Earnings Per Share – Linde plc Shareholders (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020
Numerator (Millions of dollars)
Income from continuing operations	$ 978	$ 699	$ 2,797	$ 1,728
Income from discontinued operations	1	1	3	3
Net Income – Linde plc	$ 979	$ 700	$ 2,800	$ 1,731
Denominator (Thousands of shares)
Weighted average shares outstanding (in shares)	514,770,000	525,339,000	518,418,000	527,177,000
Shares earned and issuable under compensation plans (in shares)	399,000	355,000	384,000	324,000
Weighted average shares used in basic earnings per share (in shares)	515,169,000	525,694,000	518,802,000	527,501,000
Effect of dilutive securities
Stock options and awards (in shares)	4,910,000	4,721,000	4,860,000	4,223,000
Weighted average shares used in diluted earnings per share (in shares)	520,079,000	530,415,000	523,662,000	531,724,000
Basic earnings per share from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 1.90	$ 1.33	$ 5.39	$ 3.28
Basic earnings per share from discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	0	0	0.01	0.01
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)	1.90	1.33	5.40	3.29
Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	1.88	1.32	5.34	3.25
Diluted earnings per share from discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	0	0	0.01	0.01
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 1.88	$ 1.32	$ 5.35	$ 3.26
Antidilutive shares excluded from computation of earnings per share (in shares)	0	0	0	0