Divestments - Assets and Liabilities Held For Sale (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Assets held for sale:
Accounts receivable	$ 8,508
Deferred income taxes	1,107
Prepaid expenses and other	613
Property, plant and equipment, net	25,894
Goodwill	30,418
Estimated fair value of assets held for sale, less costs to sell	46,578
Customer relationships and customer inducements	14,359
Other	435
Assets held for sale	127,912	$ 0
Liabilities held for sale:
Accounts payable	2,211
Accrued expenses	5,601
Deferred revenue	1,366
Other long-term liabilities	7,390
Deferred rent	2,701
Liabilities held for sale	19,269	$ 0
Seattle/Atlanta Divestments | Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale
Assets held for sale:
Accounts receivable	0
Deferred income taxes	0
Prepaid expenses and other	0
Property, plant and equipment, net	0
Goodwill	0
Estimated fair value of assets held for sale, less costs to sell	22,429
Customer relationships and customer inducements	0
Other	0
Assets held for sale	22,429
Liabilities held for sale:
Accounts payable	0
Accrued expenses	0
Deferred revenue	0
Other long-term liabilities	0
Deferred rent	0
Liabilities held for sale	0
Australia Divestment Business | Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations
Assets held for sale:
Accounts receivable	8,508
Deferred income taxes	1,107
Prepaid expenses and other	613
Property, plant and equipment, net	24,253
Goodwill	27,130
Estimated fair value of assets held for sale, less costs to sell	0
Customer relationships and customer inducements	14,359
Other	435
Assets held for sale	76,405
Liabilities held for sale:
Accounts payable	2,211
Accrued expenses	5,601
Deferred revenue	1,366
Other long-term liabilities	7,390
Deferred rent	2,701
Liabilities held for sale	19,269
Recall Canadian Divestments | Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale
Assets held for sale:
Accounts receivable	0
Deferred income taxes	0
Prepaid expenses and other	0
Property, plant and equipment, net	0
Goodwill	0
Estimated fair value of assets held for sale, less costs to sell	20,642
Customer relationships and customer inducements	0
Other	0
Assets held for sale	20,642
Liabilities held for sale:
Accounts payable	0
Accrued expenses	0
Deferred revenue	0
Other long-term liabilities	0
Deferred rent	0
Liabilities held for sale	0
Iron Mountain Canadian Divestments | Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations
Assets held for sale:
Accounts receivable	0
Deferred income taxes	0
Prepaid expenses and other	0
Property, plant and equipment, net	1,641
Goodwill	3,288
Estimated fair value of assets held for sale, less costs to sell	0
Customer relationships and customer inducements	0
Other	0
Assets held for sale	4,929
Liabilities held for sale:
Accounts payable	0
Accrued expenses	0
Deferred revenue	0
Other long-term liabilities	0
Deferred rent	0
Liabilities held for sale	0
UK Divestments | Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale
Assets held for sale:
Accounts receivable	0
Deferred income taxes	0
Prepaid expenses and other	0
Property, plant and equipment, net	0
Goodwill	0
Estimated fair value of assets held for sale, less costs to sell	3,507
Customer relationships and customer inducements	0
Other	0
Assets held for sale	3,507
Liabilities held for sale:
Accounts payable	0
Accrued expenses	0
Deferred revenue	0
Other long-term liabilities	0
Deferred rent	0
Liabilities held for sale	$ 0