Business Combinations, Intangibles and Goodwill - Goodwill (Details) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of the period	$ 16,134
Goodwill resulting from acquisitions	955
Finalization of purchase price allocations and other, net	(6)
Balance, end of the period	17,083
Information Storage
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of the period	8,266
Goodwill resulting from acquisitions	935
Finalization of purchase price allocations and other, net	2
Balance, end of the period	9,203
Enterprise Content Division
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of the period	1,486
Goodwill resulting from acquisitions	0
Finalization of purchase price allocations and other, net	(8)
Balance, end of the period	1,478
RSA Information Security
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of the period	2,203
Goodwill resulting from acquisitions	0
Finalization of purchase price allocations and other, net	0
Balance, end of the period	2,203
Pivotal
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of the period	171
Goodwill resulting from acquisitions	3
Finalization of purchase price allocations and other, net	0
Balance, end of the period	174
VMware Virtual Infrastructure within EMC
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of the period	4,008
Goodwill resulting from acquisitions	17
Finalization of purchase price allocations and other, net	0
Balance, end of the period	$ 4,025