Label	Element	Value
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Registrant Name	dei_EntityRegistrantName	VANGUARD WORLD FUND
Prospectus Date	rr_ProspectusDate	Dec. 20, 2019
Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Risk/Return [Heading]	rr_RiskReturnHeading	ETF Summary
Objective [Heading]	rr_ObjectiveHeading	Investment Objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block]	rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock	The Fund seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of large-, mid-, and small-capitalization stocks of U.S. companies and is screened for certain environmental, social, and corporate governance criteria.
Expense [Heading]	rr_ExpenseHeading	Fees and Expenses
Expense Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock	The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.
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 more taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the previous expense example, reduce the Fund's performance. During the fiscal period September 18, 2018, to August 31, 2019, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 6% of the average value of its portfolio.
Portfolio Turnover, Rate	rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate	6.00%
Expense Exchange Traded Fund Commissions [Text]	rr_ExpenseExchangeTradedFundCommissions	This example does not include the brokerage commissions that you may pay to buy and sell shares of the Fund.
Expense Example [Heading]	rr_ExpenseExampleHeading	Example
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock	The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over various periods if you were to invest $10,000 in the Fund's shares. This example assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% each year and that total annual fund operating expenses remain as stated in the preceding table. You would incur these hypothetical expenses whether or not you redeem your investment at the end of the given period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example Closing [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseExampleClosingTextBlock	This example does not include the brokerage commissions that you may pay to buy and sell shares of the Fund.
Strategy [Heading]	rr_StrategyHeading	Principal Investment Strategies
Strategy Narrative [Text Block]	rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock	The Fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the FTSE US All Cap Choice Index. The Index, which is market- capitalization weighted, is composed of large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks of companies located in the United States and is screened for certain environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) criteria by the Index sponsor, which is independent of Vanguard.The FTSE US All Cap Choice Index excludes stocks of companies that FTSE Group (FTSE) determines engage in the following activities: (i) companies that produce adult entertainment; (ii) companies that produce alcoholic beverages; (iii) companies that produce tobacco products; (iv) companies that produce (or produce specific and critical parts or services for) nuclear weapon systems, chemical or biological weapons, cluster munitions, and anti-personnel mines; (v) companies that produce other weapons for military use; (vi) companies that produce firearms or ammunition for non-military use; (vii) companies that own proved or probable reserves in coal, oil, or gas; (viii) companies that provide gambling services; and (ix) companies that generate revenues from nuclear power production. The index methodology also excludes the stocks of companies that, as FTSE Group determines, do not meet the labor, human rights, environmental, and anticorruption standards as defined by the United Nations Global Compact Principles, as well as companies that do not meet certain diversity criteria. The components of the Index are likely to change over time. The Fund attempts to replicate the target index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that make up the Index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the Index. For additional details regarding the Index Methodology, please see the Index Resources available on FTSE's website.
Risk [Heading]	rr_RiskHeading	Principal Risks
Risk Narrative [Text Block]	rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock	An investment in the Fund could lose money over short or long periods of time. You should expect the Fund's share price and total return to fluctuate within a wide range. The Fund is subject to the following risks, which could affect the Fund's performance: • Stock market risk, which is the chance that stock prices overall will decline. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices. The Fund's target index tracks a subset of the U.S. Stock market, which could cause the Fund to perform differently from the overall market. In addition, the Fund's target index may, at times, become focused in stocks of a particular market sector, which would subject the Fund to proportionately higher exposure to the risks of that sector. • Investment style risk, which is the chance that returns from small- and mid- capitalization stocks may be more volatile in price than the large-cap stocks that dominate the overall market, and they often perform quite differently. The stock prices of small and mid-size companies tend to experience greater volatility because, among other things, these companies tend to be more sensitive to changing economic conditions. • ESG investing risk, which is the chance that the stocks screened by the index sponsor for ESG criteria generally will underperform the stock market as a whole or that the particular stocks selected for the FTSE US All Cap Choice Index will, in the aggregate, trail returns of other funds screened for ESG criteria.There are significant differences in interpretations of what it means for a company to meet ESG criteria. The index provider's assessment of a company, based on the company's level of involvement in a particular industry or the index provider's own ESG criteria, may differ from that of other funds or of the advisor's or an investor's assessment of such company. As a result, the companies deemed eligible by the index provider may not reflect the beliefs and values of any particular investor and may not exhibit positive or favorable ESG characteristics. Because ETF Shares are traded on an exchange, they are subject to additional risks: • The Fund's ETF Shares are listed for trading on Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc., and are bought and sold on the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of an ETF Share typically will approximate its net asset value (NAV), there may be times when the market price and the NAV differ significantly. Thus, you may pay more or less than NAV when you buy ETF Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive more or less than NAV when you sell those shares. • Although the Fund's ETF Shares are listed for trading on Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc., it is possible that an active trading market may not be maintained. • Trading of the Fund's ETF Shares may be halted by the activation of individual or marketwide trading halts (which halt trading for a specific period of time when the price of a particular security or overall market prices decline by a specified percentage). Trading of the Fund's ETF Shares may also be halted if (1) the shares are delisted from Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc., without first being listed on another exchange or (2) Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc., officials determine that such action is appropriate in the interest of a fair and orderly market or for the protection of investors. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Risk Lose Money [Text]	rr_RiskLoseMoney	An investment in the Fund could lose money over short or long periods of time.
Risk Not Insured Depository Institution [Text]	rr_RiskNotInsuredDepositoryInstitution	An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of 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	Annual Total Returns
Performance Narrative [Text Block]	rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock	The Fund has not been in operation long enough to report a full calendar-year return. Performance information is available on our website at vanguard.com/performance or by calling Vanguard toll-free at 800-662-7447.
Performance One Year or Less [Text]	rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess	The Fund has not been in operation long enough to report a full calendar-year return.
Performance Availability Phone [Text]	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityPhone	800-662-7447
Performance Availability Website Address [Text]	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress	vanguard.com/performance
Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF | ETF Shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Transaction Fee on Purchases and Sales	world_TransactionFeeOnPurchasesAndSales	none	[1]
Transaction Fee on Reinvested Dividends	world_TransactionFeeOnReinvestedDividends	none	[1]
Transaction Fee on Conversion to ETF Shares	world_TransactionFeeOnConversionToETFShares	none	[1]
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.10%
12b-1 Distribution Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	none
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.02%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.12%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	$ 12
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	39
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	68
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	154
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01	12
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03	39
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear05	68
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear10	$ 154

[1] None through Vanguard (Broker fees vary)