Incentive Plan (Narrative) (Details) shares in Millions		3 Months Ended
Sep. 22, 2017 shares	Mar. 31, 2019 shares
2004 Incentive Award Plan
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Additional shares registered for issuance, 2014 Incentive Award Plan (shares)	3.7
2014 Incentive Award Plan
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of shares remaining for issuance under the Incentive Plan (shares)		6.6
Conversion of units to shares ratio		1

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Conversion of Units to Shares Ratio

No definition available.

Name:	dlr_SharebasedCompensationArrangementbySharebasedPaymentAwardConversionofUnitstoSharesRatio
Namespace Prefix:	dlr_
Data Type:	xbrli:pureItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of additional shares authorized for issuance under an established share-based compensation plan.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardNumberOfAdditionalSharesAuthorized
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The difference between the maximum number of shares (or other type of equity) authorized for issuance under the plan (including the effects of amendments and adjustments), and the sum of: 1) the number of shares (or other type of equity) already issued upon exercise of options or other equity-based awards under the plan; and 2) shares (or other type of equity) reserved for issuance on granting of outstanding awards, net of cancellations and forfeitures, if applicable.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109197908&loc=d3e5070-113901

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardNumberOfSharesAvailableForGrant
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardTypeAxis=dlr_TwoThousandAndFourIncentiveAwardPlanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardTypeAxis=dlr_TwoThousandFourteenIncentiveAwardPlanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: