Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Statement of Operations) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Feb. 02, 2019	Nov. 03, 2018	Aug. 04, 2018	May 05, 2018	Feb. 03, 2018	Oct. 28, 2017	Jul. 29, 2017	Apr. 29, 2017	Nov. 03, 2018	Oct. 28, 2017	Feb. 02, 2019	Feb. 03, 2018	Jan. 28, 2017
Net sales	$ 8,455	$ 5,404	$ 5,572	$ 5,541	$ 8,672	$ 5,281	$ 5,636	$ 5,350			$ 24,971	$ 24,939	$ 25,908
Credit Card Revenues, Net	240	185	186	157	229	145	167	161			768	702	656
Cost of sales	(5,288)	(3,226)	(3,320)	(3,382)	(5,323)	(3,152)	(3,403)	(3,303)			(15,215)	(15,181)	(15,666)
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(2,538)	(2,255)	(2,164)	(2,083)	(2,548)	(2,188)	(2,161)	(2,057)			(9,039)	(8,954)	(9,257)
Gains on sale of real estate	278	42	46	24	368	65	43	68			389	544	209
Restructuring, impairment, store closing and other costs	(97)	(3)	(17)	(19)	(152)	(33)	0	0			(136)	(186)	(479)
Operating income (loss)											1,738	1,864	1,371
Settlement charges	(15)	(23)	(50)	0	(32)	(22)	(51)	0			(88)	(105)	(98)
Benefit plan income, net	8	9	11	11	15	15	14	13			39	57	55
Interest (expense) income, net
External											(236)	(310)	(363)
Intercompany											0	0	0
Gains (losses) on early retirement of debt	(28)				11				$ (5)	$ (1)	(33)	10	0
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries											0	0	0
Income (loss) before income taxes											1,420	1,516	965
Federal, state and local income tax benefit (expense)											(322)	39	(346)
Net income (loss)											1,098	1,555	619
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest											10	11	8
Net income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders	$ 740	$ 62	$ 166	$ 139	$ 1,347	$ 30	$ 111	$ 78			1,108	1,566	627
Comprehensive income											1,035	1,727	766
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest											10	11	8
Comprehensive income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders											1,045	1,738	774
Parent Company [Member]
Net sales											0	0	0
Credit Card Revenues, Net											0	0	0
Cost of sales											0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses											0	0	(2)
Gains on sale of real estate											0	0	0
Restructuring, impairment, store closing and other costs											0	0	0
Operating income (loss)											0	0	(2)
Settlement charges											(5)	0	0
Benefit plan income, net											0	0	0
Interest (expense) income, net
External											20	0	2
Intercompany											0	0	0
Gains (losses) on early retirement of debt											0	0
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries											1,104	1,574	627
Income (loss) before income taxes											1,119	1,574	627
Federal, state and local income tax benefit (expense)											(11)	(8)	0
Net income (loss)											1,108	1,566	627
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest											0	0	0
Net income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders											1,108	1,566	627
Comprehensive income											1,045	1,738	774
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest											0	0	0
Comprehensive income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders											1,045	1,738	774
Subsidiary Issuer [Member]
Net sales											9,051	9,490	10,735
Credit Card Revenues, Net											(3)	(2)	17
Cost of sales											(5,786)	(6,122)	(6,818)
Selling, general and administrative expenses											(3,509)	(3,426)	(3,899)
Gains on sale of real estate											141	201	95
Restructuring, impairment, store closing and other costs											(33)	(40)	(295)
Operating income (loss)											(139)	101	(165)
Settlement charges											(30)	(35)	(34)
Benefit plan income, net											15	22	21
Interest (expense) income, net
External											(260)	(313)	(366)
Intercompany											(72)	(139)	(200)
Gains (losses) on early retirement of debt											(33)	10
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries											345	773	267
Income (loss) before income taxes											(174)	419	(477)
Federal, state and local income tax benefit (expense)											219	356	278
Net income (loss)											45	775	(199)
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest											0	0	0
Net income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders											45	775	(199)
Comprehensive income											(15)	935	(52)
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest											0	0	0
Comprehensive income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders											(15)	935	(52)
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Net sales											23,720	23,317	23,508
Credit Card Revenues, Net											771	704	639
Cost of sales											(17,229)	(16,927)	(17,183)
Selling, general and administrative expenses											(5,530)	(5,528)	(5,356)
Gains on sale of real estate											248	343	114
Restructuring, impairment, store closing and other costs											(103)	(146)	(184)
Operating income (loss)											1,877	1,763	1,538
Settlement charges											(53)	(70)	(64)
Benefit plan income, net											24	35	34
Interest (expense) income, net
External											4	3	1
Intercompany											72	139	200
Gains (losses) on early retirement of debt											0	0
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries											0	0	0
Income (loss) before income taxes											1,924	1,870	1,709
Federal, state and local income tax benefit (expense)											(530)	(309)	(624)
Net income (loss)											1,394	1,561	1,085
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest											10	11	8
Net income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders											1,404	1,572	1,093
Comprehensive income											1,353	1,673	1,164
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest											10	11	8
Comprehensive income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders											1,363	1,684	1,172
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Net sales											(7,800)	(7,868)	(8,335)
Credit Card Revenues, Net											0	0	0
Cost of sales											7,800	7,868	8,335
Selling, general and administrative expenses											0	0	0
Gains on sale of real estate											0	0	0
Restructuring, impairment, store closing and other costs											0	0	0
Operating income (loss)											0	0	0
Settlement charges											0	0	0
Benefit plan income, net											0	0	0
Interest (expense) income, net
External											0	0	0
Intercompany											0	0	0
Gains (losses) on early retirement of debt											0	0
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries											(1,449)	(2,347)	(894)
Income (loss) before income taxes											(1,449)	(2,347)	(894)
Federal, state and local income tax benefit (expense)											0	0	0
Net income (loss)											(1,449)	(2,347)	(894)
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest											0	0	0
Net income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders											(1,449)	(2,347)	(894)
Comprehensive income											(1,348)	(2,619)	(1,120)
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest											0	0	0
Comprehensive income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders											$ (1,348)	$ (2,619)	$ (1,120)