Debt of the Operating Partnership (Floating and Base Rate Borrowing) (Details) - Digital Realty Trust, L.P. $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) $ / $ $ / € $ / ¥ $ / $ $ / $ $ / $	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / € $ / ¥ $ / £ $ / $ $ / $
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross	$ 9,173,385
Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross	$ 472,438	$ 558,191
Weighted-average interest rate	2.21%	2.21%
Interest rate basis spread	1.00%
Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross	$ 472,438	$ 543,191
Weighted-average interest rate	2.21%	2.15%
Interest rate basis spread	1.00%
U.S. dollar ($) | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross	$ 205,000	$ 400,000
Weighted-average interest rate	3.09%	2.48%
U.S. dollar ($) | Global revolving credit facility | Base Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross	$ 0	$ 15,000
Weighted-average interest rate	0.00%	4.50%
British pound sterling (£) | Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / £		1.35
British pound sterling (£) | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross	$ 0	$ 18,918
Weighted-average interest rate	0.00%	1.50%
Euro (€) | Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / €	1.17	1.20
Euro (€) | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross	$ 60,757	$ 31,213
Weighted-average interest rate	0.63%	0.62%
Australian dollar (AUD) | Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / $	0.74
Australian dollar (AUD) | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross	$ 27,917	$ 0
Weighted-average interest rate	2.94%	0.00%
Hong Kong dollar (HKD) | Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / $	0.13	0.13
Hong Kong dollar (HKD) | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross	$ 6,741	$ 4,100
Weighted-average interest rate	2.88%	2.20%
Japanese yen (JPY) | Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / ¥	0.01	0.01
Japanese yen (JPY) | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross	$ 106,827	$ 65,890
Weighted-average interest rate	0.92%	0.96%
Singapore dollar (SGD) | Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / $	0.73
Singapore dollar (SGD) | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross	$ 3,523	$ 0
Weighted-average interest rate	2.42%	0.00%
Canadian dollar (CAD) | Global revolving credit facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Exchange rate | $ / $	0.76	0.80
Canadian dollar (CAD) | Global revolving credit facility | Floating Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, gross	$ 61,673	$ 23,070
Weighted-average interest rate	2.64%	2.36%