Label	Element	Value
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Registrant Name	dei_EntityRegistrantName	GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST
Prospectus Date	rr_ProspectusDate	Apr. 28, 2017
Service | Goldman Sachs Strategic Growth Fund
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Risk/Return [Heading]	rr_RiskReturnHeading	Goldman Sachs Strategic Growth Fund—Summary
Objective [Heading]	rr_ObjectiveHeading	Investment Objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block]	rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock	The Goldman Sachs Strategic Growth Fund (the “Fund”) seeks long-term growth of capital.
Expense [Heading]	rr_ExpenseHeading	Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Expense Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock	This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold Service Shares of the Fund. This table does not reflect the fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option. Had those fees and expenses been included, overall fees and expenses would be higher.
Operating Expenses Caption [Text]	rr_OperatingExpensesCaption	Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination	April 28, 2018
Portfolio Turnover [Heading]	rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading	Portfolio Turnover
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]	rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock	The Fund pays transaction costs when it buys and sells securities or instruments (i.e., “turns over” its portfolio). A high rate of portfolio turnover may result in increased transaction costs, including brokerage commissions, which must be borne by the Fund and its shareholders. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example above, but are reflected in the Fund’s performance. The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016 was 72% of the average value of its portfolio.
Portfolio Turnover, Rate	rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate	72.00%
Expenses Restated to Reflect Current [Text]	rr_ExpensesRestatedToReflectCurrent	The Fund’s “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and Expense Limitation” have been restated to reflect the fee waiver and expense limitation currently in effect.
Expense Example [Heading]	rr_ExpenseExampleHeading	Expense Example
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock	This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. This Example does not reflect the fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option. Had those fees and expenses been included, the costs shown below would be higher. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in Service Shares of the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your Service Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that the Example incorporates the fee waiver and expense limitation arrangements for only the first year). Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Strategy [Heading]	rr_StrategyHeading	Principal Strategy
Strategy Narrative [Text Block]	rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock	The Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 90% of its total assets measured at time of purchase (“Total Assets”) in equity investments. Although the Fund invests primarily in publicly traded U.S. securities, it may invest up to 25% of its Total Assets in foreign securities, including securities of issuers in countries with emerging markets or economies (“emerging countries”) and securities quoted in foreign currencies. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing, under normal circumstances, in approximately 50-70 companies that are considered by the Investment Adviser to be positioned for long-term growth. The Fund’s fundamental equity growth investment process involves evaluating potential investments based on specific characteristics believed to indicate a high-quality business with sustainable growth, including strong business franchises, favorable long-term prospects, and excellent management. The Investment Adviser will also consider valuation of companies when determining whether to buy and/or sell securities. The Investment Adviser may decide to sell a position for various reasons including when a company’s fundamental outlook deteriorates, because of valuation and price considerations, for risk management purposes or when a company is deemed to be misallocating capital. In addition, the Investment Adviser may sell a position in order to meet shareholder redemptions. The Fund may invest up to 10% of its Total Assets in fixed income securities, such as government, corporate and bank debt obligations. The Fund’s benchmark index is the Russell 1000® Growth Index.
Risk [Heading]	rr_RiskHeading	Principal Risks of the Fund
Risk Narrative [Text Block]	rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock	Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any government agency. The Fund should not be relied upon as a complete investment program. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Investments in the Fund involve substantial risks which prospective investors should consider carefully before investing. Investment Style Risk.  Different investment styles (e.g., “growth,” “value” or “quantitative”) tend to shift in and out of favor depending upon market and economic conditions and investor sentiment. The Fund may outperform or underperform other funds that employ a different investment style. Large Shareholder Transactions Risk.  The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and liquidity. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would. These transactions may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund’s expense ratio. Market Risk.  The market value of the securities in which the Fund invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies, particular sectors or governments and/or general economic conditions throughout the world due to increasingly interconnected global economies and financial markets. Stock Risk.  Stock prices have historically risen and fallen in periodic cycles. U.S. and foreign stock markets have experienced periods of substantial price volatility in the past and may do so again in the future.
Risk Lose Money [Text]	rr_RiskLoseMoney	Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund.
Risk Not Insured Depository Institution [Text]	rr_RiskNotInsuredDepositoryInstitution	An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any government agency.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading]	rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading	Performance
Performance Narrative [Text Block]	rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock	The bar chart and table below provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing: (a) changes in the performance of the Fund’s Service Shares from year to year; and (b) how the average annual total returns of the Fund’s Service Shares compare to those of a broad-based securities market index. The Fund’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In addition, performance reflects Fund level expenses but does not reflect the fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and expenses, performance would have been reduced. Updated performance information is available at no cost at www.gsamfunds.com/vit or by calling the phone number on the back cover of the Prospectus.
Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]	rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns	The bar chart and table below provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing: (a) changes in the performance of the Fund’s Service Shares from year to year; and (b) how the average annual total returns of the Fund’s Service Shares compare to those of a broad-based securities market index.
Performance Availability Website Address [Text]	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress	www.gsamfunds.com/vit
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text]	rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture	The Fund’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Bar Chart [Heading]	rr_BarChartHeading	TOTAL RETURN CALENDAR YEAR
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]	rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock	Best Quarter Q2 ’09                 +21.82%   Worst Quarter Q4 ’08                 –28.25%
Performance Table Heading	rr_PerformanceTableHeading	AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURN For the period ended December 31, 2016
Service | Goldman Sachs Strategic Growth Fund | Service Shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.75%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	0.25%
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.08%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	1.08%
Fee Waiver and Expense Limitation	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	(0.09%)	[1]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	0.99%	[2]
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	$ 101
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	335
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	587
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	$ 1,309
2007	rr_AnnualReturn2007	10.01%
2008	rr_AnnualReturn2008	(41.86%)
2009	rr_AnnualReturn2009	47.50%
2010	rr_AnnualReturn2010	10.50%
2011	rr_AnnualReturn2011	(2.86%)
2012	rr_AnnualReturn2012	19.57%
2013	rr_AnnualReturn2013	32.00%
2014	rr_AnnualReturn2014	13.38%
2015	rr_AnnualReturn2015	3.14%
2016	rr_AnnualReturn2016	1.69%
Highest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Best Quarter
Highest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate	Jun. 30, 2009
Highest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn	21.82%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Worst Quarter
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate	Dec. 31, 2008
Lowest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn	(28.25%)
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	1.69%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	13.42%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	6.62%
Since Inception	rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception	6.48%
Inception Date	rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate	Jan. 09, 2006
Service | Goldman Sachs Strategic Growth Fund | Russell 1000® Growth Index (reflects no deduction for fees or expenses)
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	7.06%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	14.48%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	8.33%
Since Inception	rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception	8.12%

[1] The Investment Adviser has agreed to (i) waive a portion of its management fee in order to achieve an effective net management fee rate of 0.71% of the Fund's average daily net assets, and (ii) reduce or limit "Other Expenses" (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, transfer agency fees and expenses, taxes, interest, brokerage fees, shareholder meeting, litigation, indemnification and extraordinary expenses) to 0.014% of the Fund's average daily net assets. These arrangements will remain in effect through at least April 28, 2018, and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangements without the approval of the Board of Trustees. The Fund's "Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and Expense Limitation" have been restated to reflect the fee waiver and expense limitation currently in effect.

[2] After Fee Waiver and Expense Limitation