Guarantor Financial Information - Consolidating Statement of Comprehensive Income (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jan. 29, 2016	Jan. 23, 2015	Jan. 29, 2016	Jan. 23, 2015
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Net sales	$ 6,934	$ 4,318	$ 21,266	$ 12,957
Costs and expenses:
Cost of products sold	2,141	1,128	6,779	3,375
Research and development expense	546	373	1,649	1,112
Selling, general, and administrative expense	2,317	1,487	7,109	4,500
Special (gains) charges, net	0	(138)	0	(38)
Restructuring charges, net	19	0	159	30
Certain litigation charges	0	0	26	0
Acquisition-related items	63	80	183	182
Amortization of intangible assets	484	89	1,448	265
Other (income) expense, net	9	24	127	138
Operating profit	1,355	1,275	3,786	3,393
Interest income	(99)	(95)	(321)	(274)
Interest expense	275	176	905	368
Interest expense, net	176	81	584	94
Equity in net (income) loss of subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Income from operations before income taxes	1,179	1,194	3,202	3,299
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	84	217	767	623
Net income	1,095	977	2,435	2,676
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(1,494)	(155)	(1,781)	(64)
Comprehensive (loss) income	(399)	822	654	2,612
Consolidating Adjustments [Member] | Medtronic Notes [Member]
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Net sales	(349)	(301)	(1,085)	(913)
Costs and expenses:
Cost of products sold	(362)	(302)	(1,063)	(908)
Research and development expense	0	0	0	0
Selling, general, and administrative expense	0	0	0	0
Special (gains) charges, net		0		0
Restructuring charges, net	0		0	0
Certain litigation charges	0		0
Acquisition-related items	0	0	0	0
Amortization of intangible assets	0	0	0	0
Other (income) expense, net	0	0	0	0
Operating profit	13	1	(22)	(5)
Interest income	231	1	717	1
Interest expense	(231)	(1)	(717)	(1)
Interest expense, net	0	0	0	0
Equity in net (income) loss of subsidiaries	2,320	975	(194)	3,001
Income from operations before income taxes	(2,307)	(974)	172	(3,006)
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	0	0	0	0
Net income	(2,307)	(974)	172	(3,006)
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	2,947	(34)	3,562	(1)
Comprehensive (loss) income	640	(1,008)	3,734	(3,007)
Consolidating Adjustments [Member] | CIFSA Notes [Member]
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Net sales	0		0
Costs and expenses:
Cost of products sold	0		0
Research and development expense	0		0
Selling, general, and administrative expense	0		0
Restructuring charges, net	0		0
Certain litigation charges	0		0
Acquisition-related items	0		0
Amortization of intangible assets	0		0
Other (income) expense, net	0		0
Operating profit	0		0
Interest income	288		964
Interest expense	(288)		(964)
Interest expense, net	0		0
Equity in net (income) loss of subsidiaries	2,687		12,392
Income from operations before income taxes	(2,687)		(12,392)
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	0		0
Net income	(2,687)		(12,392)
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	2,925		3,562
Comprehensive (loss) income	238		(8,830)
Parent Company Guarantor (Medtronic plc) [Member] | Medtronic Notes [Member]
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Net sales	0	0	0	0
Costs and expenses:
Cost of products sold	0	0	0	0
Research and development expense	0	0	0	0
Selling, general, and administrative expense	31	0	93	0
Special (gains) charges, net		0		0
Restructuring charges, net	0		0	0
Certain litigation charges	0		0
Acquisition-related items	0	0	0	0
Amortization of intangible assets	0	0	0	0
Other (income) expense, net	0	0	0	0
Operating profit	(31)	0	(93)	0
Interest income	0	0	0	0
Interest expense	7	0	12	0
Interest expense, net	7	0	12	0
Equity in net (income) loss of subsidiaries	(1,130)	0	(2,529)	0
Income from operations before income taxes	1,092	0	2,424	0
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	(3)	0	(11)	0
Net income	1,095	0	2,435	0
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(1,494)	0	(1,781)	0
Comprehensive (loss) income	(399)	0	654	0
Parent Company Guarantor (Medtronic plc) [Member] | CIFSA Notes [Member]
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Net sales	0		0
Costs and expenses:
Cost of products sold	0		0
Research and development expense	0		0
Selling, general, and administrative expense	31		93
Restructuring charges, net	0		0
Certain litigation charges	0		0
Acquisition-related items	0		0
Amortization of intangible assets	0		0
Other (income) expense, net	0		0
Operating profit	(31)		(93)
Interest income	0		0
Interest expense	7		12
Interest expense, net	7		12
Equity in net (income) loss of subsidiaries	(1,130)		(2,529)
Income from operations before income taxes	1,092		2,424
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	(3)		(11)
Net income	1,095		2,435
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(1,494)		(1,781)
Comprehensive (loss) income	(399)		654
Subsidiary Issuer [Member] | Medtronic Notes [Member]
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Net sales	349	301	1,085	913
Costs and expenses:
Cost of products sold	242	214	753	655
Research and development expense	66	69	348	303
Selling, general, and administrative expense	79	178	228	661
Special (gains) charges, net		(98)		2
Restructuring charges, net	0		4	0
Certain litigation charges	0		0
