Derivative Instruments (Details) £ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) $ / $	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) instrument $ / £ $ / $	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 GBP (£) instrument $ / £ $ / $	Jul. 01, 2016 instrument	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)
Derivative [Line Items]
Ineffective portion of cash flow hedges	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Notional Amount	783,125,000	1,018,274,000
Gain (loss) to be reclassified within twelve months	7,800,000
Excess proceeds from forward contract settlement	0	63,956,000	0
Digital Realty Trust, L.P.
Derivative [Line Items]
Excess proceeds from forward contract settlement	$ 0	$ 63,956,000	$ 0
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | British pound sterling (£)
Derivative [Line Items]
Derivative forward exchange rate (in dollars per share) | $ / £		1.35		1.35
Digital Realty Trust, L.P. | Canadian dollar (CAD)
Derivative [Line Items]
Derivative forward exchange rate (in dollars per share) | $ / $	0.73	0.80		0.80
Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	$ 20,119,000	$ 18,572,000
Interest Rate Swap, 1.611
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	$ 206,000,000	206,000,000
Strike Rate	1.611%
Interest Rate Swap, 1.611 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	$ 1,976,000	1,409,000
Interest Rate Swap,1.605
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	$ 54,905,000	54,905,000
Strike Rate	1.605%
Interest Rate Swap,1.605 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	$ 517,000	374,000
Interest Rate Swap, 1.016
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	$ 75,000,000	75,000,000
Strike Rate	1.016%
Interest Rate Swap, 1.016 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	$ 2,169,000	2,260,000
Interest Rate Swap, 1.164
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	$ 75,000,000	75,000,000
Strike Rate	1.164%
Interest Rate Swap, 1.164 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	$ 1,970,000	1,947,000
Interest Rate Swap, 1.435
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	$ 300,000,000	300,000,000
Strike Rate	1.435%
Interest Rate Swap, 1.435 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	$ 11,463,000	9,978,000
Interest Rate Swap, 0.792
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	$ 0	229,012,000
Strike Rate	0.792%
Interest Rate Swap, 0.792 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	$ 0	(430,000)
Interest Rate Swap, 0.779
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount	$ 72,220,000	78,357,000
Strike Rate	0.779%
Interest Rate Swap, 0.779 | Level 2
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)	$ 2,024,000	$ 3,034,000
Currency forward contracts | Not Designated as Hedging Instrument
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair Value at Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)						$ 37,800,000
Currency forward contracts | Designated as Hedging Instrument
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional Amount | £				£ 357.3
Number of forward contracts | instrument		4		4	4
Excess proceeds from forward contract settlement	64,000,000
Amount of AOCI to remain in AOCI	$ 26,200,000