Background and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2022 USD ($) derivative_agreement $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Feb. 25, 2019 shares
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Advertising expense	$ 62,000,000	$ 56,000,000	$ 56,000,000
Book overdrafts	$ 0	0
Accounts receivable, period past due	30 days
Unissued shares of CenturyLink common stock (in shares) | shares	19,000,000
Preferred stock dividends (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 25
Number of shares issued per share of common stock | shares					1
Stockholders' equity	$ 10,437,000,000	11,840,000,000	11,162,000,000
Income tax expense	$ 557,000,000	668,000,000	450,000,000
Interest rate swaps
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Number of instruments held | derivative_agreement	0
Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit)
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Stockholders' equity	$ (7,546,000,000)	$ (5,998,000,000)	$ (8,031,000,000)	$ (6,814,000,000)
Income tax expense				2,000,000
Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit) | Cumulative Effect, Period of Adoption, Adjustment
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Stockholders' equity				9,000,000
Income tax expense				$ 2,000,000
Capitalized software
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Estimated useful life	7 years
Minimum
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Contract term	1 year
Minimum | Customer relationships
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Estimated useful life	7 years
Minimum | Other intangible assets
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Estimated useful life	9 years
Maximum
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Contract term	5 years
Customer relationship period for revenue recognition	20 years
Maximum | Customer relationships
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Estimated useful life	14 years
Maximum | Other intangible assets
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Estimated useful life	20 years
Weighted Average | Mass Markets
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Length of customer life	32 months
Weighted Average | Business
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Length of customer life	30 months