Guarantor Financial Information - Condensed Consolidating Statement of Cash Flows (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	6 Months Ended
	Oct. 30, 2015	Oct. 24, 2014
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	$ 2,095	$ 1,223
Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(997)	(578)
Additions to property, plant, and equipment	(446)	(210)
Purchases of marketable securities	(3,370)	(3,024)
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	2,752	2,665
Net increase (decrease) in intercompany loans	0	0
Other investing activities, net	(13)	(6)
Net cash used in investing activities	(2,074)	(1,153)
Financing Activities:
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	(19)	(5)
Change in short-term borrowings, net	1,277	1,611
Proceeds from short-term borrowings (maturities greater than 90 days)	48	150
Payments on long-term debt	(1,608)	(7)
Dividends to shareholders	(1,075)	(602)
Issuance of ordinary shares	263	312
Repurchase of ordinary shares	(1,460)	(1,620)
Net intercompany loan borrowings (repayments)	0	0
Intercompany dividend paid	0
Other financing activities, net	49	34
Net cash used in financing activities	(2,525)	(127)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	39	(59)
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	(2,465)	(116)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	4,843	1,403
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	2,378	1,287
Consolidating Adjustments [Member] | Medtronic Notes [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	0	0
Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	0	0
Additions to property, plant, and equipment	0	0
Purchases of marketable securities	0	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0	0
Net increase (decrease) in intercompany loans	2,549	(23)
Other investing activities, net	0	0
Net cash used in investing activities	2,549	(23)
Financing Activities:
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	0	0
Change in short-term borrowings, net	0	0
Proceeds from short-term borrowings (maturities greater than 90 days)	0	0
Payments on long-term debt	0	0
Dividends to shareholders	0	0
Issuance of ordinary shares	0	0
Repurchase of ordinary shares	0	0
Net intercompany loan borrowings (repayments)	(2,549)	23
Other financing activities, net	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	(2,549)	23
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	0	0
Consolidating Adjustments [Member] | CIFSA Notes [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	(2,550)
Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	0
Additions to property, plant, and equipment	0
Purchases of marketable securities	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0
Net increase (decrease) in intercompany loans	2,347
Other investing activities, net	0
Net cash used in investing activities	2,347
Financing Activities:
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	0
Change in short-term borrowings, net	0
Proceeds from short-term borrowings (maturities greater than 90 days)	0
Payments on long-term debt	0
Dividends to shareholders	0
Issuance of ordinary shares	0
Repurchase of ordinary shares	0
Net intercompany loan borrowings (repayments)	(2,347)
Intercompany dividend paid	2,550
Other financing activities, net	0
Net cash used in financing activities	203
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	0
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	0
Parent Company Guarantor (Medtronic plc) [Member] | Medtronic Notes [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	(24)	0
Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	0	0
Additions to property, plant, and equipment	0	0
Purchases of marketable securities	0	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0	0
Net increase (decrease) in intercompany loans	0	0
Other investing activities, net	0	0
Net cash used in investing activities	0	0
Financing Activities:
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	0	0
Change in short-term borrowings, net	0	0
Proceeds from short-term borrowings (maturities greater than 90 days)	0	0
Payments on long-term debt	0	0
Dividends to shareholders	(1,075)	0
Issuance of ordinary shares	263	0
Repurchase of ordinary shares	(1,460)	0
Net intercompany loan borrowings (repayments)	1,985	0
Other financing activities, net	49	0
Net cash used in financing activities	(238)	0
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	(262)	0
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	263	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	1	0
Parent Company Guarantor (Medtronic plc) [Member] | CIFSA Notes [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	(24)
Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	0
Additions to property, plant, and equipment	0
Purchases of marketable securities	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0
Net increase (decrease) in intercompany loans	0
Other investing activities, net	0
Net cash used in investing activities	0
Financing Activities:
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	0
Change in short-term borrowings, net	0
Proceeds from short-term borrowings (maturities greater than 90 days)	0
Payments on long-term debt	0
Dividends to shareholders	(1,075)
Issuance of ordinary shares	263
Repurchase of ordinary shares	(1,460)
Net intercompany loan borrowings (repayments)	1,985
Intercompany dividend paid	0
Other financing activities, net	49
Net cash used in financing activities	(238)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	(262)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	263
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	1
Subsidiary Issuer [Member] | Medtronic Notes [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	454	45
Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	0	0
Additions to property, plant, and equipment	(129)	(78)
Purchases of marketable securities	0	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0	0
Net increase (decrease) in intercompany loans	(562)	0
Other investing activities, net	0	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(691)	(78)
Financing Activities:
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	0	0
Change in short-term borrowings, net	0	1,611
Proceeds from short-term borrowings (maturities greater than 90 days)	48	150
