Derivative Instruments (Details) £ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2016 $ / SGD	Dec. 31, 2016 $ / €	Dec. 31, 2016 $ / £	Dec. 31, 2016 $ / CAD	Dec. 31, 2016 $ / AUD	Dec. 31, 2016 GBP (£)	Dec. 31, 2016 instrument	Dec. 31, 2015 $ / SGD	Dec. 31, 2015 $ / €	Dec. 31, 2015 $ / £	Dec. 31, 2015 $ / AUD
Derivative [Line Items]
Ineffective portion of cash flow hedges	$ 0	$ 0	$ 800,000
Notional Amount	1,124,181,000	$ 469,484,000
Gain (loss) to be reclassified within twelve months	$ (3,800,000)
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Unsecured term loan — 5-year
Derivative [Line Items]
Debt instrument term	5 years	5 years
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Unsecured term loan — 7-year
Derivative [Line Items]
Debt instrument term	7 years
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Unsecured term loan
Derivative [Line Items]
Derivative forward exchange rate (in dollars per share)					0.69	1.05	1.23		0.72			0.70	1.09	1.47	0.73
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Unsecured term loan | Singapore dollar (SGD)
Derivative [Line Items]
Derivative forward exchange rate (in dollars per share) | $ / SGD					0.69							0.70
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Unsecured term loan | British pound sterling (£)
Derivative [Line Items]
Derivative forward exchange rate (in dollars per share) | $ / £							1.23
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Unsecured term loan | Canadian dollar (CAD)
Derivative [Line Items]
Derivative forward exchange rate (in dollars per share) | $ / CAD								0.74
Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	$ 11,208,000	$ 1,143,000
Interest Rate Swap, 0.932
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	206,000,000	206,000,000
Strike Rate				0.932%
Interest Rate Swap, 0.932 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	(90,000)	(416,000)
Interest Rate Swap, 0.670
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	54,905,000	54,905,000
Strike Rate				0.67%
Interest Rate Swap, 0.670 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	16,000	69,000
Interest Rate Swap, 0.500
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	0	75,000,000
Strike Rate				0.50%
Interest Rate Swap, 0.500 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	0	(10,000)
Interest Rate Swap, 1.016
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	75,000,000	0
Strike Rate				1.016%
Interest Rate Swap, 1.016 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	1,911,000	0
Interest Rate Swap, 1.164
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	75,000,000	0
Strike Rate				1.164%
Interest Rate Swap, 1.164 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	1,487,000	0
Interest Rate Swap, 1.435
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	300,000,000	0
Strike Rate				1.435%
Interest Rate Swap, 1.435 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	8,128,000	0
Interest Rate Swap, 0.925
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	130,850,000	133,579,000
Strike Rate				0.925%
Interest Rate Swap, 0.925 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	18,000	1,500,000
Interest Rate Swap, 0.792
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	209,132,000	0
Strike Rate				0.792%
Interest Rate Swap, 0.792 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	(1,818,000)	0
Interest Rate Swap, 0.779
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	73,294,000	0
Strike Rate				0.779%
Interest Rate Swap, 0.779 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	1,556,000	$ 0
Currency forward contracts
Derivative [Line Items]
Loss on derivatives not designated as hedging	3,100,000
Designated as Hedging Instrument | Currency forward contracts
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	73,498,000
Number of Instruments | instrument											4
Designated as Hedging Instrument | Currency forward contracts | Notional Amount Sold
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount | £										£ 357,299
Designated as Hedging Instrument | Currency forward contracts | Notional Amount Purchased
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	$ 518,469,000