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Special (Gains) Charges and Certain Litigation Charges, Net Certain Litigation Charges, Net (Details) (USD $)
3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Jan. 23, 2015
Jan. 24, 2014
Jan. 23, 2015
Jan. 24, 2014
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]        
Special gains (charges) $ 138,000,000us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingGainsLosses $ 0us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingGainsLosses $ 38,000,000us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingGainsLosses $ (40,000,000)us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingGainsLosses
Gain on sale of a product line 41,000,000us-gaap_ProceedsFromSalesOfBusinessAffiliateAndProductiveAssets      
Gain on the sale of an equity method investment 97,000,000us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentRealizedGainLossOnDisposal      
Charitable cash contribution     100,000,000mdt_CharitableCashContribution 40,000,000mdt_CharitableCashContribution
Certain litigation charges, net 0us-gaap_LossContingencyLossInPeriod 0us-gaap_LossContingencyLossInPeriod 0us-gaap_LossContingencyLossInPeriod 24,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyLossInPeriod
Patent Litigation [Member]        
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]        
Certain litigation charges, net       12,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyLossInPeriod
/ us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis
= mdt_PatentLitigationMember
Other Matters        
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]        
Certain litigation charges, net       $ 12,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyLossInPeriod
/ us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis
= mdt_OtherMattersMember