Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 462,310	$ 405,860	$ 378,275
Cost of revenue	242,679	224,413	198,230
Gross profit	219,631	181,447	180,045
Selling, general and administrative expense	142,704	126,768	160,569
Impact fee expense			649
Income from operations	76,927	54,679	18,827
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, including $1,636, $1,636, and $1,303, respectively, in amortization of debt issuance costs	(29,236)	(26,370)	(25,079)
Equity in net losses of investments	0	(331)	(1,077)
Loss on extinguishment of debt			(3,565)
Loss on interest rate swaps	(14,917)	0	0
Other	1,481	3,283	1,333
Total other expense	(42,672)	(23,418)	(28,388)
Income (loss) before income taxes	34,255	31,261	(9,561)
Income tax (expense) benefit	(2,713)	(1,943)	981
Net income (loss)	31,542	29,318	(8,580)
Less: net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	22,625	25,266	6,628
Net income (loss) attributable to Switch, Inc.	$ 8,917	$ 4,052	$ (15,208)
Net income (loss) per share (Note 14):
Basic net income per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.12	$ 0.09	$ (1.88)
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.11	$ 0.09	$ (1.88)
Weighted average shares used in computing net income (loss) per share (Note 14):
Basic (in shares)	76,501	45,682	8,074
Diluted (in shares)	246,329	45,753	8,074
Other comprehensive income:
Foreign currency translation adjustment, net of tax of $0	$ 0	$ 331	$ 908
Comprehensive income (loss)	31,542	29,649	(7,672)
Less: comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interest	22,625	25,549	6,732
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Switch, Inc.	$ 8,917	$ 4,100	$ (14,404)