Long-Term Debt and Revolving Promissory Notes (Details) (USD $)																							0 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013 Qwest Communications International Inc.		Dec. 31, 2012 Qwest Communications International Inc.		Sep. 30, 2013 Qwest Corporation	Dec. 31, 2012 Qwest Corporation	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior notes Qwest Communications International Inc.	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior notes Qwest Communications International Inc.	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior notes Qwest Capital Funding	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior notes Qwest Capital Funding	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior notes Qwest Capital Funding Minimum	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior notes Qwest Capital Funding Maximum	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior notes Qwest Corporation	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior notes Qwest Corporation	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior notes Qwest Corporation Minimum	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior notes Qwest Corporation Maximum	Sep. 30, 2013 Capital lease and other obligations Qwest Corporation	Dec. 31, 2012 Capital lease and other obligations Qwest Corporation	Sep. 30, 2013 Capital lease and other obligations Qwest Communications Company, LLC	Dec. 31, 2012 Capital lease and other obligations Qwest Communications Company, LLC	May 23, 2013 6.125% Notes due 2053 Qwest Corporation	Jun. 17, 2013 Floating rate notes due 2013 Qwest Corporation	Sep. 30, 2013 Revolving promissory note Qwest Communications International Inc. CenturyLink, Inc. affiliate	Sep. 30, 2013 Revolving promissory note, two Qwest Corporation CenturyLink, Inc. affiliate
Long-term Debt
Interest Rates (as a percent)									7.125%				6.50%	7.75%			6.125%	8.375%					6.125%
Amount outstanding									$ 800,000,000	$ 800,000,000	$ 981,000,000	$ 981,000,000			$ 7,411,000,000	$ 7,386,000,000			$ 85,000,000	$ 113,000,000	$ 123,000,000	$ 145,000,000
Unamortized premiums, net							(86,000,000)	(127,000,000)	(43,000,000)	(49,000,000)	(25,000,000)	(27,000,000)
Total long-term debt	9,554,000,000	9,628,000,000
Less current maturities	(98,000,000)	(856,000,000)	0	[1]	0	[1]
Long-term debt, excluding current maturities	9,456,000,000	8,772,000,000	843,000,000	[1]	849,000,000	[1]
Principal amount of notes issued																							775,000,000
Principal amount of debt that was sold pursuant to an over-allotment option granted to the underwriters																							25,000,000
Net proceeds from issuance of debt																							752,000,000
Redemption price as a percentage of principal amount of notes plus accrued and unpaid interest (as a percent)																							100.00%
Principal amount of notes repaid																								750,000,000
Maximum borrowing capacity available																									3,000,000,000.0	1,000,000,000.0
Revolving Promissory Note
Amount outstanding																									$ 1,958,000,000	$ 741,000,000
Weighted average interest rate (as a percent)																									6.783%

[1] QCII is the issuer of the QCII Guaranteed Notes and is a guarantor of the QCF Guaranteed Notes.