Earnings per Share (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Amount attributable to McGraw Hill Financial, Inc. common shareholders:
Income from continuing operations	$ 173	$ 235	$ 250	$ 153	$ 190	$ 151	$ 176	$ 158	$ 812	$ 676	$ 607
Income (loss) from discontinued operations	(2)	(20)	4	582	(406)	162	39	(35)	564	(239)	304
Net income attributable to the Company	$ 171	$ 215	$ 254	$ 735	$ (216)	$ 314	$ 216	$ 123	$ 1,376	$ 437	$ 911
Basic weighted-average number of common shares outstanding (in shares)									274.5	278.6	298.1
Effect of stock options and other dilutive securities (in shares)									5.3	6.0	5.5
Diluted weighted-average number of common shares outstanding (in shares)									279.8	284.6	303.6
Basic EPS:
Income from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.64	$ 0.86	$ 0.91	$ 0.55	$ 0.68	$ 0.54	$ 0.63	$ 0.57	$ 2.96	$ 2.43	$ 2.03
Income (loss) from discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	$ (0.01)	$ (0.07)	$ 0.01	$ 2.07	$ (1.46)	$ 0.58	$ 0.14	$ (0.13)	$ 2.05	$ (0.86)	$ 1.02
Net income (in dollars per share)	$ 0.63	$ 0.79	$ 0.93	$ 2.62	$ (0.78)	$ 1.13	$ 0.77	$ 0.44	$ 5.01	$ 1.57	$ 3.05
Diluted EPS:
Income from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.62	$ 0.84	$ 0.90	$ 0.54	$ 0.67	$ 0.53	$ 0.62	$ 0.56	$ 2.90	$ 2.37	$ 2.00
Income (loss) from discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	$ (0.01)	$ (0.07)	$ 0.01	$ 2.05	$ (1.43)	$ 0.57	$ 0.14	$ (0.13)	$ 2.01	$ (0.84)	$ 1.00
Net income (in dollars per share)	$ 0.62	$ 0.77	$ 0.91	$ 2.59	$ (0.76)	$ 1.10	$ 0.76	$ 0.43	$ 4.91	$ 1.53	$ 3.00
Restricted Stock [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Outstanding shares not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share for both restricted stock and stock options (in shares)									0.9	1.4	1.6
Stock Options [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Outstanding shares not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share for both restricted stock and stock options (in shares)									1.2	3.4	10.1