Document and Entity Information - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	May 14, 2020	Jun. 30, 2019
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-K/A
Amendment Flag	true
Amendment Description	Novan, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, “we”, “our” or “us”) is filing this Annual Report on Form 10-K/A (Amendment No. 1), or the Annual Report, to amend our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, on February 24, 2020, or the Original Filing, to restate our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018. We are also restating the condensed consolidated financial statements for the interim periods set forth below through expanded disclosure of our interim consolidated financial information in the accompanying consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report, including describing the restatement and its impact on previously reported amounts. We believe that presenting all of the restated information for the year ended December 31, 2018 and the interim periods ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, June 30, 2019 and 2018, and September 30, 2019 and 2018, or collectively the Affected Periods, in this Annual Report allows investors and others to review all pertinent data in a single presentation.
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2019
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2019
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Trading Symbol	NOVN
Title of 12(b) Security	Common Stock, $0.0001 par value
Entity Registrant Name	NOVAN, INC.
Entity Central Index Key	0001467154
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Interactive Data Current	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Non-accelerated Filer
Entity Emerging Growth Company	true
Entity Small Business	true
Entity Shell Company	false
Entity Ex Transition Period	true
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares)		75,471,388
Entity Public Float			$ 57.0