Securitizations and Variable Interest Entities (Details) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011		Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Variable Interest Entity Consolidated Carrying Amount Assets and Liabilities
Cash and due from banks	$ 16,986,000,000		$ 19,440,000,000		$ 18,314,000,000	$ 16,044,000,000
Trading assets	60,592,000,000		77,814,000,000
Securities available for sale	229,350,000,000		222,613,000,000
Mortgages held for sale	50,337,000,000		48,357,000,000
Loans	782,630,000,000		769,631,000,000
MSRs (carried at fair value)	10,956,000,000		12,603,000,000
Other assets	104,563,000,000		101,022,000,000
Total assets	1,374,715,000,000	[1]	1,313,867,000,000	[1]
Short-term borrowings, Amount	51,957,000,000		49,091,000,000
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	83,659,000,000		77,665,000,000
Long-term debt (includes $218 and $0 carried at fair value)	130,801,000,000		125,354,000,000
Total liabilities	1,218,656,000,000	[2]	1,172,180,000,000	[2]
Noncontrolling interests	1,380,000,000		1,446,000,000
VIEs that we do not consolidate [Member]
Variable Interest Entity Consolidated Carrying Amount Assets and Liabilities
Cash and due from banks	0		0
Trading assets	2,288,000,000		3,723,000,000
Securities available for sale	20,287,000,000		21,708,000,000
Mortgages held for sale	0		0
Loans	9,641,000,000		11,404,000,000
MSRs (carried at fair value)	10,424,000,000		12,080,000,000
Other assets	4,841,000,000		4,494,000,000
Total assets	47,481,000,000		53,409,000,000
Short-term borrowings, Amount	0		0
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	3,638,000,000		3,350,000,000
Long-term debt (includes $218 and $0 carried at fair value)	0		0
Total liabilities	3,638,000,000		3,350,000,000
Noncontrolling interests	0		0
Net assets	43,843,000,000		50,059,000,000
VIEs that we consolidate [Member]
Variable Interest Entity Consolidated Carrying Amount Assets and Liabilities
Cash and due from banks	264,000,000		321,000,000
Trading assets	520,000,000		293,000,000
Securities available for sale	2,747,000,000		3,332,000,000
Mortgages held for sale	602,000,000		444,000,000
Loans	10,846,000,000		11,967,000,000
MSRs (carried at fair value)	0		0
Other assets	502,000,000		1,858,000,000
Total assets	15,481,000,000		18,215,000,000
Short-term borrowings, Amount	2,190,000,000		3,450,000,000
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	850,000,000		1,138,000,000
Long-term debt (includes $218 and $0 carried at fair value)	3,900,000,000		4,932,000,000
Total liabilities	6,940,000,000		9,520,000,000
Noncontrolling interests	52,000,000		61,000,000
Net assets	8,489,000,000		8,634,000,000
Transfers that we account for as secured borrowings [Member]
Variable Interest Entity Consolidated Carrying Amount Assets and Liabilities
Cash and due from banks	104,000,000		11,000,000
Trading assets	229,000,000		30,000,000
Securities available for sale	13,952,000,000		11,671,000,000
Mortgages held for sale	0		0
Loans	7,189,000,000		7,181,000,000
MSRs (carried at fair value)	0		0
Other assets	163,000,000		137,000,000
Total assets	21,637,000,000		19,030,000,000
Short-term borrowings, Amount	12,221,000,000		10,682,000,000
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	148,000,000		121,000,000
Long-term debt (includes $218 and $0 carried at fair value)	6,665,000,000		6,686,000,000
Total liabilities	19,034,000,000		17,489,000,000
Noncontrolling interests	0		0
Net assets	2,603,000,000		1,541,000,000
Total VIE [Member]
Variable Interest Entity Consolidated Carrying Amount Assets and Liabilities
Cash and due from banks	368,000,000		332,000,000
Trading assets	3,037,000,000		4,046,000,000
Securities available for sale	36,986,000,000		36,711,000,000
Mortgages held for sale	602,000,000		444,000,000
Loans	27,676,000,000		30,552,000,000
MSRs (carried at fair value)	10,424,000,000		12,080,000,000
Other assets	5,506,000,000		6,489,000,000
Total assets	84,599,000,000		90,654,000,000
Short-term borrowings, Amount	14,411,000,000		14,132,000,000
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	4,636,000,000		4,609,000,000
Long-term debt (includes $218 and $0 carried at fair value)	10,565,000,000		11,618,000,000
Total liabilities	29,612,000,000		30,359,000,000
Noncontrolling interests	52,000,000		61,000,000
Net assets	$ 54,935,000,000		$ 60,234,000,000

[1] Our consolidated assets at September 30, 2012, and December 31, 2011, include the following assets of certain variable interest entities (VIEs) that can only be used to settle the liabilities of those VIEs: Cash and due from banks, $264 million and $321 million; Trading assets, $520 million and $293 million; Securities available for sale, $2.7 billion and $3.3 billion; Mortgages held for sale, $602 million and $444 million; Net loans, $10.8 billion and $12.0 billion; Other assets, $502 million and $1.9 billion, and Total assets, $15.5 billion and $18.2 billion, respectively.

[2] Our consolidated liabilities at September 30, 2012, and December 31, 2011, include the following VIE liabilities for which the VIE creditors do not have recourse to Wells Fargo: Short-term borrowings, $0 and $24 million; Accrued expenses and other liabilities, $128 million and $175 million; Long-term debt, $3.9 billion and $4.9 billion; and Total liabilities, $4.0 billion and $5.1 billion, respectively.