Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets - Intangible Assets (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 24, 2020	Apr. 26, 2019	Apr. 27, 2018
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	$ 28,244,000,000	$ 29,004,000,000
Accumulated Amortization	(9,704,000,000)	(9,048,000,000)
Impairment of finite-lived intangible assets	37,000,000	87,000,000	$ 0
Impairment of indefinite-lived intangible assets	35,000,000	30,000,000
Cardiac and Vascular Group
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Impairment of finite-lived intangible assets	4,000,000	61,000,000
Impairment of indefinite-lived intangible assets	10,000,000	9,000,000
Restorative Therapies Group
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Impairment of finite-lived intangible assets	33,000,000	26,000,000
Impairment of indefinite-lived intangible assets	25,000,000	11,000,000	$ 68,000,000
Minimally Invasive Therapies Group
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Impairment of indefinite-lived intangible assets		10,000,000
IPR&D
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets	523,000,000	604,000,000
Customer-related
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	16,963,000,000	16,944,000,000
Accumulated Amortization	(5,065,000,000)	(4,095,000,000)
Purchased technology and patents
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	10,742,000,000	11,405,000,000
Accumulated Amortization	(4,354,000,000)	(4,570,000,000)
Trademarks and tradenames
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	464,000,000	570,000,000
Accumulated Amortization	(232,000,000)	(324,000,000)
Other
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Carrying Amount	75,000,000	85,000,000
Accumulated Amortization	$ (53,000,000)	$ (59,000,000)