Cat Financial Financing Activities Cat Financing Activities (Details Credit quality- Customer Receivables Aging by origination year -Vintage disclosure) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020	Sep. 30, 2020
Receivables [Abstract]
Period after which Unpaid Installments are Considered as Past Due	30 days
Dealer | Latin America | 91+ days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2018 and 2017, respectively		$ 78
2017 and 2016, respectively	$ 78
Prior		3
Total Finance Receivables		81
Finance Receivables
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
Total Finance Receivables	21,898		$ 21,632
Finance Receivables | Customer
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	7,332	8,162
2020 and 2019, respectively	6,018	5,403
2019 and 2018, respectively	3,474	2,901
2018 and 2017, respectively	1,629	1,357
2017 and 2016, respectively	678	575
Prior	489	492
Revolving Finance Receivables	347	348
Total Finance Receivables	19,967	19,238	18,579
Finance Receivables | Customer | North America | Current
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	3,635	3,777
2020 and 2019, respectively	2,914	2,423
2019 and 2018, respectively	1,675	1,344
2018 and 2017, respectively	785	522
2017 and 2016, respectively	246	212
Prior	66	27
Revolving Finance Receivables	167	89
Total Finance Receivables	9,488	8,394
Finance Receivables | Customer | North America | 31-60 days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	13	52
2020 and 2019, respectively	31	49
2019 and 2018, respectively	23	33
2018 and 2017, respectively	15	16
2017 and 2016, respectively	6	7
Prior	1	2
Revolving Finance Receivables	3	0
Total Finance Receivables	92	159
Finance Receivables | Customer | North America | 61-90 days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	6	22
2020 and 2019, respectively	9	25
2019 and 2018, respectively	8	16
2018 and 2017, respectively	5	9
2017 and 2016, respectively	2	2
Prior	0	1
Revolving Finance Receivables	3	0
Total Finance Receivables	33	75
Finance Receivables | Customer | North America | 91+ days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	5	14
2020 and 2019, respectively	17	35
2019 and 2018, respectively	22	31
2018 and 2017, respectively	12	20
2017 and 2016, respectively	8	9
Prior	5	4
Revolving Finance Receivables	6	2
Total Finance Receivables	75	115
Finance Receivables | Customer | EAME | Current
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	1,330	1,605
2020 and 2019, respectively	1,117	931
2019 and 2018, respectively	571	501
2018 and 2017, respectively	269	203
2017 and 2016, respectively	93	60
Prior	25	18
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	3,405	3,318
Finance Receivables | Customer | EAME | 31-60 days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	8	5
2020 and 2019, respectively	7	15
2019 and 2018, respectively	5	3
2018 and 2017, respectively	1	2
2017 and 2016, respectively	1	0
Prior	0	0
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	22	25
Finance Receivables | Customer | EAME | 61-90 days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	3	1
2020 and 2019, respectively	4	1
2019 and 2018, respectively	9	2
2018 and 2017, respectively	2	1
2017 and 2016, respectively	0	0
Prior	0	0
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	18	5
Finance Receivables | Customer | EAME | 91+ days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	2	7
2020 and 2019, respectively	15	7
2019 and 2018, respectively	7	12
2018 and 2017, respectively	5	4
2017 and 2016, respectively	1	39
Prior	24	43
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	54	112
Finance Receivables | Customer | Asia/Pacific | Current
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	1,071	1,375
2020 and 2019, respectively	929	745
2019 and 2018, respectively	390	321
2018 and 2017, respectively	102	61
2017 and 2016, respectively	22	10
Prior	4	3
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	2,518	2,515
Finance Receivables | Customer | Asia/Pacific | 31-60 days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	9	12
2020 and 2019, respectively	17	22
2019 and 2018, respectively	14	13
2018 and 2017, respectively	5	6
2017 and 2016, respectively	2	0
Prior	0	0
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	47	53
Finance Receivables | Customer | Asia/Pacific | 61-90 days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	3	7
2020 and 2019, respectively	10	11
2019 and 2018, respectively	7	7
2018 and 2017, respectively	1	1
2017 and 2016, respectively	0	0
Prior	0	0
