Income Taxes - Differences between income taxes calculated using the federal statutory income tax rate and the provision for income taxes from continuing operations (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2018	Jul. 31, 2018	Jul. 31, 2017	Jul. 31, 2016
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Income from continuing operations before income taxes		$ 1,503	$ 1,367	$ 1,203
Statutory federal income tax		404	479	421
State income tax, net of federal benefit		27	24	17
Federal research and experimentation credits		(38)	(24)	(33)
Domestic production activities deduction		(28)	(34)	(34)
Share-based compensation		11	14	16
Federal excess tax benefits related to share-based compensation		100	72
2017 Tax Act - Deferred tax re-measurement		43	0	0
Capital loss on subsidiary reorganization	$ (35)	(35)	0	0
Effects of non-U.S. operations		1	5	11
Other, net		1	1	(1)
Total provision for income taxes from continuing operations		$ 292	$ 396	$ 397

Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, Capital Loss On Reorganization

No definition available.

Name:	intu_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationCapitalLossOnReorganization
Namespace Prefix:	intu_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Amount

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	intu_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationTaxCutsandJobsActof2017Amount
Namespace Prefix:	intu_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of difference between reported income tax expense (benefit) and expected income tax expense (benefit) computed by applying domestic federal statutory income tax rate to pretax income (loss) from continuing operation, attributable to excess tax benefit for share-based compensation cost.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 12
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32687-109319

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of income (loss) from continuing operations before deduction of income tax expense (benefit) and income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest, and addition of income (loss) from equity method investments.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(h)(1)(i))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesMinorityInterestAndIncomeLossFromEquityMethodInvestments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of current income tax expense (benefit) and deferred income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to continuing operations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 22
-Subparagraph (h)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=115929826&loc=d3e8736-108599

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08(h))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109238882&loc=d3e38679-109324

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of the difference between reported income tax expense (benefit) and the expected income tax expense (benefit) computed by applying the domestic federal statutory income tax rates to pretax income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to deduction for qualified production activity.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeTaxReconciliationDeductionsQualifiedProductionActivities
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of the difference between reported income tax expense (benefit) and expected income tax expense (benefit) computed by applying the domestic federal statutory income tax rates to pretax income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to foreign income tax expense (benefit).

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 13
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32698-109319

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 12
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32687-109319

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08(h)(1))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690

+ Details

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

- Definition

The amount of income tax expense or benefit for the period computed by applying the domestic federal statutory tax rates to pretax income from continuing operations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 13
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32698-109319

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 12
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32687-109319

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08(h)(2))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690

+ Details

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

- Definition

+ References

+ Details

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

- Definition

+ References

+ Details

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

- Definition

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 12
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32687-109319

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08(h)(2))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 13
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32698-109319

+ Details

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

- Definition

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeTaxReconciliationTaxCreditsResearch
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
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_OperatingLossCarryforwardsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration