Document and Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Oct. 31, 2018
Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2018
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2018
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Registrant Name	Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
Entity Central Index Key	0001297996
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		206,282,023
Digital Realty Trust, L.P.
Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2018
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2018
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Registrant Name	Digital Realty Trust, L.P.
Entity Central Index Key	0001494877
Entity Filer Category	Non-accelerated Filer