Acquisitions - Reconciliation of Beginning and Ending Balances of Contingent Consideration (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Jan. 24, 2020	Jan. 25, 2019	Jan. 24, 2020	Jan. 25, 2019
Reconciliation of Beginning and Ending Balances of Contingent Milestone Payments [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	$ 260	$ 203	$ 222	$ 173
Purchase price contingent consideration	45	5	110	51
Payments	(3)	(1)	(32)	(8)
Change in fair value	2	(59)	4	(68)
Ending balance	$ 304	$ 148	$ 304	$ 148

-- None. No documentation exists for this element. --

No definition available.

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- Definition

Contingent milestone payments in business acquisition transactions.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of contingent consideration arrangement resulting from business combinations.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	mdt_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
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- Definition

Amount of increase (decrease) in the value of a contingent consideration liability, including, but not limited to, differences arising upon settlement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35744584&loc=d3e7008-128479

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
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Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of liability recognized arising from contingent consideration in a business combination.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35744584&loc=d3e6927-128479

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 35
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=116859824&loc=d3e6819-128478

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 25
-Paragraph 6
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911189&loc=d3e6408-128476

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