Income Taxes (Summary of Danaher's Effective Income Tax Rate) (Details)	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 28, 2018	Sep. 29, 2017	Sep. 28, 2018	Sep. 29, 2017
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Effective tax rate from continuing operations	17.20%	21.60%	19.00%	17.70%

Percentage of current income tax expense (benefit) and deferred income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to continuing operations.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 13
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32698-109319

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(h)(2))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 12
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32687-109319

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration