Document and Entity Information - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Feb. 23, 2017	Jun. 30, 2016
Statement [Line Items]
Document Type	10-K
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2016
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Registrant Name	Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
Entity Central Index Key	0001297996
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filer	No
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		159,267,316
Entity Public Float			$ 16,000,000,000
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Digital Realty Trust, L.P.
Statement [Line Items]
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2016
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Entity Registrant Name	Digital Realty Trust, L.P.
Entity Central Index Key	0001494877
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filer	No
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Non-accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		0
Entity Public Float			$ 0
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No