Loans (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) contract	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment [Line Items]
Loans to related parties	$ 10,100	$ 10,000
Loans and Leases Receivable, Related Parties, Additions	759
Repayments on related party loans	$ 652
Financing Receivable, Modifications, Subsequent Default, Number of Contracts \| contract	0
Loans Receivable [Member]
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment [Line Items]
Federal Home Loan Bank, Advances, General Debt Obligations, Disclosures, Collateral Pledged	$ 2,300,000	2,220,000
Federal Reserve Bank, Advances, General Debt Obligations, Disclosures, Collateral Pledged	$ 50,000	$ 50,100

Federal Reserve Bank, Advances, General Debt Obligations, Disclosures, Collateral Pledged

No definition available.

Name:	colb_FederalReserveBankAdvancesGeneralDebtObligationsDisclosuresCollateralPledged
Namespace Prefix:	colb_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of the collateral pledged in support of federal home loan bank advances outstanding.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 470
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6479118&loc=d3e64650-112822

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 470
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6479336&loc=d3e64711-112823

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FederalHomeLoanBankAdvancesGeneralDebtObligationsDisclosuresCollateralPledged1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Number of financing receivables that have been modified by troubled debt restructurings within the previous 12 months and for which there was a payment default.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 34
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66008989&loc=SL6953682-111524

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancingReceivableModificationsSubsequentDefaultNumberOfContracts1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancingReceivableRecordedInvestmentLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

For an unclassified balance sheet, reflects the carrying amount of unpaid loan amounts due from related parties at the balance sheet date.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03.7(e))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 850
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39549-107864

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LoansAndLeasesReceivableRelatedParties
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Reflects the amount of new advances made to related parties in the form of loan and lease receivables.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LoansAndLeasesReceivableRelatedPartiesAdditions
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of cash inflow from related parties which reduce the amount of loans and leases receivable due from related parties.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LoansAndLeasesReceivableRelatedPartiesProceeds
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentsOwnedAndPledgedAsCollateralAxis=us-gaap_LoansReceivableMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: