc.experiments.apply(exp_rev)
     scm.add(["dvc.yaml", "dvc.lock", "copy.py", "params.yaml", "metrics.yaml"])
     scm.commit("v3")
 
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ def test_all_tags(tmp_dir, scm, dvc, queued, expected):
     exp_rev = first(results)
     dvc.experiments.run(stage.addressing, params=["foo=3"], queue=True)
 
-    dvc.experiments.apply(exp_rev, force=True)
+    dvc.experiments.apply(exp_rev)
     scm.add(["dvc.yaml", "dvc.lock", "copy.py", "params.yaml", "metrics.yaml"])
     scm.commit("v2")
     scm.tag("tag-v2")
diff --git a/tests/func/experiments/test_show.py b/tests/func/experiments/test_show.py
index 22f54c2a1..4474e56e6 100644
--- a/tests/func/experiments/test_show.py
+++ b/tests/func/experiments/test_show.py
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ def test_show_checkpoint_branch(
     )
     checkpoint_a = first(results)
 
-    dvc.experiments.apply(branch_rev, force=True)
+    dvc.experiments.apply(branch_rev)
     results = dvc.experiments.run(
         checkpoint_stage.addressing,
         checkpoint_resume=branch_rev,
diff --git a/tests/unit/command/test_experiments.py b/tests/unit/command/test_experiments.py
index c9865430c..a99b80e91 100644
--- a/tests/unit/command/test_experiments.py
+++ b/tests/unit/command/test_experiments.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ from .test_repro import default_arguments as repro_arguments
 
 
 def test_experiments_apply(dvc, scm, mocker):
-    cli_args = parse_args(["experiments", "apply", "--force", "exp_rev"])
+    cli_args = parse_args(["experiments", "apply", "--no-force", "exp_rev"])
     assert cli_args.func == CmdExperimentsApply
 
     cmd = cli_args.func(cli_args)
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ def test_experiments_apply(dvc, scm, mocker):
 
     assert cmd.run() == 0
 
-    m.assert_called_once_with(cmd.repo, "exp_rev", force=True)
+    m.assert_called_once_with(cmd.repo, "exp_rev", force=False)
 
 
 def test_experiments_diff(dvc, scm, mocker):