Derivatives - Cumulative Basis Adjustment for Fair Value Hedges (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Hedged Liability, Fair Value Hedge	$ 1,870	$ 1,872
Hedged Liability, Fair Value Hedge, Cumulative Increase (Decrease)	19	14
Short-term borrowings and current portion of long-term debt
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Hedged Liability, Fair Value Hedge	598	596
Hedged Liability, Fair Value Hedge, Cumulative Increase (Decrease)	(1)	(4)
Long-term debt
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Hedged Liability, Fair Value Hedge	1,272	1,276
Hedged Liability, Fair Value Hedge, Cumulative Increase (Decrease)	$ 20	$ 18

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.

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of liability hedged in fair value hedging relationship.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 815
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4EE
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109980867&loc=SL109999712-113959

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_HedgedLiabilityFairValueHedge
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of cumulative increase (decrease) in fair value of hedged liability in fair value hedge, attributable to hedged risk.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 815
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4EE
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109980867&loc=SL109999712-113959

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_HedgedLiabilityFairValueHedgeCumulativeIncreaseDecrease
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=mmm_ShortTermBorrowingsAndCurrentPortionOfLongTermDebtMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=us-gaap_LongTermDebtMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: