Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details 6) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012 fund bank	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012 fund bank	Jun. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011 fund bank
Income (Loss) Per Share-Basic and Diluted
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations	$ 41,441	$ 67,460	$ 102,514	$ 148,636
Total income (Loss) from discontinued operations (see Note 10)	(2,524)	185,587	(7,617)	179,030
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Iron Mountain Incorporated	38,055	252,684	93,405	326,144
Weighted-average shares-basic	171,296,000	201,653,000	171,308,000	200,941,000
Effect of dilutive potential stock options (in shares)	753,385	1,538,373	737,087	1,266,761
Effect of dilutive potential restricted stock, RSUs and PUs (in shares)	181,292	119,319	181,580	73,489
Weighted-average shares-diluted	172,231,000	203,311,000	172,227,000	202,281,000
Earnings (Losses) per share-basic:
Income (Loss) from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.24	$ 0.33	$ 0.60	$ 0.74
Total income (Loss) from Discontinued Operations (see Note 10) (in dollars per share)	$ (0.01)	$ 0.92	$ (0.04)	$ 0.89
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Iron Mountain Incorporated (in dollars per share)	$ 0.22	$ 1.25	$ 0.55	$ 1.62
Earnings (Losses) per share-diluted:
Income (Loss) from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.24	$ 0.33	$ 0.60	$ 0.73
Total income (Loss) from Discontinued Operations (see Note 10) (in dollars per share)	$ (0.01)	$ 0.91	$ (0.04)	$ 0.89
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Iron Mountain Incorporated (in dollars per share)	$ 0.22	$ 1.24	$ 0.54	$ 1.61
Antidilutive stock options, RSUs and PUs, excluded from the calculation (in shares)	1,885,060	2,126,488	1,965,338	5,413,769
Income Taxes:
Effective tax rates (as a percent)	54.20%	31.00%	42.00%	24.00%
Statutory income tax rate (as a percent)	35.00%	35.00%	35.00%	35.00%
Reduction in effective income tax rate as a result of foreign currency loss (as a percent)		2.20%		7.00%
Increase in effective income tax rate as a result of foreign currency gain (as a percent)	10.20%		0.90%
Gross interest and penalties recorded	247	(647)	(2)	(1,256)
Accrued interest and penalties recorded	2,817		2,817		2,819
Undistributed earning of foreign subsidiaries	36,000		36,000
Reclasification of long-term deferred income tax liabilities	44,000		44,000
Concentrations of Credit Risk
Number of global banks with cash, cash equivalent and restricted cash held on deposit	5		5		5
Number of "Triple A" rated money market funds with cash, cash equivalent and restricted cash held on deposit	2		2		1
Maximum investment limit in any one mutual fund or financial institution			75,000
Cash, cash equivalent and restricted cash	206,842		206,842		214,955
Money market funds and time deposits	$ 170,409		$ 170,409		$ 181,823