Employee Benefits, Fair Value Level 3 Pension and Other Benefit Plan Assets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Changes in Level 3 pension plan assets measured at fair value [Abstract]
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	$ 10,113
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	10,656	$ 10,113
Defined Contribution Retirement Plans Textual [Abstract]
Defined contribution retirement plan expense	1,200	1,200	$ 1,100
Pension plan assets [Member] \| Level 3 [Member]
Changes in Level 3 pension plan assets measured at fair value [Abstract]
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	52	61
Gross realized gain (loss)	(3)	6
Gross unrealized gain (loss)	5	(1)
Purchases, sales and settlements (net)	(4)	(13)
Transfers Into/ (Out of) Level 3	(22)	(1)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	28	52	61
Other benefits plan assets [Member]
Changes in Level 3 pension plan assets measured at fair value [Abstract]
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	549	568
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	565	549	568
Other benefits plan assets [Member] \| Level 3 [Member]
Changes in Level 3 pension plan assets measured at fair value [Abstract]
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	23	23
Gross realized gain (loss)	0	1
Gross unrealized gain (loss)	0	0
Purchases, sales and settlements (net)	0	(1)
Transfers Into/ (Out of) Level 3	0	0
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	23	23	23
Long duration fixed income [Member] \| Pension plan assets [Member] \| Level 3 [Member]
Changes in Level 3 pension plan assets measured at fair value [Abstract]
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	19	16
Gross realized gain (loss)	0	0
Gross unrealized gain (loss)	0	0
Purchases, sales and settlements (net)	0	3
Transfers Into/ (Out of) Level 3	(19)	0
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	0	19	16
High-yield fixed income [Member] \| Pension plan assets [Member] \| Level 3 [Member]
Changes in Level 3 pension plan assets measured at fair value [Abstract]
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	0	4
Gross realized gain (loss)	0	0
Gross unrealized gain (loss)	0	0
Purchases, sales and settlements (net)	0	(3)
Transfers Into/ (Out of) Level 3	0	(1)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	0	0	4
Real estate [Member] \| Pension plan assets [Member] \| Level 3 [Member]
Changes in Level 3 pension plan assets measured at fair value [Abstract]
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	25	33
Gross realized gain (loss)	(3)	6
Gross unrealized gain (loss)	5	(1)
Purchases, sales and settlements (net)	(4)	(13)
Transfers Into/ (Out of) Level 3	(3)	0
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	20	25	33
Other [Member] \| Pension plan assets [Member] \| Level 3 [Member]
Changes in Level 3 pension plan assets measured at fair value [Abstract]
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	8	8
Gross realized gain (loss)	0	0
Gross unrealized gain (loss)	0	0
Purchases, sales and settlements (net)	0	0
Transfers Into/ (Out of) Level 3	0	0
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	8	8	8
Other [Member] \| Other benefits plan assets [Member] \| Level 3 [Member]
Changes in Level 3 pension plan assets measured at fair value [Abstract]
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	23	23
Gross realized gain (loss)	0	1
Gross unrealized gain (loss)	0	0
Purchases, sales and settlements (net)	0	(1)
Transfers Into/ (Out of) Level 3	0	0
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	$ 23	$ 23	$ 23
Domestic Plan [Member] \| Wells Fargo And Company 401(k) Plan [Member]
Defined Contribution Retirement Plans Textual [Abstract]
Service period for employee to be eligible for 401(k) plan	1 month
Percentage of employee contribution (up to 50%)	50.00%
Service period for employee to be eligible for company matching contributions	1 year
Percentage of employer match (up to 6%)	6.00%
Matching contribution vesting percentage	100.00%
Service period for employee to be eligible for profit sharing contributions	1 year
Profit sharing contribution vesting period	3 years

A roll forward is a reconciliation of a concept from the beginning of a period to the end of a period.

No definition available.

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- Definition

Fair value of assets that have been segregated and restricted to provide pension or postretirement benefits. Assets include, but are not limited to, stocks, bonds, other investments, earnings from investments, and contributions by the employer and employees.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82843861&loc=d3e1928-114920

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- Definition

Amount, measured using unobservable inputs, of increase (decrease) in plan assets of defined benefit plan from purchases, sales and settlements.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (d)(5)(iv)(02)(B)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82843861&loc=d3e1928-114920

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount, measured using unobservable inputs, of increase (decrease) in plan assets of defined benefit plan, for assets transferred into (out of) Level 3 of fair value hierarchy. Includes, but is not limited to, transfer due to change in observability of significant inputs.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (d)(5)(iv)(02)(C)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82843861&loc=d3e1928-114920

+ Details

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- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount of cost for defined contribution plan.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 70
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=49170846&loc=d3e28014-114942

+ Details

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- Definition

Percentage of employees' gross pay for which the employer contributes a matching contribution to a defined contribution plan.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Percentage of employer's matching contributions to a defined contribution plan that vests in a given year.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Maximum percentage of employee gross pay the employee may contribute to a defined contribution plan.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Defined Contribution Plan, Employee Eligibility, Service Period

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Defined Contribution Plan, Employer Matching Contribution, Eligibility Requirement, Service Period

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Defined Contribution Plan, Profit Sharing Contribution, Vesting Period

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Defined Contribution Plan, Profit Sharing Contributions, Eligibility Requirement, Service Period

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

This element represents total realized gains or losses for the period, arising from assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis using unobservable inputs (Level 3), which resulted in a change in net asset value.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

This element represents total unrealized gains or losses for the period, arising from assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis using unobservable inputs (Level 3).

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Details

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