Finance Receivables (Details 7) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) contracts	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) contracts	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) contracts
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	52	144	574
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 186	$ 579	$ 454
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	152	557	$ 387
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Remaining commitments	$ 0	$ 0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	0	0	0
Dealer
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	0	0	0
Customer
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts | contracts	16	252	15
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 44	$ 21	$ 5
Customer | North America
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	38	43	25
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 21	$ 34	$ 25
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 21	$ 35	$ 25
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts | contracts	10	4	5
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 10	$ 3	$ 2
Customer | Europe
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	0	4	43
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 1	$ 12
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 1	$ 9
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts | contracts	0	1	5
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 0	$ 2
Customer | Asia/Pacific
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	0	10	31
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 39	$ 29
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 31	$ 28
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts | contracts	0	4	1
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 1	$ 0
Customer | Mining
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	1	2	4
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 29	$ 57	$ 74
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 29	$ 56	$ 66
Customer | Latin America
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	1	17	437
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 3	$ 26	$ 118
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 3	$ 27	$ 82
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts | contracts	3	243	4
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 1	$ 17	$ 1
Customer | Latin America | Amounts related to four customers
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts			321
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment			$ 94
Post-TDR Recorded Investment			$ 64
Customer | Latin America | Amounts related to two customers
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts | contracts		238
Post-TDR Recorded Investment		$ 16
Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	12	68	34
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 133	$ 422	$ 196
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 99	$ 407	$ 177
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts | contracts	3	0	0
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 33	$ 0	$ 0
Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance | Amounts related to six customers
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts		48
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment		$ 265
Post-TDR Recorded Investment		$ 258