Acquisition-related items	36	76	91	180
Amortization of intangible assets	3	3	9	9
Other (income) expense, net	(280)	(370)	(859)	(903)
Operating profit	203	229	511	6
Interest income	(58)	0	(179)	0
Interest expense	408	166	1,307	339
Interest expense, net	350	166	1,128	339
Equity in net (income) loss of subsidiaries	(228)	(975)	4,729	(3,001)
Income from operations before income taxes	81	1,038	(5,346)	2,668
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	(16)	61	(94)	(8)
Net income	97	977	(5,252)	2,676
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(120)	(155)	(367)	(64)
Comprehensive (loss) income	(23)	822	(5,619)	2,612
Subsidiary Issuer [Member] | CIFSA Notes [Member]
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Net sales	0		0
Costs and expenses:
Cost of products sold	0		0
Research and development expense	0		0
Selling, general, and administrative expense	0		0
Restructuring charges, net	0		0
Certain litigation charges	0		0
Acquisition-related items	0		0
Amortization of intangible assets	0		0
Other (income) expense, net	0		1
Operating profit	0		(1)
Interest income	(112)		(422)
Interest expense	41		100
Interest expense, net	(71)		(322)
Equity in net (income) loss of subsidiaries	(585)		(7,847)
Income from operations before income taxes	656		8,168
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	0		0
Net income	656		8,168
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(40)		(103)
Comprehensive (loss) income	616		8,065
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member] | Medtronic Notes [Member]
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Net sales	0	0	0	0
Costs and expenses:
Cost of products sold	0	0	0	0
Research and development expense	0	0	0	0
Selling, general, and administrative expense	0	0	0	0
Special (gains) charges, net		0		0
Restructuring charges, net	0		0	0
Certain litigation charges	0		0
Acquisition-related items	0	0	0	0
Amortization of intangible assets	0	0	0	0
Other (income) expense, net	0	0	0	0
Operating profit	0	0	0	0
Interest income	(173)	0	(531)	0
Interest expense	3	0	6	0
Interest expense, net	(170)	0	(525)	0
Equity in net (income) loss of subsidiaries	(962)	0	(2,006)	0
Income from operations before income taxes	1,132	0	2,531	0
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	2	0	2	0
Net income	1,130	0	2,529	0
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(1,615)	0	(1,781)	0
Comprehensive (loss) income	(485)	0	748	0
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member] | CIFSA Notes [Member]
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Net sales	0		0
Costs and expenses:
Cost of products sold	0		0
Research and development expense	0		0
Selling, general, and administrative expense	3		3
Restructuring charges, net	0		0
Certain litigation charges	0		0
Acquisition-related items	0		0
Amortization of intangible assets	0		0
Other (income) expense, net	11		11
Operating profit	(14)		(14)
Interest income	(175)		(533)
Interest expense	3		6
Interest expense, net	(172)		(527)
Equity in net (income) loss of subsidiaries	(972)		(2,016)
Income from operations before income taxes	1,130		2,529
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	0		0
Net income	1,130		2,529
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(1,494)		(1,781)
Comprehensive (loss) income	(364)		748
Subsidiary Non-guarantors [Member] | Medtronic Notes [Member]
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Net sales	6,934	4,318	21,266	12,957
Costs and expenses:
Cost of products sold	2,261	1,216	7,089	3,628
Research and development expense	480	304	1,301	809
Selling, general, and administrative expense	2,207	1,309	6,788	3,839
Special (gains) charges, net		(40)		(40)
Restructuring charges, net	19		155	30
Certain litigation charges	0		26
Acquisition-related items	27	4	92	2
Amortization of intangible assets	481	86	1,439	256
Other (income) expense, net	289	394	986	1,041
Operating profit	1,170	1,045	3,390	3,392
Interest income	(99)	(96)	(328)	(275)
Interest expense	88	11	297	30
Interest expense, net	(11)	(85)	(31)	(245)
Equity in net (income) loss of subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Income from operations before income taxes	1,181	1,130	3,421	3,637
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	101	156	870	631
Net income	1,080	974	2,551	3,006
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(1,212)	34	(1,414)	1
Comprehensive (loss) income	(132)	$ 1,008	1,137	$ 3,007
Subsidiary Non-guarantors [Member] | CIFSA Notes [Member]
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Net sales	6,934		21,266
Costs and expenses:
Cost of products sold	2,141		6,779
Research and development expense	546		1,649
Selling, general, and administrative expense	2,283		7,013
Restructuring charges, net	19		159
Certain litigation charges	0		26
Acquisition-related items	63		183
Amortization of intangible assets	484		1,448
Other (income) expense, net	(2)		115
Operating profit	1,400		3,894
Interest income	(100)		(330)
Interest expense	512		1,751
Interest expense, net	412		1,421
Equity in net (income) loss of subsidiaries	0		0
Income from operations before income taxes	988		2,473
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	87		778
Net income	901		1,695
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(1,391)		(1,678)
Comprehensive (loss) income	$ (490)		$ 17