Related Parties (Tax Sharing Agreement With Dell) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2020	Aug. 02, 2019		Jul. 31, 2020	Aug. 02, 2019		Jan. 31, 2020
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Payments from VMware to Dell, net				$ 282	$ 188	[1]
Amount due from tax sharing arrangement	$ (45)	$ 85	[1]	$ (45)	85	[1]
Transition tax, payment period				5 years
Dell | Tax sharing agreement
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Payments from VMware to Dell, net	142	52		$ 167	89
Amount due from tax sharing arrangement	45	$ 85		45	$ 85
Income tax due to related parties, non-current	$ 521			$ 521			$ 529

[1] Adjusted to reflect the recast of prior period information due to the Pivotal Software, Inc. (“Pivotal”) acquisition in fiscal 2020, which was accounted for as a transaction between entities under common control (refer to Note A).