Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities (Details) (USD $)												0 Months Ended	9 Months Ended							0 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013 CenturyLink, Inc. Senior notes	Dec. 31, 2012 CenturyLink, Inc. Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2013 CenturyLink, Inc. Senior notes Minimum	Sep. 30, 2013 CenturyLink, Inc. Senior notes Maximum	Apr. 02, 2013 CenturyLink, Inc. 5.50% Notes	Sep. 30, 2013 CenturyLink, Inc. Credit facility	Dec. 31, 2012 CenturyLink, Inc. Credit facility	Sep. 30, 2013 CenturyLink, Inc. Term loan	Dec. 31, 2012 CenturyLink, Inc. Term loan	Mar. 21, 2013 CenturyLink, Inc. 5.625% Notes due 2020	Sep. 30, 2013 CenturyLink, Inc. 5.625% Notes due 2020	Sep. 30, 2013 CenturyLink, Inc. 5.625% Notes due 2020 Maximum	Sep. 30, 2013 Qwest Communications International Inc. Senior notes	Dec. 31, 2012 Qwest Communications International Inc. Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2013 Qwest Corporation Senior notes Minimum	Sep. 30, 2013 Qwest Corporation Senior notes Maximum	Jun. 17, 2013 Qwest Corporation Notes Bearing Floating Interest Rate Due 2013	May 23, 2013 Qwest Corporation 6.125% Notes due 2053	Sep. 30, 2013 Embarq Senior notes	Dec. 31, 2012 Embarq Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2013 Embarq Senior notes Minimum	Sep. 30, 2013 Embarq Senior notes Maximum	Sep. 30, 2013 Embarq First mortgage bonds	Jul. 15, 2013 Embarq First mortgage bonds	Dec. 31, 2012 Embarq First mortgage bonds	Sep. 30, 2013 Embarq First mortgage bonds Minimum	Sep. 30, 2013 Embarq First mortgage bonds Maximum	Sep. 30, 2013 Embarq Other	Dec. 31, 2012 Embarq Other
Long-term Debt and Credit Facilities
Total long-term debt			$ 7,075,000,000	$ 6,250,000,000				$ 200,000,000	$ 820,000,000	$ 407,000,000	$ 424,000,000				$ 9,192,000,000	$ 9,168,000,000					$ 2,669,000,000	$ 2,669,000,000			$ 262,000,000		$ 322,000,000			$ 150,000,000	$ 200,000,000
Capital lease and other obligations	653,000,000	734,000,000
Unamortized (discounts) premiums and other, net	26,000,000	(18,000,000)
Total long-term debt	20,582,000,000	20,605,000,000
Less current maturities	(191,000,000)	(1,205,000,000)
Long-term debt, excluding current maturities	20,391,000,000	19,400,000,000
Stated interest rate (as a percent)					5.00%	7.65%	5.50%	4.25%		2.43%		5.625%					6.125%	8.375%		6.125%			7.082%	7.995%		6.875%		7.125%	8.77%	9.00%
Aggregate principal amount of debt																				775,000,000
Principal amount of debt that was sold pursuant to an over-allotment option granted to the underwriters																				25,000,000
Net proceeds from issuance of debt												988,000,000								752,000,000
Redemption price of debt instrument that may be redeemed (as a percent)													105.625%							100.00%
Principal amount of notes issued												1,000,000,000
Percentage of the principal amounts of the debt instrument, which the entity may redeem (as a percent)														35.00%
Principal amount of debt repaid							$ 176,000,000												$ 750,000,000							$ 59,000,000
Redemption price as a percentage of principal amount (as a percent)													101.00%