Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Merger (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Billions	Dec. 31, 2015	Oct. 12, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Common stock, par value (in usd per share)	$ 0.01		$ 0.01
Denali
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Acquisition, Share Price		$ 24.05
Business Combination, Proposed transaction, 65% of VMW Shares owned by EMC		222,966,450
Business Combination, Proposed transaction, Percent EMC interest in VMware which represents Merger Consideration		65.00%
Business Combination, Proposed transaction, Resulting Economic Interest in VMware which represents Merger consideration		53.00%
Business Combination, Proposed transaction, Economic interest of VMware Parent will retain		28.00%
Tracker Stock Fractional Share		0.111
Business Combination, Proposed Transaction, Termination Fee Paid by EMC to Denali		$ 2.5
Business Combination, Proposed Transaction, Termination Fee Paid by Denali to EMC		4.0
Business Combination, Proposed Transaction, Alternative Termination Fee paid by Denali to EMC		$ 6.0
VMware
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Parent	81.00%		80.00%