Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified													0 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014 CenturyLink, Inc. Senior notes	Dec. 31, 2013 CenturyLink, Inc. Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2014 CenturyLink, Inc. Term Loan	Dec. 31, 2013 CenturyLink, Inc. Term Loan	Sep. 30, 2014 CenturyLink, Inc. Minimum Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2014 CenturyLink, Inc. Maximum Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Qwest Corporation Senior notes	Dec. 31, 2013 Qwest Corporation Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Qwest Corporation Minimum Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Qwest Corporation Maximum Senior notes	Sep. 29, 2014 Qwest Corporation Notes, 6.875 percent due 2054 Senior notes	Oct. 01, 2014 Qwest Corporation Notes, 7.500 percent due 2014 Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Qwest Capital Funding, Inc. Senior notes	Dec. 31, 2013 Qwest Capital Funding, Inc. Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Qwest Capital Funding, Inc. Minimum Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Qwest Capital Funding, Inc. Maximum Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Embarq Senior notes	Dec. 31, 2013 Embarq Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Embarq First mortgage bonds	Dec. 31, 2013 Embarq First mortgage bonds	Sep. 30, 2014 Embarq Other	Dec. 31, 2013 Embarq Other	Sep. 30, 2014 Embarq Minimum Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Embarq Minimum First mortgage bonds	Sep. 30, 2014 Embarq Maximum Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Embarq Maximum First mortgage bonds	Apr. 01, 2014 Embarq Notes, 7.460 percent due 2014 First mortgage bonds	Oct. 01, 2014 Subsequent event type Qwest Corporation Notes, 7.500 percent due 2014 Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] CenturyLink, Inc. Credit facility	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] CenturyLink, Inc. Credit facility	Sep. 30, 2014 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] CenturyLink, Inc. Minimum Credit facility	Sep. 30, 2014 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] CenturyLink, Inc. Maximum Credit facility
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities
Total long-term debt			$ 7,825	$ 7,825	$ 385	$ 402			$ 7,911	$ 7,411					$ 981	$ 981			$ 2,669	$ 2,669	$ 232	$ 262	$ 150	$ 150							$ 585	$ 725
Debt Instrument, Face Amount													500
Long-term debt, weighted average interest rate																															2.16%	2.176%
Capital lease and other obligations	521	619
Unamortized (discounts) premiums and other, net	108	78
Total long-term debt	21,151	20,966
Less current maturities	(1,169)	(785)
Long-term debt, excluding current maturities	19,982	20,181
Stated interest rate (as a percent)							5.00%	7.65%			6.125%	8.375%	6.875%	7.50%			6.50%	7.75%					9.00%		7.082%	7.125%	7.995%	8.77%	7.46%
Interest rate at period end (percent)					2.41%
Interest rate at period end (percent)																																	2.16%	4.25%
Proceeds from issuance of senior long-term debt													483
Debt instrument, repurchased face amount																													$ 30	$ 600