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ELFUN TAX EXEMPT INCOME FUND  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk/Return [Heading] rr_RiskReturnHeading Elfun Tax-Exempt Income Fund
Objective [Heading] rr_ObjectiveHeading Investment Objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block] rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock
Elfun Tax-Exempt Income Fund (the “Fund”) seeks as high a level of current interest income exempt from federal income taxation as is available from a concentration of investments in municipal bonds consistent with prudent investment management and the preservation of capital.
Expense [Heading] rr_ExpenseHeading Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Expense Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock
The tables below describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Fund Shares”). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] rr_ShareholderFeesCaption Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Operating Expenses Caption [Text] rr_OperatingExpensesCaption Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Portfolio Turnover [Heading] rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading Portfolio Turnover
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 42% of the average value of its portfolio.
Portfolio Turnover, Rate rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate 42.00%
Expense Example [Heading] rr_ExpenseExampleHeading Example
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated, and then sell or hold all of your Fund Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Strategy [Heading] rr_StrategyHeading Principal Investment Strategies
Strategy Narrative [Text Block] rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock
The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing primarily in investment-grade municipal obligations. Under normal circumstances, SSGA Funds Management, Inc. (“SSGA FM” or the “Adviser”), the investment adviser to the Fund, manages the Fund so that at least 80% of the Fund's income is exempt from both regular federal income taxes and the federal alternative minimum tax.
The Adviser seeks to identify debt securities that they believe have desirable characteristics for the Fund such as: 
• attractive yields and prices;
• the potential for income generation;
• the potential for capital appreciation; and/or
• reasonable credit quality. 
The Adviser may consider selling a security when one of these characteristics no longer applies, when valuation becomes excessive, or when more attractive alternatives are identified. 
The Fund generally will have an effective duration of 75% to 125% of the duration of the Bloomberg U.S. Municipal Bond Index. As of February 28, 2022, the effective duration of the Bloomberg U.S. Municipal Bond Index was 5.14 years. Duration is a measure of a bond price's sensitivity to a given change in interest rates. 
The Fund also may invest to a lesser extent in tax-free or taxable money market instruments and may hold cash. The Fund also may invest up to 10% of its net assets in high yield securities (also known as below investment-grade bonds or “junk bonds”). The Fund considers a bond to be “high yield” if the middle rating of Fitch Ratings, Inc. (“Fitch”), Moody's Investor Services, Inc. (“Moody's”) and S& P Global Ratings (“S&P”) (each, an “NRSRO”) is below investment-grade. If fewer than three of these NRSROs have rated the bond, the Fund will consider the bond to be “high yield” if it is rated below investment-grade by at least one of these NRSROs, or if unrated, determined to be of comparable quality by the Adviser. 
The Adviser may also use various types of derivative instruments (such as options, futures and options on futures) to manage yield, duration and exposure to credit quality, and to gain or hedge exposure to certain securities, indices or market segments. 
The Fund may also invest in repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, when-issued and delayed delivery securities, municipal obligations, floating rate and variable rate instruments, zero-coupon obligations, mortgage-related securities, and may hold securities that are restricted as to resale. The Fund may invest in other investment companies (including those advised by the Adviser), including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), to the extent permitted by applicable law. The Fund also may lend its securities. 
The Bloomberg U.S. Municipal Bond Index is a market value-weighted index of investment-grade municipal bonds with maturities of one year or more. 
Risk [Heading] rr_RiskHeading Principal Risks
Risk Narrative [Text Block] rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock
The Fund is subject to the following principal risks. You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Certain risks relating to instruments and strategies used in the management of the Fund are placed first. The significance of any specific risk to an investment in the Fund will vary over time, depending on the composition of the Fund's portfolio, market conditions, and other factors. You should read all of the risk information presented below carefully, because any one or more of these risks may result in losses to the Fund. An investment in the Fund is subject to investment risks, including possible loss of principal, is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective. The Fund is subject to the following principal risks. The Fund is not intended to be a complete investment program, but rather is intended for investment as part of a diversified investment portfolio. Investors should consult their own advisers as to the role of the Fund in their overall investment programs.
Market Risk: The Fund's investments are subject to changes in general economic conditions, general market fluctuations and the risks inherent in investment in securities markets. Investment markets can be volatile and prices of investments can change substantially due to various factors including, but not limited to, economic growth or recession, changes in interest rates, changes in the actual or perceived creditworthiness of issuers, and general market liquidity. The Fund is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments.