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	21	26
Finance Receivables | Customer | Asia/Pacific | 91+ days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	1	4
2020 and 2019, respectively	11	10
2019 and 2018, respectively	11	9
2018 and 2017, respectively	6	3
2017 and 2016, respectively	0	0
Prior	0	0
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	29	26
Finance Receivables | Customer | Mining | Current
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	656	490
2020 and 2019, respectively	382	571
2019 and 2018, respectively	417	287
2018 and 2017, respectively	230	152
2017 and 2016, respectively	67	92
Prior	164	151
Revolving Finance Receivables	66	137
Total Finance Receivables	1,982	1,880
Finance Receivables | Customer | Mining | 31-60 days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	2	5
2020 and 2019, respectively	0	0
2019 and 2018, respectively	8	5
2018 and 2017, respectively	9	1
2017 and 2016, respectively	3	0
Prior	0	0
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	22	11
Finance Receivables | Customer | Mining | 61-90 days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	0	0
2020 and 2019, respectively	2	0
2019 and 2018, respectively	0	0
2018 and 2017, respectively	0	0
2017 and 2016, respectively	0	0
Prior	0	0
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	2	0
Finance Receivables | Customer | Mining | 91+ days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	0	0
2020 and 2019, respectively	1	11
2019 and 2018, respectively	2	8
2018 and 2017, respectively	4	2
2017 and 2016, respectively	2	0
Prior	0	0
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	1
Total Finance Receivables	9	22
Finance Receivables | Customer | Latin America | Current
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	472	561
2020 and 2019, respectively	377	348
2019 and 2018, respectively	192	151
2018 and 2017, respectively	71	48
2017 and 2016, respectively	19	13
Prior	10	34
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	1,141	1,155
Finance Receivables | Customer | Latin America | 31-60 days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	4	3
2020 and 2019, respectively	11	6
2019 and 2018, respectively	4	4
2018 and 2017, respectively	3	3
2017 and 2016, respectively	2	0
Prior	0	0
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	24	16
Finance Receivables | Customer | Latin America | 61-90 days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	2	1
2020 and 2019, respectively	3	7
2019 and 2018, respectively	3	6
2018 and 2017, respectively	2	3
2017 and 2016, respectively	1	2
Prior	1	0
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	12	19
Finance Receivables | Customer | Latin America | 91+ days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	0	2
2020 and 2019, respectively	18	14
2019 and 2018, respectively	8	11
2018 and 2017, respectively	5	24
2017 and 2016, respectively	5	5
Prior	4	4
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	40	60
Finance Receivables | Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance | Current
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	109	217
2020 and 2019, respectively	141	172
2019 and 2018, respectively	98	111
2018 and 2017, respectively	75	273
2017 and 2016, respectively	197	99
Prior	141	117
Revolving Finance Receivables	102	119
Total Finance Receivables	863	1,108
Finance Receivables | Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance | 31-60 days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	0	0
2020 and 2019, respectively	0	0
2019 and 2018, respectively	0	6
2018 and 2017, respectively	2	0
2017 and 2016, respectively	0	0
Prior	0	0
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	2	6
Finance Receivables | Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance | 61-90 days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	0	0
2020 and 2019, respectively	0	0
2019 and 2018, respectively	0	0
2018 and 2017, respectively	0	0
2017 and 2016, respectively	0	0
Prior	0	9
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	0	9
Finance Receivables | Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance | 91+ days past due
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
2021 and 2020, respectively	1	2
2020 and 2019, respectively	2	0
2019 and 2018, respectively	0	20
2018 and 2017, respectively	20	3
2017 and 2016, respectively	1	25
Prior	44	79
Revolving Finance Receivables	0	0
Total Finance Receivables	68	$ 129
Finance Receivables | Dealer
Financing Receivable, Credit Quality Indicator
Total Finance Receivables	$ 1,931		$ 3,053