diff --git a/r/R/csv.R b/r/R/csv.R
index b119d16a84c06..116c620f83490 100644
--- a/r/R/csv.R
+++ b/r/R/csv.R
@@ -404,10 +404,10 @@ CsvTableReader$create <- function(file,
 #'
 #' - `delimiter` Field delimiting character (default `","`)
 #' - `quoting` Logical: are strings quoted? (default `TRUE`)
-#' - `quote_char` Quoting character, if `quoting` is `TRUE`
+#' - `quote_char` Quoting character, if `quoting` is `TRUE` (default `'"'`)
 #' - `double_quote` Logical: are quotes inside values double-quoted? (default `TRUE`)
 #' - `escaping` Logical: whether escaping is used (default `FALSE`)
-#' - `escape_char` Escaping character, if `escaping` is `TRUE`
+#' - `escape_char` Escaping character, if `escaping` is `TRUE` (default `"\\"`)
 #' - `newlines_in_values` Logical: are values allowed to contain CR (`0x0d`)
 #'    and LF (`0x0a`) characters? (default `FALSE`)
 #' - `ignore_empty_lines` Logical: should empty lines be ignored (default) or
diff --git a/r/man/CsvReadOptions.Rd b/r/man/CsvReadOptions.Rd
index a18ff959ce7e5..6ebb2355184c1 100644
--- a/r/man/CsvReadOptions.Rd
+++ b/r/man/CsvReadOptions.Rd
@@ -52,10 +52,10 @@ The order of application is as follows:
 \itemize{
 \item \code{delimiter} Field delimiting character (default \code{","})
 \item \code{quoting} Logical: are strings quoted? (default \code{TRUE})
-\item \code{quote_char} Quoting character, if \code{quoting} is \code{TRUE}
+\item \code{quote_char} Quoting character, if \code{quoting} is \code{TRUE} (default \code{'"'})
 \item \code{double_quote} Logical: are quotes inside values double-quoted? (default \code{TRUE})
 \item \code{escaping} Logical: whether escaping is used (default \code{FALSE})
-\item \code{escape_char} Escaping character, if \code{escaping} is \code{TRUE}
+\item \code{escape_char} Escaping character, if \code{escaping} is \code{TRUE} (default \code{"\\\\"})
 \item \code{newlines_in_values} Logical: are values allowed to contain CR (\code{0x0d})
 and LF (\code{0x0a}) characters? (default \code{FALSE})
 \item \code{ignore_empty_lines} Logical: should empty lines be ignored (default) or