Variable Interest Entity (Details) - Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary - USD ($) $ in Millions		3 Months Ended
Apr. 27, 2018	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Equity investments and advances to affiliates	$ 1.8
Variable Interest Entity, Qualitative or Quantitative Information, Ownership Percentage	16.50%
VIE loss, our portion		$ 0.1
Variable Interest Entity, Investment		$ 1.7	$ 1.7

Variable Interest Entity, Investment

No definition available.

Name:	faro_VariableInterestEntityInvestment
Namespace Prefix:	faro_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The amount of income (loss) from operations derived by the reporting entity during the period from the Variable Interest Entity (VIE).

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 810
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 6
-Subparagraph d
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108788376&loc=d3e5747-111685

+ Details

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

- Definition

The amount of financial or other support the reporting entity has provided (explicitly or implicitly) to the Variable Interest Entity (VIE) that it was not previously contractually required to provide or that the reporting entity intends to provide, including, for example, situations in which the reporting entity assisted the VIE in obtaining another type of support.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 810
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5A
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108788376&loc=SL6759159-111685

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_VariableInterestEntityFinancialOrOtherSupportAmount
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
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_VariableInterestEntityLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of the Variable Interest Entity's (VIE) voting interest owned by (or beneficial interest in) the reporting entity (directly or indirectly).

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 810
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5A
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108788376&loc=SL6759159-111685

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_VariableInterestEntityOwnershipPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VariableInterestEntitiesByClassificationOfEntityAxis=us-gaap_VariableInterestEntityNotPrimaryBeneficiaryMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: