Revenue from Contracts with Clients (Revenue Disaggregated by Major Source) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Trust, Investment and Other Servicing Fees	$ 4,361.1	$ 3,995.0	$ 3,852.1
Foreign Exchange Trading Income	292.6	290.4	250.9
Treasury Management Fees	44.3	45.4	44.5
Security Commissions and Trading Income	140.2	133.2	103.6
Other Operating Income	243.9	194.0	145.5
Investment Security Losses, net	(0.3)	(0.4)	(1.4)
Total Other Noninterest Income	720.7	662.6	543.1
Total Noninterest Income	5,081.8	4,657.6	4,395.2
Custody and Fund Administration
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Trust, Investment and Other Servicing Fees	1,917.5	1,674.3	1,636.4
Investment Management and Advisory
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Trust, Investment and Other Servicing Fees	2,140.0	2,029.3	1,930.6
Securities Lending
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Trust, Investment and Other Servicing Fees	76.9	88.3	87.7
Other
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Trust, Investment and Other Servicing Fees	$ 226.7	$ 203.1	$ 197.4

Other Noninterest Income

No definition available.

Name:	ntrs_OtherNoninterestIncome
Namespace Prefix:	ntrs_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Revenues earned for buying and selling securities on behalf of clients and other fees including fees earned for transitioning assets between investment firms, fees earned for buying and selling interest rate protection products, and other fees.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ntrs_SecurityCommissionsandTradingIncome
Namespace Prefix:	ntrs_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Fees earned from treasury management activities including disbursements and receivables management, funds transfer, and online reporting.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ntrs_TreasuryManagementFees
Namespace Prefix:	ntrs_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisaggregationOfRevenueLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount before tax of foreign currency transaction realized and unrealized gain (loss) recognized in the income statement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 830
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=125521441&loc=d3e30690-110894

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 830
-SubTopic 20
-Section 35
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123602790&loc=d3e30226-110892

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 830
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 17
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120253306&loc=d3e28228-110885

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 830
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124440516&loc=d3e30840-110895

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ForeignCurrencyTransactionGainLossBeforeTax
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of unrealized and realized gain (loss) on investment in marketable security, including other-than-temporary impairment (OTTI).

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_MarketableSecuritiesGainLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The total amount of noninterest income which may be derived from: (1) fees and commissions; (2) premiums earned; (3) insurance policy charges; (4) the sale or disposal of assets; and (5) other sources not otherwise specified.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 220
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-04.13)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120399700&loc=SL114874048-224260

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NoninterestIncome
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The total amount of other operating income, the components of which are not separately disclosed on the income statement, from items that are associated with the entity's normal revenue producing operation.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 220
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123367319&loc=SL114868664-224227

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OtherOperatingIncome
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount, excluding tax collected from customer, of revenue from satisfaction of performance obligation by transferring promised good or service to customer. Tax collected from customer is tax assessed by governmental authority that is both imposed on and concurrent with specific revenue-producing transaction, including, but not limited to, sales, use, value added and excise.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 30
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123359005&loc=d3e8906-108599

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 40
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123359005&loc=d3e9031-108599

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 41
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123359005&loc=d3e9038-108599

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 32
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123359005&loc=d3e8933-108599

Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 32
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123359005&loc=d3e8933-108599

Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123351226&loc=SL49130543-203045

Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 22
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123359005&loc=d3e8736-108599

Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 22
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123359005&loc=d3e8736-108599

Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 42
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123359005&loc=d3e9054-108599

Reference 10: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123351226&loc=SL49130545-203045

Reference 11: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 924
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SAB Topic 11.L)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6472922&loc=d3e499488-122856

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	srt_ProductOrServiceAxis=ntrs_CustodyandFundAdministrationMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_ProductOrServiceAxis=ntrs_InvestmentManagementandAdvisoryMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_ProductOrServiceAxis=ntrs_SecuritiesLendingMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_ProductOrServiceAxis=ntrs_OtherTrustInvestmentAndOtherServicingFeesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: