diff --git a/conf/defaults.ini b/conf/defaults.ini
index 55a89dfa205..38ec12ab7e3 100644
--- a/conf/defaults.ini
+++ b/conf/defaults.ini
@@ -1574,6 +1574,9 @@ enabled = true
 # set the default offset for the time picker
 defaultTimeOffset = 1h
 
+# hides the download logs button in Explore
+hide_logs_download = false
+
 #################################### Help #############################
 [help]
 # Enable the Help section
diff --git a/docs/sources/setup-grafana/configure-grafana/_index.md b/docs/sources/setup-grafana/configure-grafana/_index.md
index 15247a10908..5c15ff2c0b8 100644
--- a/docs/sources/setup-grafana/configure-grafana/_index.md
+++ b/docs/sources/setup-grafana/configure-grafana/_index.md
@@ -1934,6 +1934,10 @@ Enable or disable the Explore section. Default is `enabled`.
 Set a default time offset from now on the time picker. Default is 1 hour.
 This setting should be expressed as a duration. Examples: 1h (hour), 1d (day), 1w (week), 1M (month).
 
+#### `hide_logs_download`
+
+Show or hide the button to download logs in Explore. Default is `false`, so that the button will be visible.
+
 ### `[help]`
 
 Configures the help section.
diff --git a/packages/grafana-data/src/types/config.ts b/packages/grafana-data/src/types/config.ts
index 560f4ba672f..4e57dd61656 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-data/src/types/config.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-data/src/types/config.ts
@@ -238,6 +238,7 @@ export interface GrafanaConfig {
   listScopesEndpoint?: string;
   reportingStaticContext?: Record<string, string>;
   exploreDefaultTimeOffset?: string;
+  exploreHideLogsDownload?: boolean;
 
   // The namespace to use for kubernetes apiserver requests
   namespace: string;
diff --git a/packages/grafana-runtime/src/config.ts b/packages/grafana-runtime/src/config.ts
index 6b29cdc0dee..dd179ea36a6 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-runtime/src/config.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-runtime/src/config.ts
@@ -203,6 +203,7 @@ export class GrafanaBootConfig implements GrafanaConfig {
   cloudMigrationPollIntervalMs = 2000;
   reportingStaticContext?: Record<string, string>;
   exploreDefaultTimeOffset = '1h';
+  exploreHideLogsDownload: boolean | undefined;
 
   /**
    * Language used in Grafana's UI. This is after the user's preference (or deteceted locale) is resolved to one of
diff --git a/pkg/api/dtos/frontend_settings.go b/pkg/api/dtos/frontend_settings.go
index 6827525be04..30a80ea8b71 100644
--- a/pkg/api/dtos/frontend_settings.go
+++ b/pkg/api/dtos/frontend_settings.go
@@ -212,6 +212,7 @@ type FrontendSettingsDTO struct {
 	CSPReportOnlyEnabled                bool     `json:"cspReportOnlyEnabled"`
 	EnableFrontendSandboxForPlugins     []string `json:"enableFrontendSandboxForPlugins"`
 	ExploreDefaultTimeOffset            string   `json:"exploreDefaultTimeOffset"`
+	ExploreHideLogsDownload             bool     `json:"ExploreHideLogsDownload"`
 
 	Auth FrontendSettingsAuthDTO `json:"auth"`
 
diff --git a/pkg/api/frontendsettings.go b/pkg/api/frontendsettings.go
index 8ec544337b0..ba0f2f436bd 100644
--- a/pkg/api/frontendsettings.go
+++ b/pkg/api/frontendsettings.go
@@ -247,6 +247,7 @@ func (hs *HTTPServer) getFrontendSettings(c *contextmodel.ReqContext) (*dtos.Fro
 		LocalFileSystemAvailable:            hs.Cfg.LocalFileSystemAvailable,
 		ReportingStaticContext:              hs.Cfg.ReportingStaticContext,
 		ExploreDefaultTimeOffset:            hs.Cfg.ExploreDefaultTimeOffset,
+		ExploreHideLogsDownload:             hs.Cfg.ExploreHideLogsDownload,
 
 		DefaultDatasourceManageAlertsUIToggle: hs.Cfg.DefaultDatasourceManageAlertsUIToggle,
 
diff --git a/pkg/setting/setting.go b/pkg/setting/setting.go
index 6bb86697f10..d70029b4b20 100644
--- a/pkg/setting/setting.go
+++ b/pkg/setting/setting.go
@@ -511,6 +511,7 @@ type Cfg struct {
 	// Explore UI
 	ExploreEnabled           bool
 	ExploreDefaultTimeOffset string
+	ExploreHideLogsDownload  bool
 
 	// Help UI
 	HelpEnabled bool
@@ -1214,6 +1215,7 @@ func (cfg *Cfg) parseINIFile(iniFile *ini.File) error {
 	} else {
 		cfg.ExploreDefaultTimeOffset = exploreDefaultTimeOffset
 	}
+	cfg.ExploreHideLogsDownload = explore.Key("hide_logs_download").MustBool(false)
 
 	help := iniFile.Section("help")
 	cfg.HelpEnabled = help.Key("enabled").MustBool(true)
diff --git a/public/app/features/explore/Logs/LogsMetaRow.test.tsx b/public/app/features/explore/Logs/LogsMetaRow.test.tsx
index 4774402dbc0..ce63d19b4d0 100644
--- a/public/app/features/explore/Logs/LogsMetaRow.test.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/explore/Logs/LogsMetaRow.test.tsx
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { ComponentProps } from 'react';
 
 import { FieldType, LogLevel, LogsDedupStrategy, standardTransformersRegistry, toDataFrame } from '@grafana/data';
 import { organizeFieldsTransformer } from '@grafana/data/src/transformations/transformers/organize';
+import { config } from '@grafana/runtime';
 
 import { MAX_CHARACTERS } from '../../logs/components/LogRowMessage';
 import { logRowsToReadableJson } from '../../logs/utils';
@@ -32,11 +33,12 @@ const defaultProps: LogsMetaRowProps = {
   clearDetectedFields: jest.fn(),
 };
 
