Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Statement of Operations) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended									9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Feb. 01, 2020	Nov. 02, 2019	Aug. 03, 2019	May 04, 2019	Feb. 02, 2019	Nov. 03, 2018	Aug. 04, 2018	May 05, 2018	Feb. 03, 2018	Nov. 03, 2018	Oct. 28, 2017	Feb. 01, 2020	Feb. 02, 2019	Feb. 03, 2018
Net sales	$ 8,337	$ 5,173	$ 5,546	$ 5,504	$ 8,455	$ 5,404	$ 5,572	$ 5,541				$ 24,560	$ 24,971	$ 24,939
Credit Card Revenues, Net	239	183	176	172	240	185	186	157				771	768	702
Cost of sales	(5,266)	(3,106)	(3,395)	(3,403)	(5,288)	(3,226)	(3,320)	(3,382)				(15,171)	(15,215)	(15,181)
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(2,509)	(2,202)	(2,177)	(2,112)	(2,538)	(2,255)	(2,164)	(2,083)				(8,998)	(9,039)	(8,954)
Gains on sale of real estate	95	17	7	43	278	42	46	24				162	389	544
Restructuring, impairment, store closing and other costs	(337)	(13)	(2)	(1)	(97)	(3)	(17)	(19)				(354)	(136)	(186)
Operating income (loss)												970	1,738	1,864
Settlement charges	(46)	(12)	0	0	(15)	(23)	(50)	0				(58)	(88)	(105)
Benefit plan income, net	8	8	8	7	8	9	11	11				31	39	57
Interest (expense) income, net
External												(185)	(236)	(310)
Intercompany												0	0	0
Gains (losses) on early retirement of debt	(30)				(28)				$ 11	$ (5)	$ (1)	(30)	(33)	10
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries												0	0	0
Income (loss) before income taxes												728	1,420	1,516
Federal, state and local income tax benefit (expense)												(164)	(322)	39
Net income (loss)												564	1,098	1,555
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest												0	10	11
Net income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders	$ 340	$ 2	$ 86	$ 136	$ 740	$ 62	$ 166	$ 139				564	1,108	1,566
Comprehensive income												524	1,035	1,727
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest												0	10	11
Comprehensive income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders												524	1,045	1,738
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												2	0	0
Gains on sale of real estate												0	0	0
Restructuring, impairment, store closing and other costs												0	0	0
Operating income (loss)												2	0	0
Settlement charges												0	(5)	0
Benefit plan income, net												0	0	0
Interest (expense) income, net
External												15	20	0
Intercompany												0	0	0
Gains (losses) on early retirement of debt												0	0	0
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries												547	1,104	1,574
Income (loss) before income taxes												564	1,119	1,574
Federal, state and local income tax benefit (expense)												0	(11)	(8)
Net income (loss)												564	1,108	1,566
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest												0	0	0
Net income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders												564	1,108	1,566
Comprehensive income												524	1,045	1,738
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest												0	0	0
Comprehensive income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders												524	1,045	1,738
Subsidiary Issuer [Member]
Net sales												9,477	9,051	9,490
Credit Card Revenues, Net												(7)	(3)	(2)
Cost of sales												(5,834)	(5,786)	(6,122)
Selling, general and administrative expenses												(3,490)	(3,509)	(3,426)
Gains on sale of real estate												37	141	201
Restructuring, impairment, store closing and other costs												(108)	(33)	(40)
Operating income (loss)												75	(139)	101
Settlement charges												(22)	(30)	(35)
Benefit plan income, net												12	15	22
Interest (expense) income, net
External												(204)	(260)	(313)
Intercompany												(72)	(72)	(139)
Gains (losses) on early retirement of debt												(30)	(33)	10
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries												(266)	345	773
Income (loss) before income taxes												(507)	(174)	419
Federal, state and local income tax benefit (expense)												33	219	356
Net income (loss)												(474)	45	775
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest												0	0	0
Net income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders												(474)	45	775
Comprehensive income												(512)	(15)	935
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest												0	0	0
Comprehensive income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders												(512)	(15)	935
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Net sales												20,831	23,720	23,317
Credit Card Revenues, Net												778	771	704
Cost of sales												(15,085)	(17,229)	(16,927)
Selling, general and administrative expenses												(5,510)	(5,530)	(5,528)
Gains on sale of real estate												125	248	343
Restructuring, impairment, store closing and other costs												(246)	(103)	(146)
Operating income (loss)												893	1,877	1,763
Settlement charges												(36)	(53)	(70)
Benefit plan income, net												19	24	35
Interest (expense) income, net
External												4	4	3
Intercompany												72	72	139
Gains (losses) on early retirement of debt												0	0	0
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries												0	0	0
Income (loss) before income taxes												952	1,924	1,870
Federal, state and local income tax benefit (expense)												(197)	(530)	(309)
Net income (loss)												755	1,394	1,561
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest												0	10	11
Net income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders												755	1,404	1,572
Comprehensive income												731	1,353	1,673
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest												0	10	11
Comprehensive income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders												731	1,363	1,684
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Net sales												(5,748)	(7,800)	(7,868)
Credit Card Revenues, Net												0	0	0
Cost of sales												5,748	7,800	7,868
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	0
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries												(281)	(1,449)	(2,347)
Income (loss) before income taxes												(281)	(1,449)	(2,347)
Federal, state and local income tax benefit (expense)												0	0	0
Net income (loss)												(281)	(1,449)	(2,347)
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest												0	0	0
Net income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders												(281)	(1,449)	(2,347)
Comprehensive income												(219)	(1,348)	(2,619)
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest												0	0	0
Comprehensive income attributable to Macy's, Inc. shareholders												$ (219)	$ (1,348)	$ (2,619)