Condensed Consolidating Supplemental Guarantor Information Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 328	$ 511	$ 528	$ 1,069
Restricted cash		0
Accounts receivable, net	1,251	1,404
Inventories	643	669
Due from affiliates	0	0
Other current assets	327	504
Total current assets	2,549	3,088
Property, plant and equipment, net	322	396
Goodwill	2,733	2,760	1,534
Intangibles, net	798	926
Prepaid pension cost	130	551
Deferred income taxes	582	349
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Due from affiliates	0	0
Other assets	521	496
Total assets	7,635	8,566
Short-term borrowings	13	187
Accounts payable	657	712
Payroll and benefits liabilities	189	196
Deferred service revenue and customer deposits	476	494
Due to affiliates	0	0
Other current liabilities	446	481
Total current liabilities	1,781	2,070
Long-term debt	3,239	3,431
Pension and indemnity plan liabilities	696	705
Postretirement and postemployment benefits liabilities	133	170
Income tax accruals	167	181
Environmental liabilities		0
Due to affiliates	0	0
Other liabilities	79	111
Total liabilities	6,095	6,668
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	16	15
Series A convertible preferred stock: par value $0.01 per share, 3.0 shares authorized, 0.8 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2015; no shares authorized or issued as of December 31, 2014; redemption amount and liquidation preference of $824 and $0 as of December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively	798	0
Total NCR stockholders’ equity	720	1,871
Noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries	6	12
Total stockholders’ equity	726	1,883
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	7,635	8,566
Parent Company [Member]
Cash and cash equivalents	12	40	75	571
Restricted cash		0
Accounts receivable, net	44	69
Inventories	233	242
Due from affiliates	654	626
Other current assets	126	294
Total current assets	1,069	1,271
Property, plant and equipment, net	137	161
Goodwill	860	878
Intangibles, net	161	196
Prepaid pension cost	0	0
Deferred income taxes	486	363
Investments in subsidiaries	3,349	3,519
Due from affiliates	1,072	1,127
Other assets	362	334
Total assets	7,496	7,849
Short-term borrowings	4	85
Accounts payable	280	248
Payroll and benefits liabilities	93	85
Deferred service revenue and customer deposits	154	149
Due to affiliates	1,499	1,318
Other current liabilities	205	192
Total current liabilities	2,235	2,077
Long-term debt	3,229	3,413
Pension and indemnity plan liabilities	433	391
Postretirement and postemployment benefits liabilities	27	25
Income tax accruals	4	3
Environmental liabilities		0
Due to affiliates	18	17
Other liabilities	32	52
Total liabilities	5,978	5,978
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Series A convertible preferred stock: par value $0.01 per share, 3.0 shares authorized, 0.8 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2015; no shares authorized or issued as of December 31, 2014; redemption amount and liquidation preference of $824 and $0 as of December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively	798
Total NCR stockholders’ equity	720	1,871
Noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity	720	1,871
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	7,496	7,849
Guarantor Subsidiary [Member]
Cash and cash equivalents	20	9	11	6
Restricted cash		0
Accounts receivable, net	33	19
Inventories	6	6
Due from affiliates	1,325	1,228
Other current assets	31	28
Total current assets	1,415	1,290
Property, plant and equipment, net	1	1
Goodwill	0	0
Intangibles, net	0	0
Prepaid pension cost	0	0
Deferred income taxes	152	128
Investments in subsidiaries	1,449	1,771
Due from affiliates	17	20
Other assets	55	49
Total assets	3,089	3,259
Short-term borrowings	0	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Payroll and benefits liabilities	1	0
Deferred service revenue and customer deposits	24	21
Due to affiliates	137	124
Other current liabilities	3	10
Total current liabilities	165	155
Long-term debt	0	0
Pension and indemnity plan liabilities	0	0
Postretirement and postemployment benefits liabilities	3	0
Income tax accruals	13	10
Environmental liabilities		0
Due to affiliates	37	41
Other liabilities	0	0
Total liabilities	218	206
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Series A convertible preferred stock: par value $0.01 per share, 3.0 shares authorized, 0.8 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2015; no shares authorized or issued as of December 31, 2014; redemption amount and liquidation preference of $824 and $0 as of December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively	0
Total NCR stockholders’ equity	2,871	3,053
Noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity	2,871	3,053
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	3,089	3,259
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Cash and cash equivalents	296	462	442	492
Restricted cash		0
Accounts receivable, net	1,174	1,316
Inventories	404	421
Due from affiliates	300	476
Other current assets	209	280
Total current assets	2,383	2,955
Property, plant and equipment, net	184	234
Goodwill	1,873	1,882
Intangibles, net	637	730
Prepaid pension cost	130	551
Deferred income taxes	84	43
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Due from affiliates	38	41
Other assets	104	113
Total assets	5,433	6,549
Short-term borrowings	9	102
Accounts payable	377	464
Payroll and benefits liabilities	95	111
Deferred service revenue and customer deposits	298	324
Due to affiliates	643	888
Other current liabilities	277	377
Total current liabilities	1,699	2,266
Long-term debt	10	18
Pension and indemnity plan liabilities	263	314
Postretirement and postemployment benefits liabilities	103	145
Income tax accruals	150	168
Environmental liabilities		0
Due to affiliates	1,072	1,130
Other liabilities	187	244
Total liabilities	3,484	4,285
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	16	15
Series A convertible preferred stock: par value $0.01 per share, 3.0 shares authorized, 0.8 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2015; no shares authorized or issued as of December 31, 2014; redemption amount and liquidation preference of $824 and $0 as of December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively	0
Total NCR stockholders’ equity	1,927	2,237
Noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries	6	12
Total stockholders’ equity	1,933	2,249
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	5,433	6,549
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	$ 0	$ 0
Restricted cash		0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories	0	0
Due from affiliates	(2,279)	(2,330)
Other current assets	(39)	(98)
Total current assets	(2,318)	(2,428)
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Intangibles, net	0	0
Prepaid pension cost	0	0
Deferred income taxes	(140)	(185)
Investments in subsidiaries	(4,798)	(5,290)
Due from affiliates	(1,127)	(1,188)
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	(8,383)	(9,091)
Short-term borrowings	0	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Payroll and benefits liabilities	0	0
Deferred service revenue and customer deposits	0	0
Due to affiliates	(2,279)	(2,330)
Other current liabilities	(39)	(98)
Total current liabilities	(2,318)	(2,428)
Long-term debt	0	0
Pension and indemnity plan liabilities	0	0
Postretirement and postemployment benefits liabilities	0	0
Income tax accruals	0	0
Environmental liabilities		0
Due to affiliates	(1,127)	(1,188)
Other liabilities	(140)	(185)
Total liabilities	(3,585)	(3,801)
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Series A convertible preferred stock: par value $0.01 per share, 3.0 shares authorized, 0.8 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2015; no shares authorized or issued as of December 31, 2014; redemption amount and liquidation preference of $824 and $0 as of December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively	0
Total NCR stockholders’ equity	(4,798)	(5,290)
Noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity	(4,798)	(5,290)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	$ (8,383)	$ (9,091)