diff --git a/docs/sql-data-sources-orc.md b/docs/sql-data-sources-orc.md
index 561f601aa4e56..abd1901d24e4b 100644
--- a/docs/sql-data-sources-orc.md
+++ b/docs/sql-data-sources-orc.md
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ Data source options of ORC can be set via:
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td><code>compression</code></td>
-    <td><code>snappy</code></td>
+    <td><code>zstd</code></td>
     <td>compression codec to use when saving to file. This can be one of the known case-insensitive shorten names (none, snappy, zlib, lzo, zstd and lz4). This will override <code>orc.compress</code> and <code>spark.sql.orc.compression.codec</code>.</td>
     <td>write</td>
   </tr>
diff --git a/docs/sql-migration-guide.md b/docs/sql-migration-guide.md
index 30a37d97042af..dbb25e5adc042 100644
--- a/docs/sql-migration-guide.md
+++ b/docs/sql-migration-guide.md
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ license: |
   - `spark.sql.parquet.int96RebaseModeInRead` instead of `spark.sql.legacy.parquet.int96RebaseModeInRead`
   - `spark.sql.avro.datetimeRebaseModeInWrite` instead of `spark.sql.legacy.avro.datetimeRebaseModeInWrite`
   - `spark.sql.avro.datetimeRebaseModeInRead` instead of `spark.sql.legacy.avro.datetimeRebaseModeInRead`
+- Since Spark 4.0, the default value of `spark.sql.orc.compression.codec` is changed from `snappy` to `zstd`. To restore the previous behavior, set `spark.sql.orc.compression.codec` to `snappy`.
 
 ## Upgrading from Spark SQL 3.4 to 3.5
 
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SQLConf.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SQLConf.scala
index d1ac061f02af6..1928e74363cbc 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SQLConf.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SQLConf.scala
@@ -1211,7 +1211,7 @@ object SQLConf {
     .stringConf
     .transform(_.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT))
     .checkValues(Set("none", "uncompressed", "snappy", "zlib", "lzo", "zstd", "lz4"))
-    .createWithDefault("snappy")
+    .createWithDefault("zstd")
 
   val ORC_IMPLEMENTATION = buildConf("spark.sql.orc.impl")
     .doc("When native, use the native version of ORC support instead of the ORC library in Hive. " +