Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) (AOCI) - Reclassifications (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Line Items]
Cost of products	$ 424	$ 442
Cost of services	641	622
Selling, general and administrative expenses	229	224
Research and development expenses	67	53
Interest expense	39	46
Income from continuing operations	57	32
Income tax expense	14	13
Net (loss) income attributable to NCR common stockholders	(17)	21
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Line Items]
Cost of products	(2)
Cost of services	(3)	(3)
Selling, general and administrative expenses		(1)
Research and development expenses		(1)
Interest expense		1
Income from continuing operations	(5)	(4)
Income tax expense	1	1
Net (loss) income attributable to NCR common stockholders	(4)	(3)
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income | Actuarial losses recognized
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Line Items]
Cost of products	0
Cost of services	(1)	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses		0
Research and development expenses		0
Interest expense		0
Income from continuing operations	(1)	0
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income | Amortization of prior service benefit
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Line Items]
Cost of products	0
Cost of services	(2)	(3)
Selling, general and administrative expenses		(1)
Research and development expenses		(1)
Interest expense		0
Income from continuing operations	(2)	(5)
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income | Effective Cash Flow Hedges
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Line Items]
Cost of products	(2)
Cost of services	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses		0
Research and development expenses		0
Interest expense		1
Income from continuing operations	$ (2)	$ 1