Revenue - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2022	Dec. 31, 2021
Disaggregation Of Revenue [Line Items]
Allowance for doubtful accounts receivable	$ 26	$ 25
Contract liabilities	30	27
Deferred revenue		14
Increase in contract liabilities for net customer deposits	17
Receivables Net [Member]
Disaggregation Of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract Assets	$ 1	$ 1
Maximum [Member]
Disaggregation Of Revenue [Line Items]
Amortization period of revenue recognized	1 year

Amortization period of revenue recognized.

No definition available.

Name:	dnow_AmortizationPeriodOfRevenueRecognized
Namespace Prefix:	dnow_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of allowance for credit loss on accounts receivable.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 326
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 13
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124255953&loc=SL82919249-210447

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123577603&loc=d3e5074-111524

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 326
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 13
-Subparagraph (f)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124255953&loc=SL82919249-210447

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 326
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124255206&loc=SL82895884-210446

Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(4))
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120391452&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AllowanceForDoubtfulAccountsReceivable
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount, after allowance for credit loss, of right to consideration in exchange for good or service transferred to customer when right is conditioned on something other than passage of time, classified as current.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126919976&loc=SL49130531-203044

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 3
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126919976&loc=SL49130533-203044

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126920106&loc=SL49130549-203045

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ContractWithCustomerAssetNetCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of obligation to transfer good or service to customer for which consideration has been received or is receivable.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126919976&loc=SL49130531-203044

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126920106&loc=SL49130549-203045

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126919976&loc=SL49130532-203044

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ContractWithCustomerLiability
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of obligation to transfer good or service to customer for which consideration has been received or is receivable, classified as current.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126919976&loc=SL49130531-203044

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126919976&loc=SL49130532-203044

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126920106&loc=SL49130549-203045

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ContractWithCustomerLiabilityCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisaggregationOfRevenueLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of increase (decrease) in obligation to transfer good or service to customer for which consideration has been received or is receivable.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126954810&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 912
-SubTopic 310
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126938201&loc=d3e55415-109406

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInContractWithCustomerLiability
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=dnow_ReceivablesNetMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: