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Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Document Type dei_DocumentType 485BPOS
Document Period End Date dei_DocumentPeriodEndDate Jun. 27, 2011
Registrant Name dei_EntityRegistrantName First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund II
Central Index Key dei_EntityCentralIndexKey 0001364608
Amendment Flag dei_AmendmentFlag false
Trading Symbol dei_TradingSymbol SKYY
Document Creation Date dei_DocumentCreationDate Jun. 29, 2011
Document Effective Date dei_DocumentEffectiveDate Jun. 29, 2011
Prospectus Date rr_ProspectusDate Jun. 29, 2011
Strategy Portfolio Concentration [Text] rr_StrategyPortfolioConcentration

The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in common stocks and depositary receipts included in the Index. 
Risk Lose Money [Text] rr_RiskLoseMoney

You could lose money by investing in the Fund. 
Risk Nondiversified Status [Text] rr_RiskNondiversifiedStatus

NON-DIVERSIFICATION RISK. The Fund is classified as "non-diversified" under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"). As a result, the Fund is only limited as to the percentage of its assets which may be invested in the securities of any one issuer by the diversification requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). The Fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers. As a result, the Fund may be more susceptible to a single adverse economic or regulatory occurrence affecting one or more of these issuers or experience increased volatility. 
Risk Not Insured Depository Institution [Text] rr_RiskNotInsuredDepositoryInstitution

An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. 
Performance One Year or Less [Text] rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess

The Fund has not yet commenced operations and, therefore, does not have a performance history. 
Performance Availability Website Address [Text] rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress

www.ftportfolios.com 
First Trust ISE Cloud Computing Index Fund
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk/Return [Heading] rr_RiskReturnHeading

SUMMARY INFORMATION 
Objective [Heading] rr_ObjectiveHeading

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE 
Objective, Primary [Text Block] rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield, before the Fund's fees and expenses, of an equity index called the ISE Cloud Computing Index (the "Index"). 
Expense [Heading] rr_ExpenseHeading

FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND 
Expense Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold Shares of the Fund. Investors purchasing and selling Shares may be subject to costs (including customary brokerage commissions) charged by their broker. 
Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment) 
Operating Expenses Caption [Text] rr_OperatingExpensesCaption

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.60%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets none [1]
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets none
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.60%
Portfolio Turnover [Heading] rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER 
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund's performance. 
Expense Example [Heading] rr_ExpenseExampleHeading

EXAMPLE 
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

The example below is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account customary brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling Shares of the Fund on NASDAQ(R).


The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then you retain the Shares or redeem all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's annual operating expenses remain at current levels until July 6, 2012. Additionally, the example assumes that the Fund imposes a 12b-1 fee of 0.25% per annum of the Fund's average daily net assets following July 6, 2012. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: 
1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01 61
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03 226
Strategy [Heading] rr_StrategyHeading

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES 
Strategy Narrative [Text Block] rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in common stocks and depositary receipts included in the Index.

 

The Fund, using an "indexing" investment approach, attempts to replicate, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Index. First Trust Advisors L.P. ("First Trust"), the Fund's investment advisor, seeks a correlation of 0.95 or better (before fees and expenses) between the Fund's performance and the performance of the Index; a figure of 1.00 would represent perfect correlation.

 

The Index is owned and was developed by International Securities Exchange, LLC ("ISE" or the "Index Provider"). The Index Provider has contracted with Standard & Poor's to calculate and maintain the Index. The Index is designed to provide a benchmark for investors interested in tracking companies actively involved in the cloud computing industry. Index components are reviewed quarterly for eligibility, and the weights are re-set according to that distribution. As of June 3, 2011, the Index was comprised of 40 securities from countries located in the United States and India.

 

The Index uses a market capitalization weighted allocation across the pure play, non pure play and technology conglomerate categorizations in the cloud computing industry, as well as an equal weighted allocation methodology for all components within each sector allocation. Pure play companies are direct service providers for "the cloud" (i.e., network hardware/software, storage and cloud computing services) or companies with business models that rely on delivering goods and services that utilize cloud computing technology. Non pure play companies focus outside the cloud computing space but provide goods and services that support the cloud computing space. Technology conglomerate companies are large, broad-based companies with business models that indirectly utilize or support the use of cloud computing technology.

