Document and Entity Information	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016 shares
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2016
Entity Registrant Name	BB&T CORP
Trading Symbol	BBT
Entity Central Index Key	0000092230
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding	782,378,996