Condensed Consolidating Financial Statements - Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	$ 2,552	$ 2,371	$ 1,878
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	(497)	(506)	(632)
Cash received from (paid for) acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired	1	(72)	2
Sales (purchases) of short-term investments - net	(40)	37	522
Return of capital contributions from affiliates			0
Investment in affiliates	0	0
Payments for (Proceeds from) Businesses and Interest in Affiliates	0
Loans to affiliates	0	0	0
Repayments of loans from affiliates	0	0	0
Proceeds from sales of businesses	0	1	282
Other - net	7	(35)	(31)
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(529)	(575)	143
Proceeds from borrowings	631	425	0
Payments on borrowings	(653)	(1,027)	(582)
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	0	0	0
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	0	0	0
Stock Issued			0
Capital contribution from affiliates	0	0
Return of capital contributions to affiliates	0
Other intercompany financing activities	0	0	0
Cash dividends paid	(1,037)	(1,026)	(929)
Cash dividends paid to affiliates	0	0	0
Exercise of employee stock options	74	52	54
Repurchase of shares	(730)	(682)	(650)
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	1	1	20
Other - net	(6)	(10)	(43)
Net cash used in financing activities	(1,720)	(2,267)	(2,130)
Effect of currency on cash	(28)	(42)	(25)
Total increase (decrease) in cash	275	(513)	(134)
Cash at the beginning of the period	268	781	915
Cash at the end of the period	543	268	781
Eaton Corporation plc [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	(253)	(137)	(93)
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	0	0	0
Cash received from (paid for) acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired	0	0	0
Sales (purchases) of short-term investments - net	0	0	0
Return of capital contributions from affiliates			753
Investment in affiliates	(1,250)	(1,482)
Payments for (Proceeds from) Businesses and Interest in Affiliates	0
Loans to affiliates	0	0	0
Repayments of loans from affiliates	0	0	0
Proceeds from sales of businesses		0	0
Other - net	0	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(1,250)	(1,482)	(753)
Proceeds from borrowings	0	0	0
Payments on borrowings	0	0	0
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	3,843	3,322	2,628
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	(646)	(48)	(476)
Stock Issued			0
Capital contribution from affiliates	0	0
Return of capital contributions to affiliates	0
Other intercompany financing activities	0	0	217
Cash dividends paid	(1,037)	(1,026)	(929)
Cash dividends paid to affiliates	0	0	0
Exercise of employee stock options	74	52	54
Repurchase of shares	(730)	(682)	(650)
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	0	0	0
Other - net	0	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	1,504	1,618	844
Effect of currency on cash	0	0	0
Total increase (decrease) in cash	1	(1)	(2)
Cash at the beginning of the period	0	1	3
Cash at the end of the period	1	0	1
Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows [Line Items]
Proceeds from borrowings		0
Repurchase of shares			0
Eaton Corporation [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	(215)	(46)	(411)
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	(92)	(94)	(127)
Cash received from (paid for) acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired	0	0	0
Sales (purchases) of short-term investments - net	0	0	0
Return of capital contributions from affiliates			0
Investment in affiliates	0	0
Payments for (Proceeds from) Businesses and Interest in Affiliates	0
Loans to affiliates	(337)	(1,235)	(354)
Repayments of loans from affiliates	1,293	342	978
Proceeds from sales of businesses		0	93
Other - net	(9)	(50)	(47)
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	855	(1,037)	543
Proceeds from borrowings	21	408	0
Payments on borrowings	(408)	(724)	(553)
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	4,045	6,885	7,599
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	(4,655)	(6,122)	(6,907)
Stock Issued			0
Capital contribution from affiliates	0	1,176
Return of capital contributions to affiliates	0
Other intercompany financing activities	422	(688)	(169)
Cash dividends paid	0	0	0
Cash dividends paid to affiliates	0	0	0
Exercise of employee stock options	0	0	0
Repurchase of shares	0	0	0
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	1	1	20
Other - net	0	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	(574)	936	(10)
Effect of currency on cash	0	0	0
Total increase (decrease) in cash	66	(147)	122
Cash at the beginning of the period	26	173	51
