Acquisitions and Divestitures - Divestitures (Details) - Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations [Member] - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Library Systems And Faab Fabricauto In Aggregate Member \| Estimated Financial Impact Member
Divestiture Information
Aggregate selling price relative to the divestiture transaction	$ 120
Aggregate net pre-tax gain on sale	45
Aggregate net after tax gain on sale	$ 10
Static Control Business [Member]
Divestiture Information
Annual sales of divested business		$ 46

The after tax gain on the divested businesses sold.

No definition available.

Name:	mmm_DisposalGroupNotDiscontinuedOperationGainLossOnDisposalAfterTax
Namespace Prefix:	mmm_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of consideration received or receivable for the disposal of assets and liabilities, including discontinued operation.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisposalGroupIncludingDiscontinuedOperationConsideration
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of revenue attributable to disposal group, including, but not limited to, discontinued operation.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 205

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 5B

-Subparagraph (b)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51717284&loc=SL51721673-107760

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisposalGroupIncludingDiscontinuedOperationRevenue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount before tax of gain (loss) recognized on the sale or disposal of a disposal group. Excludes discontinued operations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 360

-SubTopic 10

-Section 45

-Paragraph 5

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51824106&loc=d3e2443-110228

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 360

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 3

-Subparagraph (c)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51719941&loc=d3e2941-110230

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisposalGroupNotDiscontinuedOperationGainLossOnDisposal
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=mmm_LibrarySystemsAndFaabFabricautoInAggregateMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisposalGroupClassificationAxis=us-gaap_DisposalGroupDisposedOfBySaleNotDiscontinuedOperationsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementScenarioAxis=us-gaap_ScenarioForecastMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=mmm_StaticControlBusinessMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: