Financial Instruments - Narrative (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Jan. 24, 2020	Jan. 25, 2019	Jan. 24, 2020	Jan. 25, 2019	Apr. 26, 2019
Gain (Loss) on Securities [Line Items]
Redemption of investments	$ 2,531,000,000	$ 1,301,000,000	$ 5,789,000,000	$ 3,217,000,000
Credit loss portion of other-than-temporary impairments	0		0		$ 0
Reductions for available-for-sale securities sold	0	0	0	0
Equity and Other Investments
Gain (Loss) on Securities [Line Items]
Net gains recognized	1,000,000	7,000,000	16,000,000	101,000,000
Net realized gains on equity and other investments sold during the period		1,000,000		71,000,000
Net unrealized gains on equity and other investments still held	1,000,000	$ 6,000,000	16,000,000	$ 30,000,000
Level 3
Gain (Loss) on Securities [Line Items]
Redemption of investments	11,000,000		11,000,000
Gain or loss recognized on redemption	$ 0		$ 0

Amount of realized gain (loss) on investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 9
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118939692&loc=d3e27357-111563

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtSecuritiesAvailableForSaleRealizedGainLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investment.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 10
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118939692&loc=d3e27405-111563

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 220
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.7(c),9(a))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=116634182&loc=SL114868664-224227

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/recommendedDisclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3602-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GainLossOnInvestments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The net realized gain (loss) on investments sold during the period, not including gains (losses) on securities separately or otherwise categorized as trading, available-for-sale, or held-to-maturity, which, for cash flow reporting, is a component of proceeds from investing activities.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3602-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GainLossOnSaleOfInvestments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The cumulative amount of credit losses recognized in earnings related to debt securities held for which a portion of an other than temporary impairment (OTTI) was recognized in other comprehensive income (a component of shareholders' equity).

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8B
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118939692&loc=SL6284393-111563

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8B
-Subparagraph (g)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118939692&loc=SL6284393-111563

+ Details

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

- Definition

This item represents reductions in the cumulative amount of credit losses recognized in earnings for an other than temporary impairment (OTTI) of a debt security because of the sale of impaired securities during the period.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OtherThanTemporaryImpairmentCreditLossesRecognizedInEarningsReductionsSecuritiesSold
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of cash inflow from sale of investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118954083&loc=d3e26853-111562

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3151-108585

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 12
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3179-108585

+ Details

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

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

- Definition

The net change in the difference between the fair value and the carrying value, or in the comparative fair values, of investments, not including unrealized gains or losses on securities separately or otherwise categorized as trading, available-for-sale, or held-to-maturity, held at each balance sheet date and included in earnings for the period.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_UnrealizedGainLossOnInvestments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=mdt_EquityInvestmentsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueByFairValueHierarchyLevelAxis=us-gaap_FairValueInputsLevel3Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: