Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Jun. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets, Captions [Line Items]
Cash	$ 631	$ 915	$ 628	$ 577
Short-term investments	634	794
Accounts receivable - net	4,010	3,648
Intercompany accounts receivable	0	0
Inventory	2,534	2,382
Prepaid expenses other current assets	1,029	992
Total current assets	8,838	8,731
Property, plant and equipment - net	3,793	3,833
Goodwill	14,377	14,495
Other intangible assets	6,976	7,186
Deferred income taxes	242	240
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Intercompany loans receivables	0	0
Other assets	1,032	1,006
Total assets	35,258	35,491
Short-term debt	2	13
Current portion of long-term debt	416	567
Accounts payable	2,044	1,960
Intercompany accounts payable	0	0
Accrued compensation	373	461
Other current liabilities	2,708	1,913
Total current liabilities	5,543	4,914
Long-term debt	8,615	8,969
Pension liabilities	1,222	1,465
Other postretirement benefits liabilities	668	668
Deferred income taxes	1,047	1,313
Intercompany loans payable	0	0
Other noncurrent liabilities	1,121	1,299
Total noncurrent liabilities	12,673	13,714
Eaton shareholders' equity	16,982	16,791
Noncontrolling interests	60	72
Total equity	17,042	16,863
Total liabilities and equity	35,258	35,491
Eaton Corporation plc [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets, Captions [Line Items]
Cash	20	3	4	7
Short-term investments	0	0
Accounts receivable - net	0	0
Intercompany accounts receivable	12	5
Inventory	0	0
Prepaid expenses other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	32	8
Property, plant and equipment - net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	25,743	24,940
Intercompany loans receivables	0	0
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	25,775	24,948
Short-term debt	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Intercompany accounts payable	35	4
Accrued compensation	0	0
Other current liabilities	1	5
Total current liabilities	36	9
Long-term debt	0	0
Pension liabilities	0	0
Other postretirement benefits liabilities	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Intercompany loans payable	8,757	8,148
Other noncurrent liabilities	0	0
Total noncurrent liabilities	8,757	8,148
Eaton shareholders' equity	16,982	16,791
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	16,982	16,791
Total liabilities and equity	25,775	24,948
Eaton Corporation [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets, Captions [Line Items]
Cash	45	51	44	54
Short-term investments	0	0
Accounts receivable - net	530	473
Intercompany accounts receivable	708	471
Inventory	384	344
Prepaid expenses other current assets	480	458
Total current assets	2,147	1,797
Property, plant and equipment - net	960	982
Goodwill	1,355	1,382
Other intangible assets	203	211
Deferred income taxes	1,024	839
Investment in subsidiaries	9,333	8,853
Intercompany loans receivables	8,037	8,019
Other assets	449	450
Total assets	23,508	22,533
Short-term debt	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt	103	552
Accounts payable	491	440
Intercompany accounts payable	3,861	3,751
Accrued compensation	62	140
Other current liabilities	1,313	547
Total current liabilities	5,830	5,430
Long-term debt	7,659	7,693
Pension liabilities	382	546
Other postretirement benefits liabilities	402	402
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Intercompany loans payable	2,869	2,113
Other noncurrent liabilities	500	652
Total noncurrent liabilities	11,812	11,406
Eaton shareholders' equity	5,866	5,697
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	5,866	5,697
Total liabilities and equity	23,508	22,533
Guarantors [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets, Captions [Line Items]
Cash	20	10	7	14
Short-term investments	289	134
Accounts receivable - net	1,026	922
Intercompany accounts receivable	3,557	3,368
Inventory	651	609
Prepaid expenses other current assets	135	175
Total current assets	5,678	5,218
Property, plant and equipment - net	754	761
Goodwill	6,243	6,350
Other intangible assets	3,902	3,996
Deferred income taxes	7	3
Investment in subsidiaries	41,553	40,776
Intercompany loans receivables	2,399	2,518
Other assets	141	186
Total assets	60,677	59,808
Short-term debt	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt	310	0
Accounts payable	406	380
Intercompany accounts payable	3,155	3,288
Accrued compensation	50	37
Other current liabilities	326	400
Total current liabilities	4,247	4,105
Long-term debt	942	1,266
Pension liabilities	82	131
Other postretirement benefits liabilities	171	171
Deferred income taxes	1,265	1,303
Intercompany loans payable	18,228	18,207
Other noncurrent liabilities	158	162
Total noncurrent liabilities	20,846	21,240
Eaton shareholders' equity	35,584	34,463
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	35,584	34,463
Total liabilities and equity	60,677	59,808
Other subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets, Captions [Line Items]
Cash	546	851	573	502
Short-term investments	345	660
Accounts receivable - net	2,454	2,253
Intercompany accounts receivable	6,027	4,470
Inventory	1,550	1,466
Prepaid expenses other current assets	398	350
Total current assets	11,320	10,050
Property, plant and equipment - net	2,079	2,090
Goodwill	6,779	6,763
Other intangible assets	2,871	2,979
Deferred income taxes	149	145
Investment in subsidiaries	9,000	8,473
Intercompany loans receivables	20,279	18,776
Other assets	442	370
Total assets	52,919	49,646
Short-term debt	2	13
Current portion of long-term debt	3	15
Accounts payable	1,147	1,140
Intercompany accounts payable	3,253	1,271
Accrued compensation	261	284
Other current liabilities	1,070	965
Total current liabilities	5,736	3,688
Long-term debt	16	16
Pension liabilities	758	788
Other postretirement benefits liabilities	95	95
Deferred income taxes	720	757
Intercompany loans payable	861	845
Other noncurrent liabilities	463	485
Total noncurrent liabilities	2,913	2,986
Eaton shareholders' equity	44,216	42,906
Noncontrolling interests	54	66
Total equity	44,270	42,972
Total liabilities and equity	52,919	49,646
Consolidating adjustments [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets, Captions [Line Items]
Cash	0	0	0	0
Short-term investments	0	0
Accounts receivable - net	0	0
Intercompany accounts receivable	(10,304)	(8,314)
Inventory	(51)	(37)
Prepaid expenses other current assets	16	9
Total current assets	(10,339)	(8,342)
Property, plant and equipment - net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets	0	0
Deferred income taxes	(938)	(747)
Investment in subsidiaries	(85,629)	(83,042)
Intercompany loans receivables	(30,715)	(29,313)
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	(127,621)	(121,444)
Short-term debt	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Intercompany accounts payable	(10,304)	(8,314)
Accrued compensation	0	0
Other current liabilities	(2)	(4)
Total current liabilities	(10,306)	(8,318)
Long-term debt	(2)	(6)
Pension liabilities	0	0
Other postretirement benefits liabilities	0	0
Deferred income taxes	(938)	(747)
Intercompany loans payable	(30,715)	(29,313)
Other noncurrent liabilities	0	0
Total noncurrent liabilities	(31,655)	(30,066)
Eaton shareholders' equity	(85,666)	(83,066)
Noncontrolling interests	6	6
Total equity	(85,660)	(83,060)
Total liabilities and equity	$ (127,621)	$ (121,444)