-const setup = (propOverrides?: object) => {
+const setup = (propOverrides?: object, disableDownload = false) => {
   const props = {
     ...defaultProps,
     ...propOverrides,
   };
+  config.exploreHideLogsDownload = disableDownload;
 
   return render(<LogsMetaRow {...props} />);
 };
@@ -121,6 +123,11 @@ describe('LogsMetaRow', () => {
     expect(screen.getByText('Download').closest('button')).toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
+  it('does not render a button to show the download menu if disabled', async () => {
+    setup({}, true);
+    expect(screen.queryByText('Download')).toBeNull();
+  });
+
   it('renders a button to show the download menu', async () => {
     setup();
 
diff --git a/public/app/features/explore/Logs/LogsMetaRow.tsx b/public/app/features/explore/Logs/LogsMetaRow.tsx
index abf22494946..9db3be0ebdd 100644
--- a/public/app/features/explore/Logs/LogsMetaRow.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/explore/Logs/LogsMetaRow.tsx
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import {
   Labels,
 } from '@grafana/data';
 import { DataFrame } from '@grafana/data/';
-import { reportInteraction } from '@grafana/runtime';
+import { config, reportInteraction } from '@grafana/runtime';
 import { Button, Dropdown, Menu, ToolbarButton, Tooltip, useStyles2 } from '@grafana/ui';
 
 import { downloadDataFrameAsCsv, downloadLogsModelAsTxt } from '../../inspector/utils/download';
@@ -182,11 +182,13 @@ export const LogsMetaRow = memo(
                 };
               })}
             />
-            <Dropdown overlay={downloadMenu}>
-              <ToolbarButton isOpen={false} variant="canvas" icon="download-alt">
-                Download
-              </ToolbarButton>
-            </Dropdown>
+            {!config.exploreHideLogsDownload && (
+              <Dropdown overlay={downloadMenu}>
+                <ToolbarButton isOpen={false} variant="canvas" icon="download-alt">
+                  Download
+                </ToolbarButton>
+              </Dropdown>
+            )}
           </div>
         )}
       </>
diff --git a/public/app/features/inspector/InspectDataTab.test.tsx b/public/app/features/inspector/InspectDataTab.test.tsx
index a19b4667437..3e7340d6733 100644
--- a/public/app/features/inspector/InspectDataTab.test.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/inspector/InspectDataTab.test.tsx
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { ComponentProps } from 'react';
 import { Props } from 'react-virtualized-auto-sizer';
 
 import { DataFrame, FieldType } from '@grafana/data';
+import { config } from '@grafana/runtime';
 
 import { InspectDataTab } from './InspectDataTab';
 
@@ -75,6 +76,8 @@ describe('InspectDataTab', () => {
       expect(screen.getByText(/Second data frame/i)).toBeInTheDocument();
     });
     it('should show download logs button if logs data', () => {
+      const oldConfig = config.exploreHideLogsDownload;
+      config.exploreHideLogsDownload = false;
       const dataWithLogs = [
         {
           name: 'Data frame with logs',
@@ -91,6 +94,28 @@ describe('InspectDataTab', () => {
       ] as unknown as DataFrame[];
       render(<InspectDataTab {...createProps({ data: dataWithLogs })} />);
       expect(screen.getByText(/Download logs/i)).toBeInTheDocument();
+      config.exploreHideLogsDownload = oldConfig;
+    });
+    it('should not show download logs button if logs data but config disabled', () => {
+      const oldConfig = config.exploreHideLogsDownload;
+      config.exploreHideLogsDownload = true;
+      const dataWithLogs = [
+        {
+          name: 'Data frame with logs',
+          fields: [
+            { name: 'time', type: FieldType.time, values: [100, 200, 300], config: {} },
+            { name: 'name', type: FieldType.string, values: ['uniqueA', 'b', 'c'], config: {} },
+            { name: 'value', type: FieldType.number, values: [1, 2, 3], config: {} },
+          ],
+          length: 3,
+          meta: {
+            preferredVisualisationType: 'logs',
+          },
+        },
+      ] as unknown as DataFrame[];
+      render(<InspectDataTab {...createProps({ data: dataWithLogs })} />);
+      expect(screen.queryByText(/Download logs/i)).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+      config.exploreHideLogsDownload = oldConfig;
     });
     it('should not show download logs button if no logs data', () => {
       render(<InspectDataTab {...createProps()} />);
diff --git a/public/app/features/inspector/InspectDataTab.tsx b/public/app/features/inspector/InspectDataTab.tsx
index dcecf5386dc..49bae7ddbed 100644
--- a/public/app/features/inspector/InspectDataTab.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/inspector/InspectDataTab.tsx
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ export class InspectDataTab extends PureComponent<Props, State> {
         <Button variant="primary" onClick={() => this.exportCsv(dataFrames, hasLogs)} size="sm">
           <Trans i18nKey="dashboard.inspect-data.download-csv">Download CSV</Trans>
         </Button>
-        {hasLogs && (
+        {hasLogs && !config.exploreHideLogsDownload && (
           <Button variant="primary" onClick={this.onExportLogsAsTxt} size="sm">
             <Trans i18nKey="dashboard.inspect-data.download-logs">Download logs</Trans>
           </Button>