Effective interest rate for the funds borrowed under the debt agreement considering interest compounding and original issue discount or premium.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22(a)(1))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64930785&loc=d3e28551-108399

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateEffectivePercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Contractual interest rate for funds borrowed, under the debt agreement.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateStatedPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Date when the debt instrument is scheduled to be fully repaid, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentMaturityDate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=rrd_SeniorNotesElevenPointTwoFivePercentDueFebruaryOneTwoThousandNineteenMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=rrd_SeniorNotesSevenPointSixTwoFivePercentDueJuneFifteenTwoThousandTwentyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=rrd_SeniorNotesSevenPointEightSevenFivePercentDueMarchFifteenTwoThousandTwentyOneMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=rrd_DebenturesEightPointEightSevenFivePercentDueAprilFifteenTwoThousandTwentyOneMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=rrd_SeniorNotesSevenPointZeroZeroPercentDueFebruaryFifteenthTwoThousandTwentyTwoMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=rrd_SeniorNotesSixPointFiveZeroPercentDueNovemberFifteenTwoThousandTwentyThreeMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=rrd_SeniorNotesSixPointZeroZeroPercentDueAprilOneTwoThousandTwentyFourMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=rrd_DebenturesSixPointSixTwoFivePercentDueAprilFifteenTwoThousandTwentyNineMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=rrd_DebenturesEightPointEightTwoZeroPercentDueAprilFifteenTwoThousandThirtyOneMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Debt - Schedule of the Company's Debt (Parenthetical) (Detail)		12 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 07, 2017
11.25% Senior Notes Due February 1, 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate		11.25%
Maturity date			Feb. 01, 2019
Effective interest rate			13.25%
7.625% Senior Notes Due June 15, 2020
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate		7.625%
Maturity date		Jun. 15, 2020
7.875% Senior Notes Due March 15, 2021
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate		7.875%
Maturity date		Mar. 15, 2021
8.875% Debentures Due April 15, 2021
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate		8.875%
Maturity date		Apr. 15, 2021
7.00% Senior Notes Due February 15, 2022
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate	7.00%	7.00%
Maturity date	Feb. 15, 2022	Feb. 15, 2022
6.50% Senior Notes Due November 15, 2023
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate		6.50%
Maturity date		Nov. 15, 2023
6.00% Senior Notes Due April 1, 2024
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate		6.00%		6.00%
Maturity date		Apr. 01, 2024
6.625% Debentures Due April 15, 2029
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate		6.625%			6.625%
Maturity date		Apr. 15, 2029
8.820% Debentures Due April 15, 2031
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate		8.82%
Maturity date		Apr. 15, 2031