 

The Fund intends to invest entirely in securities included in the Index; however, there may also be instances in which the Fund may be underweighted or overweighted in certain securities in the Index, not invest in certain securities included in the Index, purchase securities not in the Index that are appropriate to substitute for certain securities in the Index or utilize various combinations of the above techniques in seeking to track the Index. 
Risk [Heading] rr_RiskHeading

PRINCIPAL RISKS 
Risk Narrative [Text Block] rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

PRINCIPAL RISKS You could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.

MARKET RISK. Market risk is the risk that a particular stock owned by the Fund, Shares of the Fund, or stocks in general, may fall in value. Shares are subject to market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic, political, regulatory or market developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. Overall stock values could decline generally or could underperform other investments. Companies with smaller market capitalizations are generally subject to additional market risk.

NON-CORRELATION RISK. The Fund's return may not match the return of the Index for a number of reasons. For example, the Fund incurs operating expenses not applicable to the Index, and may incur costs in buying and selling securities, especially when rebalancing the Fund's portfolio holdings to reflect changes in the composition of the Index. In addition, the Fund's portfolio holdings may not exactly replicate the securities included in the Index or the ratios between the securities included in the Index.

REPLICATION MANAGEMENT RISK. The Fund is exposed to additional market risk due to its policy of investing principally in the securities included in the Index. As a result of this policy, securities held by the Fund will generally not be bought or sold in response to market fluctuations. Therefore, the Fund will generally not sell a stock because the stock's issuer is in financial trouble, unless that stock is removed or is anticipated to be removed from the Index.

NON-DIVERSIFICATION RISK. The Fund is classified as "non-diversified" under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"). As a result, the Fund is only limited as to the percentage of its assets which may be invested in the securities of any one issuer by the diversification requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). The Fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers. As a result, the Fund may be more susceptible to a single adverse economic or regulatory occurrence affecting one or more of these issuers or experience increased volatility.

CLOUD COMPUTING INDUSTRY RISK. The Fund invests in securities of companies engaged in the cloud computing industry, including companies that provide remote computation, software, data access and storage services. The risks related to investing in such companies include disruption in service caused by hardware or software failure, interruptions or delays in service by third-party data center hosting facilities and maintenance providers, security breaches involving certain private, sensitive, proprietary and confidential information managed and transmitted by cloud computing companies, and privacy concerns and laws, evolving Internet regulation and other foreign or domestic regulations that may limit or otherwise affect the operations of such companies.

TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES RISK. The Fund invests in the securities of technology companies. Technology companies are generally subject to the risks of rapidly changing technologies, short product life cycles, fierce competition, aggressive pricing and reduced profit margins, loss of patent, copyright and trademark protections, cyclical market patterns, evolving industry standards and frequent new product introductions. Technology companies may be smaller and less experienced companies, with limited product lines, markets or financial resources and fewer experienced management or marketing personnel. Technology company stocks, particularly those involved with the Internet, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that often have been unrelated to their operating performance.

INTERNET COMPANIES RISK. The Fund invests in the securities of Internet companies. Internet companies are subject to rapid changes in technology, worldwide competition, rapid obsolescence of products and services, loss of patent protections, cyclical market patterns, evolving industry standards, frequent new product introductions and the considerable risk of owning small capitalization companies that have recently begun operations.

SMALLER COMPANY RISK. The Fund invests in small and mid capitalization companies. Such companies may be more vulnerable to adverse general market or economic developments, and their securities may be less liquid and may experience greater price volatility than larger, more established companies as a result of several factors, including limited trading volumes, products or financial resources, management inexperience and less publicly available information. Accordingly, such companies are generally subject to greater market risk than larger, more established companies.

INDEX TRACKING RISK. You should anticipate that the value of Fund Shares will decline more or less in correlation with any decline in the value of the Fund's Index. 
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading

PERFORMANCE 
Performance Narrative [Text Block] rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

The Fund has not yet commenced operations and, therefore, does not have a performance history. Once available, the Fund's performance information and information that gives some indication of the risks of an investment in the Fund by comparing the Fund's performance with a broad measure of market performance will be available on the Fund's website at www.ftportfolios.com. 
First Trust ISE Cloud Computing Index Fund | First Trust ISE Cloud Computing Index Fund
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
[1] Although the Fund has adopted a 12b-1 plan that permits it to pay up to 0.25% per annum, it will not pay 12b-1 fees at any time before July 6, 2012.