Interim Financial Information - Current (Balance Sheet) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Jan. 31, 2013	Oct. 31, 2012	Jul. 31, 2012	Apr. 30, 2012	Jan. 31, 2012		Oct. 31, 2011	Jul. 31, 2011	Apr. 30, 2011	Jan. 31, 2011		Jan. 31, 2010
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 340,564	$ 473,386	$ 235,402	$ 409,529	$ 486,262	[1]	$ 796,895	$ 791,557	$ 652,315	$ 722,598	[1]	$ 927,431	[1]
Accounts receivable	3,215,920	2,729,523	2,574,108	2,595,886	2,778,641	[1]	2,863,609	2,750,223	2,863,654
Inventories	2,254,510	2,100,482	1,946,033	2,067,543	1,932,289	[1]	2,098,746	2,085,967	2,439,798
Prepaid expenses and other assets	334,431	199,963	191,358	180,364	197,308	[1]	207,351	192,681	206,074
Total current assets	6,145,425	5,503,354	4,946,901	5,253,322	5,394,500	[1]	5,966,601	5,820,428	6,161,841
Property and equipment, net	84,395	83,373	82,770	89,093	88,881	[1]	88,178	91,330	96,045
Other assets, net	601,140	309,730	299,599	317,882	312,887	[1]	317,443	287,816	293,053
Total assets	6,830,960	5,896,457	5,329,270	5,660,297	5,796,268	[1]	6,372,222	6,199,574	6,550,939
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	3,657,251	3,123,351	2,924,397	2,998,673	3,091,611	[1]	3,279,802	3,005,199	3,179,558
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	620,167	458,493	429,744	471,216	533,835	[1]	508,790	494,456	528,053
Revolving credit loans and current maturities of long-term debt, net	167,522	65,848	37,912	30,933	48,490	[1]	411,909	424,320	418,444
Total current liabilities	4,444,940	3,647,692	3,392,053	3,500,822	3,673,936	[1]	4,200,501	3,923,975	4,126,055
Long-term debt, less current maturities	354,458	354,267	53,659	57,816	57,253	[1]	61,223	62,810	64,889
Other long-term liabilities	113,193	80,911	80,531	82,078	82,950	[1]	76,809	63,796	67,847
Total liabilities	4,912,591	4,082,870	3,526,243	3,640,716	3,814,139	[1]	4,338,533	4,050,581	4,258,791
Shareholders’ equity:
Common stock	89	89	89	89	89	[1]	89	89	89
Additional paid-in capital	680,715	673,489	756,008	754,300	773,087	[1]	767,933	765,055	764,574
Treasury stock, at cost	(905,900)	(907,533)	(907,777)	(766,558)	(739,614)	[1]	(728,600)	(632,154)	(486,330)
Retained earnings	1,813,358	1,768,917	1,725,980	1,691,281	1,637,103	[1]	1,593,127	1,543,265	1,497,919
Accumulated other comprehensive income	330,107	278,625	200,887	309,960	283,139	[1]	371,476	445,928	489,962
Equity attributable to shareholders of Tech Data Corporation	1,918,369	1,813,587	1,775,187	1,989,072	1,953,804	[1]	2,004,025	2,122,183	2,266,214
Noncontrolling interest	0	0	27,840	30,509	28,325	[1]	29,664	26,810	25,934
Total equity	1,918,369	1,813,587	1,803,027	2,019,581	1,982,129	[1]	2,033,689	2,148,993	2,292,148	2,132,412	[1]	2,094,227	[1]
Total liabilities and equity	6,830,960	5,896,457	5,329,270	5,660,297	5,796,268	[1]	6,372,222	6,199,574	6,550,939
As Previously Reported
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	392,132	515,788	277,633	447,038	505,178		899,666	905,138	807,554	763,725		982,913
Accounts receivable	3,262,751	2,781,490	2,622,811	2,656,030	2,871,243		2,928,041	2,833,724	2,916,549
Inventories	2,132,760	2,025,424	1,819,233	1,949,279	1,802,976		1,961,299	1,878,911	2,271,537
Prepaid expenses and other assets	343,425	206,095	199,185	184,928	202,505		213,952	198,006	210,514
Total current assets	6,131,068	5,528,797	4,918,862	5,237,275	5,381,902		6,002,958	5,815,779	6,206,154
Property and equipment, net	84,220	83,049	81,953	88,246	88,595		88,092	91,242	95,955
Other assets, net	590,965	310,471	300,248	318,662	314,921		319,583	290,045	295,378
Total assets	6,806,253	5,922,317	5,301,063	5,644,183	5,785,418		6,410,633	6,197,066	6,597,487
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	3,603,038	3,111,391	2,862,684	2,952,182	3,042,809		3,295,867	2,985,230	3,211,201
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	588,766	469,171	444,899	483,060	551,280		520,751	503,413	539,169
Revolving credit loans and current maturities of long-term debt, net	164,341	65,848	37,913	30,933	48,490		411,909	424,320	418,444
Total current liabilities	4,356,145	3,646,410	3,345,496	3,466,175	3,642,579		4,228,527	3,912,963	4,168,814
Long-term debt, less current maturities	354,458	354,267	53,659	57,816	57,253		61,223	62,810	64,889
Other long-term liabilities	118,020	86,780	80,862	82,414	83,438		76,864	65,315	69,368
Total liabilities	4,828,623	4,087,457	3,480,017	3,606,405	3,783,270		4,366,614	4,041,088	4,303,071
Shareholders’ equity:
Common stock	89	89	89	89	89		89	89	89
Additional paid-in capital	677,682	670,346	752,763	750,878	769,826		765,525	763,025	762,873
Treasury stock, at cost	(905,900)	(907,533)	(907,777)	(766,558)	(739,614)		(728,600)	(632,154)	(486,330)
Retained earnings	1,874,357	1,791,815	1,745,917	1,711,459	1,659,767		1,605,698	1,552,179	1,502,072
Accumulated other comprehensive income	331,402	280,143	202,214	311,401	283,755		371,643	446,029	489,778
Equity attributable to shareholders of Tech Data Corporation	1,977,630	1,834,860	1,793,206	2,007,269	1,973,823		2,014,355	2,129,168	2,268,482
Noncontrolling interest	0	0	27,840	30,509	28,325		29,664	26,810	25,934
Total equity	1,977,630	1,834,860	1,821,046	2,037,778	2,002,148		2,044,019	2,155,978	2,294,416			2,094,533
Total liabilities and equity	6,806,253	5,922,317	5,301,063	5,644,183	5,785,418		6,410,633	6,197,066	6,597,487
Adjustments
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	(51,568)	(42,402)	(42,231)	(37,509)	(18,916)	[2]	(102,771)	(113,581)	(155,239)	(41,127)		(55,482)
Accounts receivable	(46,831)	(51,967)	(48,703)	(60,144)	(92,602)	[3]	(64,432)	(83,501)	(52,895)
Inventories	121,750	75,058	126,800	118,264	129,313	[4]	137,447	207,056	168,261
Prepaid expenses and other assets	(8,994)	(6,132)	(7,827)	(4,564)	(5,197)	[5]	(6,601)	(5,325)	(4,440)
Total current assets	14,357	(25,443)	28,039	16,047	12,598		(36,357)	4,649	(44,313)
Property and equipment, net	175	324	817	847	286		86	88	90
Other assets, net	10,175	(741)	(649)	(780)	(2,034)	[5]	(2,140)	(2,229)	(2,325)
Total assets	24,707	(25,860)	28,207	16,114	10,850		(38,411)	2,508	(46,548)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	54,213	11,960	61,713	46,491	48,802	[6]	(16,065)	19,969	(31,643)
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	31,401	(10,678)	(15,155)	(11,844)	(17,445)	[7]	(11,961)	(8,957)	(11,116)
Revolving credit loans and current maturities of long-term debt, net	3,181	0	(1)	0	0		0	0	0
Total current liabilities	88,795	1,282	46,557	34,647	31,357		(28,026)	11,012	(42,759)
Long-term debt, less current maturities	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	(4,827)	(5,869)	(331)	(336)	(488)	[5]	(55)	(1,519)	(1,521)
Total liabilities	83,968	(4,587)	46,226	34,311	30,869		(28,081)	9,493	(44,280)
Shareholders’ equity:
Common stock	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0
Additional paid-in capital	3,033	3,143	3,245	3,422	3,261	[8]	2,408	2,030	1,701
Treasury stock, at cost	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0
Retained earnings	(60,999)	(22,898)	(19,937)	(20,178)	(22,664)	[8]	(12,571)	(8,914)	(4,153)
Accumulated other comprehensive income	(1,295)	(1,518)	(1,327)	(1,441)	(616)		(167)	(101)	184
Equity attributable to shareholders of Tech Data Corporation	(59,261)	(21,273)	(18,019)	(18,197)	(20,019)		(10,330)	(6,985)	(2,268)
Noncontrolling interest	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0
Total equity	(59,261)	(21,273)	(18,019)	(18,197)	(20,019)		(10,330)	(6,985)	(2,268)			(306)
Total liabilities and equity	$ 24,707	$ (25,860)	$ 28,207	$ 16,114	$ 10,850		$ (38,411)	$ 2,508	$ (46,548)

