diff --git a/packages/amplify-category-api/provider-utils/awscloudformation/service-walkthroughs/appSync-walkthrough.js b/packages/amplify-category-api/provider-utils/awscloudformation/service-walkthroughs/appSync-walkthrough.js
index 972f15309a7..941a8e5295c 100644
--- a/packages/amplify-category-api/provider-utils/awscloudformation/service-walkthroughs/appSync-walkthrough.js
+++ b/packages/amplify-category-api/provider-utils/awscloudformation/service-walkthroughs/appSync-walkthrough.js
@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ async function askApiKeyQuestions() {
       type: 'input',
       name: 'apiKeyExpirationDays',
       message: 'After how many days from now the API key should expire (1-365):',
-      default: 180,
+      default: 7,
       validate: validateDays,
     },
   ];
diff --git a/packages/graphql-auth-transformer/src/ModelAuthTransformer.ts b/packages/graphql-auth-transformer/src/ModelAuthTransformer.ts
index 9da72b0c1d6..7ed8b6aaf6b 100644
--- a/packages/graphql-auth-transformer/src/ModelAuthTransformer.ts
+++ b/packages/graphql-auth-transformer/src/ModelAuthTransformer.ts
@@ -297,8 +297,8 @@ export class ModelAuthTransformer extends Transformer {
 
         const apiKeyAuthProvider = authProviders.find(p => p.authenticationType === 'API_KEY');
 
-        // Return the found instance or a default instance with 180 days of API key expiration
-        return apiKeyAuthProvider ? apiKeyAuthProvider.apiKeyConfig : { apiKeyExpirationDays: 180 };
+        // Return the found instance or a default instance with 7 days of API key expiration
+        return apiKeyAuthProvider ? apiKeyAuthProvider.apiKeyConfig : { apiKeyExpirationDays: 7 };
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/packages/graphql-auth-transformer/src/resources.ts b/packages/graphql-auth-transformer/src/resources.ts
index 5eb5cbd838c..01fe3b089b7 100644
--- a/packages/graphql-auth-transformer/src/resources.ts
+++ b/packages/graphql-auth-transformer/src/resources.ts
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ export class ResourceFactory {
             }),
             [ResourceConstants.PARAMETERS.APIKeyExpirationEpoch]: new NumberParameter({
                 Description: 'The epoch time in seconds when the API Key should expire.' +
-                    ' Setting this to 0 will default to 180 days from the deployment date.' +
+                    ' Setting this to 0 will default to 7 days from the deployment date.' +
                     ' Setting this to -1 will not create an API Key.',
                 Default: 0,
                 MinValue: -1
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ export class ResourceFactory {
     }
 
     public makeAppSyncApiKey(apiKeyConfig: Transformer.ApiKeyConfig) {
-        let expirationDays = 180;
+        let expirationDays = 7;
         if (apiKeyConfig && apiKeyConfig.apiKeyExpirationDays) {
             expirationDays = apiKeyConfig.apiKeyExpirationDays;
         }