Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Statement of Operations) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Jan. 28, 2017	Oct. 29, 2016	Jul. 30, 2016	Apr. 30, 2016	Jan. 30, 2016	Oct. 31, 2015	Aug. 01, 2015	May 02, 2015	Jan. 28, 2017	Jan. 30, 2016	Jan. 31, 2015
Net sales	$ 8,515	$ 5,626	$ 5,866	$ 5,771	$ 8,869	$ 5,874	$ 6,104	$ 6,232	$ 25,778	$ 27,079	$ 28,105
Cost of sales	(5,251)	(3,386)	(3,468)	(3,516)	(5,549)	(3,537)	(3,610)	(3,800)	(15,621)	(16,496)	(16,863)
Gross margin	3,264	2,240	2,398	2,255	3,320	2,337	2,494	2,432	10,157	10,583	11,242
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(2,202)	(2,071)	(2,026)	(1,966)	(2,207)	(1,968)	(2,058)	(2,023)	(8,265)	(8,256)	(8,355)
Impairments, store closing and other costs	(230)	0	(249)	0	(177)	(111)	0	0	(479)	(288)	(87)
Settlement charges	(17)	(62)	(6)	(13)					(98)	0	0
Operating income (loss)									1,315	2,039	2,800
Interest (expense) income, net
External									(363)	(361)	(393)
Intercompany									0	0	0
Premium on early retirement of debt									0	0	(17)
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries									0	0	0
Income (loss) before income taxes									952	1,678	2,390
Federal, state and local income tax benefit (expense)									(341)	(608)	(864)
Net income (loss)									611	1,070	1,526
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest									8	2	0
Net income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders	$ 475	$ 17	$ 11	$ 116	$ 544	$ 118	$ 217	$ 193	619	1,072	1,526
Comprehensive income									758	1,099	1,119
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest									8	2	0
Comprehensive income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders									766	1,101	1,119
Parent Company [Member]
Net sales									0	0	0
Cost of sales									0	0	0
Gross margin									0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses									(2)	(2)	(3)
Impairments, store closing and other costs									0	0	0
Settlement charges									0
Operating income (loss)									(2)	(2)	(3)
Interest (expense) income, net
External									2	1	1
Intercompany									0	0	0
Premium on early retirement of debt											0
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries									619	1,072	1,528
Income (loss) before income taxes									619	1,071	1,526
Federal, state and local income tax benefit (expense)									0	1	0
Net income (loss)									619	1,072	1,526
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest									0	0	0
Net income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders									619	1,072	1,526
Comprehensive income									766	1,101	1,119
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest									0	0	0
Comprehensive income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders									766	1,101	1,119
Subsidiary Issuer [Member]
Net sales									10,677	11,959	13,078
Cost of sales									(6,787)	(7,670)	(8,127)
Gross margin									3,890	4,289	4,951
Selling, general and administrative expenses									(3,739)	(3,980)	(4,351)
Impairments, store closing and other costs									(295)	(170)	(45)
Settlement charges									(34)
Operating income (loss)									(178)	139	555
Interest (expense) income, net
External									(366)	(361)	(394)
Intercompany									(200)	(230)	(230)
Premium on early retirement of debt											(17)
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries									255	421	624
Income (loss) before income taxes									(489)	(31)	538
Federal, state and local income tax benefit (expense)									281	120	25
Net income (loss)									(208)	89	563
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest									0	0	0
Net income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders									(208)	89	563
Comprehensive income									(61)	118	156
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest									0	0	0
Comprehensive income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders									(61)	118	156
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Net sales									23,436	24,037	23,522
Cost of sales									(17,169)	(17,743)	(17,231)
Gross margin									6,267	6,294	6,291
Selling, general and administrative expenses									(4,524)	(4,274)	(4,001)
Impairments, store closing and other costs									(184)	(118)	(42)
Settlement charges									(64)
Operating income (loss)									1,495	1,902	2,248
Interest (expense) income, net
External									1	(1)	0
Intercompany									200	230	230
Premium on early retirement of debt											0
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries									0	0	0
Income (loss) before income taxes									1,696	2,131	2,478
Federal, state and local income tax benefit (expense)									(622)	(729)	(889)
Net income (loss)									1,074	1,402	1,589
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest									8	2	0
Net income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders									1,082	1,404	1,589
Comprehensive income									1,153	1,415	1,338
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest									8	2	0
Comprehensive income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders									1,161	1,417	1,338
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Net sales									(8,335)	(8,917)	(8,495)
Cost of sales									8,335	8,917	8,495
Gross margin									0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses									0	0	0
Impairments, store closing and other costs									0	0	0
Settlement charges									0
Operating income (loss)									0	0	0
Interest (expense) income, net
External									0	0	0
Intercompany									0	0	0
Premium on early retirement of debt											0
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries									(874)	(1,493)	(2,152)
Income (loss) before income taxes									(874)	(1,493)	(2,152)
Federal, state and local income tax benefit (expense)									0	0	0
Net income (loss)									(874)	(1,493)	(2,152)
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest									0	0	0
Net income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders									(874)	(1,493)	(2,152)
Comprehensive income									(1,100)	(1,535)	(1,494)
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest									0	0	0
Comprehensive income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders									$ (1,100)	$ (1,535)	$ (1,494)