[1] See Note 2 - Restatement of Consolidated Financial Statements.

[2] Cash and cash equivalents includes adjustments to reduce cash to correct bank reconciliation cutoff errors that recognized certain cash in-transit from customers (also recognized as a reduction of accounts receivable).

[3] Accounts receivable has been adjusted primarily to reduce the balance for estimated sales returns by $72.7 million and the cash cutoff errors discussed in (1) above. The Company had previously only recognized the net impact on gross profit for estimated sales returns.

[4] Inventory includes an adjustment to increase the balance for estimated sales returns by $72.7 million, as discussed in (2) above, and adjustments of $55.7 million for sales and inventory cutoff errors that were not appropriately recorded based on the delivery terms.

[5] Other assets and other liabilities contain various adjustments that are insignificant individually and in the aggregate pertaining to the errors described above, primarily related to the inadequate reconciliations of the accounts.

[6] Accounts payable has been adjusted primarily to recognize an increase of $27.6 million for inventory cutoff errors that were not appropriately reported based on the delivery terms; and the impact of vendor accounting errors in the Company's primary operating subsidiary in the UK and two other European subsidiaries of $17.9 million.

[7] Accrued expenses and other liabilities includes adjustments primarily related to reducing the taxes payable by $11.9 million as a result of the restatement adjustments and other adjustments due to various immaterial errors.

[8] Shareholders’ equity includes an adjustment to retained earnings and the cumulative translation account to account for the restatement errors identified herein and adjustments to additional paid-in capital primarily to correct errors related to stock-based compensation.