Cash at the end of the period	92	26	173
Guarantors [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	(236)	(288)	(218)
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	(114)	(146)	(168)
Cash received from (paid for) acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired	1	35	0
Sales (purchases) of short-term investments - net	2	(2)	133
Return of capital contributions from affiliates			0
Investment in affiliates	(120)	(1,176)
Payments for (Proceeds from) Businesses and Interest in Affiliates	(47)
Loans to affiliates	(655)	(39)	(162)
Repayments of loans from affiliates	0	359	212
Proceeds from sales of businesses		0	175
Other - net	41	47	44
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(798)	(992)	234
Proceeds from borrowings	610	0	0
Payments on borrowings	(231)	(301)	(1)
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	1,120	997	808
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	(1,844)	(1,282)	(1,875)
Stock Issued			(753)
Capital contribution from affiliates	1,370	1,482
Return of capital contributions to affiliates	0
Other intercompany financing activities	10	378	302
Cash dividends paid	0	0	0
Cash dividends paid to affiliates	0	0	0
Exercise of employee stock options	0	0	0
Repurchase of shares	0	0	0
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	0	0	0
Other - net	(4)	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	1,031	1,274	(13)
Effect of currency on cash	0	0	0
Total increase (decrease) in cash	(3)	(6)	3
Cash at the beginning of the period	7	13	10
Cash at the end of the period	4	7	13
Other Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	3,256	2,846	2,568
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	(291)	(266)	(337)
Cash received from (paid for) acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired	0	(37)	2
Sales (purchases) of short-term investments - net	(42)	39	389
Return of capital contributions from affiliates			753
Investment in affiliates	(1,370)	(1,482)
Payments for (Proceeds from) Businesses and Interest in Affiliates	0
Loans to affiliates	(8,208)	(10,608)	(10,546)
Repayments of loans from affiliates	5,893	7,148	8,451
Proceeds from sales of businesses		1	14
Other - net	(25)	(32)	(28)
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(4,043)	(5,237)	(2,808)
Proceeds from borrowings	0	17	0
Payments on borrowings	(14)	(2)	(28)
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	192	678	27
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	(41)	(397)	(383)
Stock Issued			(753)
Capital contribution from affiliates	1,370	1,482
Return of capital contributions to affiliates	(47)
Other intercompany financing activities	(432)	310	(350)
Cash dividends paid	0	0	0
Cash dividends paid to affiliates	0	(4)	32
Exercise of employee stock options	0	0	0
Repurchase of shares	0	0	0
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	0	0	0
Other - net	(2)	(10)	(43)
Net cash used in financing activities	1,026	2,074	8
Effect of currency on cash	(28)	(42)	(25)
Total increase (decrease) in cash	211	(359)	(257)
Cash at the beginning of the period	235	594	851
Cash at the end of the period	446	235	594
Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	0	(4)	32
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	0	0	0
Cash received from (paid for) acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired	0	0	0
Sales (purchases) of short-term investments - net	0	0	0
Return of capital contributions from affiliates			(1,506)
Investment in affiliates	2,740	4,140
Payments for (Proceeds from) Businesses and Interest in Affiliates	47
Loans to affiliates	9,200	11,882	11,062
Repayments of loans from affiliates	(7,186)	(7,849)	(9,641)
Proceeds from sales of businesses		0	0
Other - net	0	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	4,707	8,173	2,927
Proceeds from borrowings	0		0
Payments on borrowings	0	0	0
Proceeds from borrowings from affiliates	(9,200)	(11,882)	(11,062)
Payments on borrowings from affiliates	7,186	7,849	9,641
Stock Issued			1,506
Capital contribution from affiliates	(2,740)	(4,140)
Return of capital contributions to affiliates	47
Other intercompany financing activities	0	0	0
Cash dividends paid	0	0	0
Cash dividends paid to affiliates	0	4	(32)
Exercise of employee stock options	0	0	0
Repurchase of shares	0	0
Excess tax benefit from equity-based compensation	0	0	0
Other - net	0	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	(4,707)	(8,169)	(2,959)
Effect of currency on cash	0	0	0
Total increase (decrease) in cash	0	0	0
Cash at the beginning of the period	0	0	0
Cash at the end of the period	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0