Employee and Director Stock Plans - Stock-Based Compensation Expense - Additional Information (Detail) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions			12 Months Ended
		Jan. 14, 2014 shares	Jan. 31, 2016 USD ($) Plan $ / shares shares	Jan. 31, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Jan. 31, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares shares
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Number of Active Stock Plans | Plan			2
Number of Expired Plans | Plan			2
Number of additional share authorized (in shares)		12,500,000
Grants in period, net of forfeitures (in shares)	[1]		0
Shares available for future issuance (in shares)			62,900,000
Share based compensation expense, restricted stock units | $					$ 0.0
Percentage of compensation that eligible employees can use to purchase common stock, maximum			15.00%
Percentage of fair market value eligible employees can purchase common stock, minimum			85.00%
Shares available for future issuance, increases on the first trading day of each fiscal year (In shares)			10,000,000
Shares available for future issuance, percentage of outstanding shares plus any shares repurchased by Autodesk (as a percent)			2.00%
Employee Stock Plan 2012
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Shares of common stock reserved for issuance (in shares)			45,100,000
Restricted stock award, net of forfeitures (in shares)			39,100,000
Shares forfeited (in shares)			6,000,000
Shares granted to shares issued (in shares)			1.79
Vesting period			3 years
Shares available for future issuance (in shares)			18,600,000
Directors stock plan 2012 [Member]
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Number of additional share authorized (in shares)			(900,000)
Shares of common stock reserved for issuance (in shares)			1,700,000
Shares granted to shares issued (in shares)			2.11
Shares available for future issuance (in shares)			1,000,000
Outside directors stock plan 2012 | Minimum
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Vesting period			1 year
Outside directors stock plan 2012 | Maximum
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Vesting period			3 years
ESP Plan
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Shares available for future issuance (in shares)			43,300,000
Shares issued under the ESP plan (in dollars per share)			2,100,000	2,100,000	2,900,000
Shares issued under the ESP Plan, average price (in dollars per share) | $ / shares			$ 36.29	$ 33.91	$ 22.61
Weighted average grant date fair value (in dollars per share) | $ / shares			$ 11.85	$ 15.14	$ 11.80
Employee Service Share Based Compensation recognized Compensation Costs On Nonvested Restricted Shares | $			$ 27.1	$ 23.9	$ 22.9
Stock Options and Restricted Stock | Employee Stock Plan 2012
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Grants in period, net of forfeitures (in shares)			29,200,000
Share based payment award options expiration term (in years)			10 years
Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) and Performance Stock Units (PSUs)
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Granted (in dollars per share) | $ / shares			$ 52.53	$ 54.17	$ 42.37
Fair value of units vested in period | $			$ 193.3	$ 147.8	$ 87.0
Restricted stock granted (in shares)			4,035,100
Number of awards granted but unreleased			7,739,600	7,801,300
Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Restricted stock granted (in shares)			3,600,000
Share based compensation expense, restricted stock units | $			$ 146.4	$ 118.9	74.9
Total compensation cost related to non-vested awards not yet recognized | $			$ 248.2
Total compensation cost related to non-vested awards not yet recognized, weighted average period of recognition (in years)			1 year 9 months 18 days
Number of awards granted but unreleased			6,900,000
Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) | Maximum
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Vesting period			3 years
Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) | Directors stock plan 2012 [Member]
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Grants in period, net of forfeitures (in shares)			700,000
Performance Stock Units (PSUs)
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Restricted stock granted (in shares)			400,000
Share based compensation expense, restricted stock units | $			$ 23.2	$ 17.5	$ 8.7
Total compensation cost related to non-vested awards not yet recognized | $			$ 3.6
Total compensation cost related to non-vested awards not yet recognized, weighted average period of recognition (in years)			9 months 25 days
Number of awards granted but unreleased			800,000
Performance Stock Units (PSUs) | Year One
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Vesting percentage (up to percentage)			33.33%
Performance Stock Units (PSUs) | Year Two
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Vesting percentage (up to percentage)			33.33%
Performance Stock Units (PSUs) | Year Three
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Vesting percentage (up to percentage)			33.33%

[1] Autodesk did not grant stock options in the twelve months ended January 31, 2016.