Condensed Consolidating Supplemental Guarantor Information Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Jan. 01, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 509	$ 464		$ 537
Accounts receivable, net	1,490	1,356
Inventories	784	806
Due from affiliates	0	0
Other current assets	361	397
Total current assets	3,144	3,023
Property, plant and equipment, net	413	359
Goodwill	2,832	2,692		2,741
Intangibles, net	607	595
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset	391	0
Prepaid pension cost	178	140
Deferred income taxes	821	448
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Due from affiliates	0	0
Other assets	601	504
Total assets	8,987	7,761
Short-term borrowings	282	185
Accounts payable	840	897
Payroll and benefits liabilities	308	238
Deferred service revenue and customer deposits	502	461	$ 458
Due to Related Parties, Current	0	0
Other current liabilities	606	501
Total current liabilities	2,538	2,282
Long-term debt	3,277	2,980
Pension and indemnity plan liabilities	858	759
Postretirement and postemployment benefits liabilities	111	118
Income tax accruals	92	91
Due to affiliates	0	0
Operating Lease, Liability, Noncurrent	369	0
Other liabilities	240	259
Total liabilities	7,485	6,489
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	14
Series A convertible preferred stock: par value $0.01 per share, 3.0 shares authorized, 0.9 and 0.8 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively; redemption amount and liquidation preference of $871 and $825 as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively	395	859
Total NCR stockholders’ equity	1,104	395
Noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries	3	4
Total stockholders’ equity	1,107	399
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	8,987	7,761
Parent Company [Member]
Cash and cash equivalents	15	11		106
Accounts receivable, net	54	46
Inventories	315	291
Due from affiliates	909	706
Other current assets	122	141
Total current assets	1,415	1,195
Property, plant and equipment, net	280	246
Goodwill	2,183	2,168
Intangibles, net	471	536
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset	254
Prepaid pension cost	0	0
Deferred income taxes	335	317
Investments in subsidiaries	4,118	3,264
Due from affiliates	16	16
Other assets	527	455
Total assets	9,599	8,197
Short-term borrowings	8	85
Accounts payable	427	398
Payroll and benefits liabilities	188	141
Deferred service revenue and customer deposits	245	225
Due to Related Parties, Current	2,730	2,200
Other current liabilities	261	205
Total current liabilities	3,859	3,254
Long-term debt	3,199	2,978
Pension and indemnity plan liabilities	586	502
Postretirement and postemployment benefits liabilities	17	18
Income tax accruals	29	24
Due to affiliates	0	0
Operating Lease, Liability, Noncurrent	282
Other liabilities	128	167
Total liabilities	8,100	6,943
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Series A convertible preferred stock: par value $0.01 per share, 3.0 shares authorized, 0.9 and 0.8 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively; redemption amount and liquidation preference of $871 and $825 as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively	395	859
Total NCR stockholders’ equity	1,104	395
Noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity	1,104	395
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	9,599	8,197
Guarantor Subsidiary [Member]
Cash and cash equivalents	3	3		2
Accounts receivable, net	1	1
Inventories	1	1
Due from affiliates	2,217	2,092
Other current assets	1	43
Total current assets	2,223	2,140
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Intangibles, net	0	0
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset	0
Prepaid pension cost	0	0
Deferred income taxes	2	0
Investments in subsidiaries	3,938	2,900
Due from affiliates	1	1
Other assets	1	2
Total assets	6,165	5,043
Short-term borrowings	0	0
Accounts payable	0	1
Payroll and benefits liabilities	0	0
Deferred service revenue and customer deposits	1	1
Due to Related Parties, Current	108	118
Other current liabilities	1	2
Total current liabilities	110	122
Long-term debt	0	0
Pension and indemnity plan liabilities	0	0
Postretirement and postemployment benefits liabilities	3	3
Income tax accruals	0	0
Due to affiliates	74	36
Operating Lease, Liability, Noncurrent	0
Other liabilities	0	19
Total liabilities	187	180
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Series A convertible preferred stock: par value $0.01 per share, 3.0 shares authorized, 0.9 and 0.8 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively; redemption amount and liquidation preference of $871 and $825 as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively	0	0
Total NCR stockholders’ equity	5,978	4,863
Noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity	5,978	4,863
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	6,165	5,043
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Cash and cash equivalents	491	450		429
Accounts receivable, net	1,435	1,309
Inventories	468	514
Due from affiliates	531	457
Other current assets	238	255
Total current assets	3,163	2,985
Property, plant and equipment, net	133	113
Goodwill	649	524
Intangibles, net	136	59
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset	137
Prepaid pension cost	178	140
Deferred income taxes	484	149
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Due from affiliates	74	35
Other assets	73	47
Total assets	5,027	4,052
Short-term borrowings	274	100
Accounts payable	413	498
Payroll and benefits liabilities	120	97
Deferred service revenue and customer deposits	256	235
Due to Related Parties, Current	819	937
Other current liabilities	344	336
Total current liabilities	2,226	2,203
Long-term debt	78	2
Pension and indemnity plan liabilities	272	257
Postretirement and postemployment benefits liabilities	91	97
Income tax accruals	63	67
Due to affiliates	17	16
Operating Lease, Liability, Noncurrent	87
Other liabilities	112	91
Total liabilities	2,946	2,733
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	14
Series A convertible preferred stock: par value $0.01 per share, 3.0 shares authorized, 0.9 and 0.8 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively; redemption amount and liquidation preference of $871 and $825 as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively	0	0
Total NCR stockholders’ equity	2,078	1,301
Noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries	3	4
Total stockholders’ equity	2,081	1,305
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	5,027	4,052
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0		$ 0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories	0	0
Due from affiliates	(3,657)	(3,255)
Other current assets	0	(42)
Total current assets	(3,657)	(3,297)
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Intangibles, net	0	0
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset	0
Prepaid pension cost	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	(18)
Investments in subsidiaries	(8,056)	(6,164)
Due from affiliates	(91)	(52)
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	(11,804)	(9,531)
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 Related Parties, Current	(3,657)	(3,255)
Other current liabilities	0	(42)
Total current liabilities	(3,657)	(3,297)
Long-term debt	0	0
Pension and indemnity plan liabilities	0	0
Postretirement and postemployment benefits liabilities	0	0
Income tax accruals	0	0
Due to affiliates	(91)	(52)
Operating Lease, Liability, Noncurrent	0
Other liabilities	0	(18)
Total liabilities	(3,748)	(3,367)
Redeemable noncontrolling interest	0	0
Series A convertible preferred stock: par value $0.01 per share, 3.0 shares authorized, 0.9 and 0.8 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively; redemption amount and liquidation preference of $871 and $825 as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively	0	0
Total NCR stockholders’ equity	(8,056)	(6,164)
Noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity	(8,056)	(6,164)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	$ (11,804)	$ (9,531)