Debt Securities Risk: The values of debt securities may increase or decrease as a result of the following: market fluctuations, changes in interest rates, actual or perceived inability or unwillingness of issuers, guarantors or liquidity providers to make scheduled principal or interest payments or illiquidity in debt securities markets; the risk of low rates of return due to reinvestment of securities during periods of falling interest rates or repayment by issuers with higher coupon or interest rates; and/or the risk of low income due to falling interest rates. To the extent that interest rates rise, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially slower than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply. A rising interest rate environment may cause the value of the Fund's fixed income securities to decrease, an adverse impact on the liquidity of the Fund's fixed income securities, and increased volatility of the fixed income markets. The current low interest rate environment heightens the risks associated with ris- 
ing interest rates. During periods when interest rates are at low levels, the Fund's yield can be low, and the Fund may have a negative yield (i.e., it may lose money on an operating basis). If the principal on a debt obligation is prepaid before expected, the prepayments of principal may have to be reinvested in obligations paying interest at lower rates. During periods of falling interest rates, the income received by the Fund may decline. Changes in interest rates will likely have a greater effect on the values of debt securities of longer durations. Returns on investments in debt securities could trail the returns on other investment options, including investments in equity securities. 
Tax-Exempt Securities Risk: The amount of public information available about tax-exempt securities is generally less than for corporate equities or bonds. The secondary market for tax-exempt securities also tends to be less well-developed and less liquid than many other securities markets, which may limit the Fund's ability to sell its tax-exempt securities at attractive prices. Special factors, such as legislative changes, and state and local economic and business developments, may adversely affect the yield and/or value of the Fund's investments in tax-exempt securities. Tax-exempt issuers can and have defaulted on obligations, been downgraded or commenced insolvency proceedings. Like other issuers and securities, the likelihood that the credit risk associated with such issuers and such securities will increase is greater during times of economic stress and financial instability. 
Below Investment-Grade Securities Risk: Lower-quality debt securities (“high yield” or “junk” bonds) are considered predominantly speculative, and can involve a substantially greater risk of default than higher quality debt securities. Issuers of lower-quality debt securities may have substantially greater risk of insolvency or bankruptcy than issuers of higher-quality debt securities. They can be illiquid, and their values can have significant volatility and may decline significantly over short periods of time. Lower-quality debt securities tend to be more sensitive to adverse news about the issuer, or the market or economy in general. 
Counterparty Risk: The Fund will be subject to credit risk with respect to the counterparties with which the Fund enters into derivatives contracts, repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, and other transactions. If a counterparty fails to meet its contractual obligations, the Fund may be unable to terminate or realize any gain on the investment or transaction, or to recover collateral posted to the counterparty, resulting in a loss to the Fund. If the Fund holds collateral posted by its counterparty, it may be delayed or prevented from realizing on the collateral in the event of a bankruptcy or insolvency proceeding relating to the counterparty. 
Income Risk: The Fund's income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. Issuers of securities held by the Fund may call or redeem the securities during periods of falling interest rates, and the Fund would likely be required to reinvest in securities paying lower interest rates. If an obligation held by the Fund is prepaid, the Fund may have to reinvest the prepayment in other obligations paying income at lower rates. 
Management Risk: The Fund is actively managed. The Adviser's judgments about the attractiveness, relative value, or potential appreciation of a particular sector, security, commodity or investment strategy or as to a hedging strategy may prove to be incorrect, and may cause the Fund to incur losses. There can be no assurance that the Adviser's investment techniques and decisions will produce the desired results. 
Municipal Obligations Risk: Issuers, including governmental issuers, may be unable to pay their obligations as they come due. The values of municipal obligations may be adversely affected by local political and economic conditions and developments. In addition, the values of municipal obligations that depend on a specific revenue source to fund their payment obligations may fluctuate as a result of actual or anticipated changes in the cash flows generated by the revenue source or changes in the priority of the municipal obligation to receive the cash flows generated by the revenue source. Municipal obligations may be more susceptible to downgrades or defaults during recessions or similar periods of economic stress. The secondary market for municipal obligations also tends to be less well-developed and less liquid than many other securities markets, which may limit the Fund's ability to sell its municipal obligations at attractive prices, particularly in stressed market conditions. The differences between the price at which an obligation can be purchased and the price at which it can be sold may widen during periods of market distress. Less liquid obligations can become more difficult to value and be subject to erratic price movements. In addition, changes in federal tax laws or the activity of an issuer may adversely affect the tax-exempt status of municipal obligations. Loss of tax-exempt status may cause interest received and distributed to shareholders by the Fund to be taxable and may result in a significant decline in the values of such municipal obligations. 
