Earnings Per Share – Linde plc Shareholders (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2022	Mar. 31, 2021
Numerator (Millions of dollars)
Income from continuing operations	$ 1,174	$ 979
Income from discontinued operations	0	1
Net Income – Linde plc	$ 1,174	$ 980
Denominator (Thousands of shares)
Weighted average shares outstanding (in shares)	506,716,000	522,103,000
Shares earned and issuable under compensation plans (in shares)	436,000	356,000
Weighted average shares used in basic earnings per share (in shares)	507,152,000	522,459,000
Effect of dilutive securities
Stock options and awards (in shares)	4,258,000	4,468,000
Weighted average shares used in diluted earnings per share (in shares)	511,410,000	526,927,000
Basic earnings per share from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 2.31	$ 1.87
Basic earnings per share from discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	0	0
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)	2.31	1.87
Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	2.30	1.86
Diluted earnings per share from discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	0	0
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 2.30	$ 1.86
Antidilutive shares excluded from computation of earnings per share (in shares)	0	0