Payments on long-term debt	(600)	(7)
Dividends to shareholders	0	(602)
Issuance of ordinary shares	0	312
Repurchase of ordinary shares	0	(1,620)
Net intercompany loan borrowings (repayments)	3	(23)
Other financing activities, net	0	34
Net cash used in financing activities	(549)	(145)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	(786)	(178)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	1,071	264
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	285	86
Subsidiary Issuer [Member] | CIFSA Notes [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	2,605
Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	0
Additions to property, plant, and equipment	0
Purchases of marketable securities	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0
Net increase (decrease) in intercompany loans	(1,774)
Other investing activities, net	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(1,774)
Financing Activities:
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	0
Change in short-term borrowings, net	0
Proceeds from short-term borrowings (maturities greater than 90 days)	48
Payments on long-term debt	(1,000)
Dividends to shareholders	0
Issuance of ordinary shares	0
Repurchase of ordinary shares	0
Net intercompany loan borrowings (repayments)	(467)
Intercompany dividend paid	0
Other financing activities, net	0
Net cash used in financing activities	(1,419)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	(588)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	728
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	140
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member] | Medtronic Notes [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	(1,116)	0
Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	0	0
Additions to property, plant, and equipment	0	0
Purchases of marketable securities	0	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0	0
Net increase (decrease) in intercompany loans	(330)	0
Other investing activities, net	0	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(330)	0
Financing Activities:
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	0	0
Change in short-term borrowings, net	1,277	0
Proceeds from short-term borrowings (maturities greater than 90 days)	0	0
Payments on long-term debt	0	0
Dividends to shareholders	0	0
Issuance of ordinary shares	0	0
Repurchase of ordinary shares	0	0
Net intercompany loan borrowings (repayments)	0	0
Other financing activities, net	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	1,277	0
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	(169)	0
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	170	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	1	0
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member] | CIFSA Notes [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	(920)
Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	0
Additions to property, plant, and equipment	0
Purchases of marketable securities	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0
Net increase (decrease) in intercompany loans	(524)
Other investing activities, net	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(524)
Financing Activities:
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	0
Change in short-term borrowings, net	1,277
Proceeds from short-term borrowings (maturities greater than 90 days)	0
Payments on long-term debt	0
Dividends to shareholders	0
Issuance of ordinary shares	0
Repurchase of ordinary shares	0
Net intercompany loan borrowings (repayments)	(2)
Intercompany dividend paid	0
Other financing activities, net	0
Net cash used in financing activities	1,275
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	(169)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	170
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	1
Subsidiary Non-guarantors [Member] | Medtronic Notes [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	2,781	1,178
Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(997)	(578)
Additions to property, plant, and equipment	(317)	(132)
Purchases of marketable securities	(3,370)	(3,024)
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	2,752	2,665
Net increase (decrease) in intercompany loans	(1,657)	23
Other investing activities, net	(13)	(6)
Net cash used in investing activities	(3,602)	(1,052)
Financing Activities:
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	(19)	(5)
Change in short-term borrowings, net	0	0
Proceeds from short-term borrowings (maturities greater than 90 days)	0	0
Payments on long-term debt	(1,008)	0
Dividends to shareholders	0	0
Issuance of ordinary shares	0	0
Repurchase of ordinary shares	0	0
Net intercompany loan borrowings (repayments)	561	0
Other financing activities, net	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	(466)	(5)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	39	(59)
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	(1,248)	62
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	3,339	1,139
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	2,091	$ 1,201
Subsidiary Non-guarantors [Member] | CIFSA Notes [Member]
Operating Activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	2,984
Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(997)
Additions to property, plant, and equipment	(446)
Purchases of marketable securities	(3,370)
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	2,752
Net increase (decrease) in intercompany loans	(49)
Other investing activities, net	(13)
Net cash used in investing activities	(2,123)
Financing Activities:
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	(19)
Change in short-term borrowings, net	0
Proceeds from short-term borrowings (maturities greater than 90 days)	0
Payments on long-term debt	(608)
Dividends to shareholders	0
Issuance of ordinary shares	0
Repurchase of ordinary shares	0
Net intercompany loan borrowings (repayments)	831
Intercompany dividend paid	(2,550)
Other financing activities, net	0
Net cash used in financing activities	(2,346)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	39
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	(1,446)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	3,682
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	$ 2,236