Valuation Risk: Some portfolio holdings, potentially a large portion of the Fund's investment portfolio, may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur more often in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. There are multiple methods that can be used to value a portfolio holding when market quotations are not readily available. The value established for any portfolio holding at a point in time might differ from what would be produced using a different methodology or if it had been priced using market quotations. Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including “fair valued” securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that the Fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio position is sold or closed out at a discount to the valuation established by the Fund at that time. Investors who purchase or redeem Fund Shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued investments may receive fewer or more shares or lower or higher redemption proceeds than they would have received if the Fund had not fair-valued the holding(s) or had used a different valuation methodology. 
Risk Lose Money [Text] rr_RiskLoseMoney You could lose money by investing in the Fund.
Risk Not Insured Depository Institution [Text] rr_RiskNotInsuredDepositoryInstitution An investment in the Fund is subject to investment risks, including possible loss of principal, is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading Performance
Performance Narrative [Text Block] rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock
The bar chart and table below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by illustrating the variability of the Fund's returns from year-to-year and by showing how the Fund's average annual returns for the periods indicated compared with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund's past performance does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Current performance information for the Fund is available toll free by calling (800)-242-0134 or by visiting our website at www.ssga.com.
Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text] rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns The bar chart and table below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by illustrating the variability of the Fund's returns from year-to-year and by showing how the Fund's average annual returns for the periods indicated compared with those of a broad measure of market performance.
Performance Availability Phone [Text] rr_PerformanceAvailabilityPhone (800)-242-0134
Performance Availability Website Address [Text] rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress www.ssga.com
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text] rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture The Fund's past performance does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future.
Bar Chart [Heading] rr_BarChartHeading Annual Total Returns (years ended 12/31)
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block] rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock
Highest Quarterly Return: 3.58% (Q1, 2014)
Lowest Quarterly Return: -3.39% (Q4, 2016) 
Performance Table Heading rr_PerformanceTableHeading Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/21)
Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes.
Performance Table Not Relevant to Tax Deferred rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred After-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown above, and after-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”).
Performance Table Explanation after Tax Higher rr_PerformanceTableExplanationAfterTaxHigher The returns after taxes can exceed the returns before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit for a shareholder from realizing a capital loss on a sale of Fund shares.
Performance Table Narrative rr_PerformanceTableNarrativeTextBlock
After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. After-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown above, and after-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”). The returns after taxes can exceed the returns before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit for a shareholder from realizing a capital loss on a sale of Fund shares.
ELFUN TAX EXEMPT INCOME FUND | Elfun Tax Exempt Income Fund  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed On Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of the net asset value) rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOther none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.16%
Distribution and Shareholder Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.05%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.21%
1 year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 22
3 years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 68
5 years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 118
10 years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 268
1 year rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01 22
3 years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03 68
5 years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear05 118
10 years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear10 $ 268
2012 rr_AnnualReturn2012 7.45%
2013 rr_AnnualReturn2013 (4.06%)
2014 rr_AnnualReturn2014 9.85%
2015 rr_AnnualReturn2015 3.21%
2016 rr_AnnualReturn2016 0.42%
2017 rr_AnnualReturn2017 4.71%
2018 rr_AnnualReturn2018 0.90%
2019 rr_AnnualReturn2019 7.13%
2020 rr_AnnualReturn2020 4.77%
2021 rr_AnnualReturn2021 1.44%
Highest Quarterly Return, Label rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel Highest Quarterly Return:
Highest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate Mar. 31, 2014
Highest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn 3.58%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel Lowest Quarterly Return:
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate Dec. 31, 2016
Lowest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn (3.39%)
One Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 1.44%
Five Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 3.76%
Ten Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 3.51%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Jan. 01, 1980
ELFUN TAX EXEMPT INCOME FUND | Return After Taxes on Distributions | Elfun Tax Exempt Income Fund  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
One Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 1.44%
Five Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 3.40%
Ten Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 3.31%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Jan. 01, 1980
ELFUN TAX EXEMPT INCOME FUND | Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | Elfun Tax Exempt Income Fund  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
One Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 2.15%
Five Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 3.40%
Ten Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 3.40%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Jan. 01, 1980
ELFUN TAX EXEMPT INCOME FUND | Bloomberg U.S. Municipal Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
One Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 1.52%
Five Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 4.17%
Ten Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 3.72%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Jan. 01, 1980