Certain Provisions of the Partnership Agreement - Narrative and Distributions (Details)			1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended													12 Months Ended			15 Months Ended
	Jan. 25, 2019	May 13, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Jan. 31, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2016 $ / shares	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2015 shares	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) shares	Jun. 30, 2017	Nov. 30, 2014 USD ($)
Partnership agreement
Proceeds from sale of common units																		$ 46,100,000	$ 106,900,000	$ 167,500,000
Common units issued (in shares) | shares					181,309,981				180,600,728									181,309,981	180,600,728
Common units outstanding (in shares) | shares					181,309,981				180,600,728									181,309,981	180,600,728
EnLink Midstream Partners, LP
Partnership agreement
Percentage of available cash to distribute					100.00%													100.00%
Period after quarter for distribution																		45 days
Distribution made to limited partner, distributions paid, per unit (in dollars per share) | $ / shares					$ 0.390	$ 0.390	$ 0.390	$ 0.390	$ 0.390	$ 0.390	$ 0.390	$ 0.390	$ 0.390	$ 0.390	$ 0.390	$ 0.390
EnLink Midstream Partners, LP | General Partner | Incentive Distribution Level 1
Partnership agreement
Incentive distribution for general partner																		13.00%
Incentive distribution, distribution per unit (in dollars per share) | $ / shares																		$ 0.25
EnLink Midstream Partners, LP | General Partner | Incentive Distribution Level 2
Partnership agreement
Incentive distribution for general partner																		23.00%
Incentive distribution, distribution per unit (in dollars per share) | $ / shares																		$ 0.3125
EnLink Midstream Partners, LP | General Partner | Incentive Distribution Level 3
Partnership agreement
Incentive distribution for general partner																		48.00%
Incentive distribution, distribution per unit (in dollars per share) | $ / shares																		$ 0.375
Common Unit | EnLink Midstream Partners, LP | 2014 EDA
Partnership agreement
Agreement for gross sales of common units (up to)																						$ 350,000,000.0
Partners' capital account, units, sold in private placement (in shares) | shares																				10,000,000
Proceeds from sale of common units																				$ 167,500,000
Commissions																				1,700,000
Common Unit | EnLink Midstream Partners, LP | 2017 EDA
Partnership agreement
Partners' capital account, units, sold in private placement (in shares) | shares																		2,600,000	6,200,000
Proceeds from sale of common units																		$ 46,100,000	$ 106,900,000
Commissions																		500,000	1,100,000
Registration fees																			200,000
Class C Common Unit
Partnership agreement
Common units issued (in shares) | shares																	7,075,433
Common units outstanding (in shares) | shares																	7,075,433
Class C Common Unit | EnLink Midstream Partners, LP
Partnership agreement
Distribution made to limited partner, unit distribution | shares																233,107	209,044
Partners capital, common units conversion ratio		1
Series B Preferred Units
Partnership agreement
Partners capital, common units conversion ratio				1
Proceeds from issuance of ENLK Preferred Units																		$ 0	0	724,100,000
Series B Preferred Units | EnLink Midstream Partners, LP
Partnership agreement
Partners' capital account, units, sold in private placement (in shares) | shares				50,000,000
Proceeds from sale of common units				$ 724,100,000
Shares issued, price per share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares				$ 15.00
Partners capital, common units conversion ratio				1
Partners' capital, conversion obligation period of consecutive trading days				30 days
Partners' capital, average trading price, number of trading days				2 days
Conversion VWAP Percentage				150.00%
Percent of issue price				140.00%
Annual rate on issue price payable in kind																					8.50%
Annual rate on issue price payable in cash										28.125%
Annual rate on issue price										0.25%								0.25%
Series C Preferred Units
Partnership agreement
Proceeds from issuance of ENLK Preferred Units																		$ 0	394,000,000	$ 0
Series C Preferred Units | EnLink Midstream Partners, LP
Partnership agreement
Proceeds from sale of common units			$ 394,000,000
Shares issued, price per share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares			$ 1,000							$ 1,000
Partners' capital account, units, sold in public offering (in shares) | shares			400,000
Partners capital account, redemption price | $ / shares			$ 1,000
Partners' capital account, redemption period following review or appeal			120 days
Partners' capital account, redemption price following review or appeal | $ / shares			$ 1,020
Partners' capital account, dividend rate, percentage			6.00%
Distributions to preferred unitholders																		$ 24,000,000	$ 5,600,000
LIBOR | Series C Preferred Units | EnLink Midstream Partners, LP
Partnership agreement
Partners' capital account, distributions, variable floating rate percentage			4.11%
Limited Partner | Series B Preferred Units
Partnership agreement
Shares issued, price per share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares			$ 15.00							$ 15.00
Partners' capital, conversion obligation period of consecutive trading days																		30 days
Partners' capital, average trading price, number of trading days																		2 days
Percent of issue price																		150.00%
Preferred units distributions (in shares) | shares					425,785	422,720	419,678	416,657	413,658	410,681	1,178,672	1,154,147		1,106,616.000000	1,083,589.000000	992,445.000000				1,130,131.000000
Proceeds from issuance of ENLK Preferred Units					$ 16,500,000	$ 16,400,000	$ 16,300,000	$ 16,200,000	$ 16,100,000	$ 15,900,000	$ 0	$ 0		$ 0	$ 0	$ 0				$ 0
Subsequent Event
Partnership agreement
Partners capital, common units conversion ratio	1.15