Earnings Per Share - Linde PLC Shareholders (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Income from continuing operations	$ 3,821	$ 2,497	$ 2,183
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax	5	4	102
Net Income – Linde plc	$ 3,826	$ 2,501	$ 2,285
Weighted average shares outstanding (in shares)	516,507,000	526,404,000	540,859,000
Shares earned and issuable under compensation plans (in shares)	389,000	332,000	235,000
Weighted average shares used in basic earnings per share (in shares)	516,896,000	526,736,000	541,094,000
Stock options and awards (in shares)	4,979,000	4,421,000	4,076,000
Weighted average shares used in diluted earnings per share (in shares)	521,875,000	531,157,000	545,170,000
Basic earnings per share from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 7.39	$ 4.74	$ 4.03
Basic earnings per share from discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	0.01	0.01	0.19
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)	7.40	4.75	4.22
Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	7.32	4.70	4.00
Diluted earnings per share from discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	0.01	0.01	0.19
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 7.33	$ 4.71	$ 4.19
Antidilutive excluded from the computation of earnings per share (in shares)	0	0	0