Acquisitions - Additional Information (Detail) £ / shares in Units, € in Millions									3 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	May 01, 2017 USD ($) data_center_building	Apr. 06, 2017	Feb. 03, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 06, 2016 USD ($) data_center	Aug. 01, 2016 EUR (€)	Aug. 01, 2016 USD ($)	Jan. 15, 2016 GBP (£) £ / shares	Jan. 15, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	May 29, 2015 GBP (£)	May 29, 2015 USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill									$ 3,053,026,000	$ 2,986,064,000			$ 2,986,064,000
Repayment of capital lease and other financing obligations									16,596,000		$ 33,232,000
Loss on debt extinguishment									(3,503,000)		0
Revenue									949,525,000		844,156,000
Net income (loss) attributable to Equinix									(42,062,000)		$ 31,111,000
Long-term debt									7,648,808,000
IO
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash consideration for acquisition			$ 37,400,000
Property, plant and equipment			40,300,000
Goodwill			17,900,000
Intangible assets			6,300,000
Deferred tax assets			6,300,000
Capital lease and other financing obligations			$ 33,100,000
Acquired intangible assets, Estimated useful lives (years)			10 years
Verizon
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Data center buildings | data_center				29
Digital Realty [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash consideration for acquisition					€ 193.8	$ 216,400,000
Property, plant and equipment						143,972,000
Goodwill						48,835,000
Intangible assets						11,758,000
Repayment of capital lease and other financing obligations					47.8	53,400,000
Loss on debt extinguishment					€ (8.8)	(9,900,000)
Acquisition costs													12,000,000
Deferred tax liabilities						$ 42,395,000
Revenue									3,900,000
Telecity Group plc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment								$ 1,058,583,000
Goodwill								2,215,567,000
Intangible assets								694,243,000
Deferred tax assets								994,000
Capital lease and other financing obligations								$ 165,365,000
Acquisition costs													$ 42,500,000
Payments to acquire businesses, per share acquired | £ / shares							£ 5.725
Ratio of shares acquired							0.0336	0.0336
Consideration transferred							£ 2,624,500,000	$ 3,743,600,000
Assumed, unvested stock compensation awards								1,300,000
Cash placed in restricted account														£ 322,900,000	$ 475,700,000
Business combination, provisional information, initial accounting incomplete, adjustment, intangibles										36,800,000
Business combination, provisional information, initial accounting incomplete, adjustment, deferred tax liabilities										19,500,000
Business combination, provisional information, initial accounting incomplete, adjustment, capital lease and other financing obligations										(34,400,000)
Business combination, provisional information, initial accounting incomplete, adjustment, goodwill										(22,500,000)
Business combination, provisional information, initial accounting incomplete, adjustment, asets held for sale										$ (36,900,000)
Deferred tax liabilities								$ 176,168,000
Revenue												$ 84,400,000
Net income (loss) attributable to Equinix												$ 2,800,000
Telecity Group plc [Member] | Customer relationships [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquired intangible assets, Estimated useful lives (years)							13 years 6 months	13 years 6 months
Discount rate (percent)							8.50%	8.50%
Telecity Group plc [Member] | Trade names [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquired intangible assets, Estimated useful lives (years)							1 year 6 months	1 year 6 months
Discount rate (percent)							9.00%	9.00%
Relief of royalty rate (percent)							2.00%	2.00%
Bridge term loan [Member] | Verizon
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Short-term debt				$ 2,000,000,000
Commitment fees									10,000,000
Amortization of debt issuance costs									$ 7,800,000
Bridge term loan [Member] | Telecity Group plc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Short-term debt														£ 875,000,000	$ 1,289,000,000
Minimum [Member] | Bridge term loan [Member] | Verizon
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Commitment fee percentage				0.50%
Forecast [Member] | Bridge term loan [Member] | Verizon
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Commitment fee percentage		0.25%
Subsequent event [Member] | Verizon
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash consideration for acquisition	$ 3,600,000,000
Data center buildings | data_center_building	29