Earnings Per Share - Linde PLC Shareholders (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Feb. 28, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Income From Continuing Operations			$ 2,870	$ 461	$ 480	$ 462					$ 4,273	$ 1,247	$ 1,500
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax			108	0	0	0					108	0	0
Net Income – Linde plc			$ 2,978	$ 461	$ 480	$ 462	$ 33	$ 419	$ 406	$ 389	$ 4,381	$ 1,247	$ 1,500
Weighted average shares outstanding (in shares)											330,088,000	285,893,000	285,289,000
Shares earned and issuable under compensation plans (in shares)											313,000	368,000	388,000
Weighted average shares used in basic earnings per share (in shares)			457,518,000	288,093,000	287,803,000	287,504,000	286,976,000	286,467,000	286,090,000	285,509,000	330,401,000	286,261,000	285,677,000
Stock options and awards (in shares)											3,726,000	2,853,000	2,080,000
Weighted average shares used in diluted earnings per share (in shares)			461,150,000	291,513,000	290,908,000	290,809,000	290,456,000	289,216,000	288,535,000	287,384,000	334,127,000	289,114,000	287,757,000
Basic earnings per share from continuing operations (in dollars per share)			$ 6.27	$ 1.60	$ 1.67	$ 1.61					$ 12.93	$ 4.36	$ 5.25
Income from discontinued operations (in dollars per share)			0.24	0.00	0.00	0.00					0.33	0.00	0.00
Basic Earnings Per Share (in dollars per share)							$ 0.11	$ 1.46	$ 1.42	$ 1.36	13.26	4.36	5.25
Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.06	$ 0.04	6.22	1.58	1.65	1.59					12.79	4.32	5.21
Income from discontinued operations - diluted (in dollars per share)			$ 0.23	$ 0.00	$ 0.00	$ 0.00					0.32	0.00	0.00
Diluted Earnings Per Share (in dollars per share)							$ 0.11	$ 1.45	$ 1.41	$ 1.35	$ 13.11	$ 4.32	$ 5.21
Antidilutive excluded from the computation of earnings per share (in shares)											0	0	2,602,770