Finance Receivables (Details 8) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($) contracts	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($) contracts	Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($) contracts	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($) contracts
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts \| contracts	161	22	166	47
Pre-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 71	$ 70	$ 73	$ 128
Post-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 71	$ 69	$ 73	$ 126
Customer
TDRs which had been modified within twelve months of the default date [Abstract]
Number of Contracts \| contracts	1	0	6	0
Post-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 0	$ 0	$ 11	$ 0
Customer \| North America
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts \| contracts	10	8	10	8
Pre-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 9	$ 5	$ 9	$ 5
Post-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 9	$ 4	$ 9	$ 4
TDRs which had been modified within twelve months of the default date [Abstract]
Number of Contracts \| contracts	1	0	1	0
Post-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Customer \| EAME
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts \| contracts	0	2	0	19
Pre-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 0	$ 10	$ 0	$ 17
Post-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 0	$ 10	$ 0	$ 17
TDRs which had been modified within twelve months of the default date [Abstract]
Number of Contracts \| contracts			2	0
Post-TDR Amortized Cost			$ 10	$ 0
Customer \| Asia/Pacific
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts \| contracts	104	0	104	0
Pre-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 8	$ 0	$ 8	$ 0
Post-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 8	$ 0	$ 8	$ 0
Customer \| Mining
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts \| contracts	40	1	40	1
Pre-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 17	$ 6	$ 17	$ 6
Post-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 17	$ 6	$ 17	$ 6
Customer \| Latin America
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts \| contracts	1	4	6	4
Pre-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 0	$ 2	$ 2	$ 2
Post-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 0	$ 2	$ 2	$ 2
TDRs which had been modified within twelve months of the default date [Abstract]
Number of Contracts \| contracts			3	0
Post-TDR Amortized Cost			$ 1	$ 0
Customer \| Caterpillar Power Finance
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts \| contracts	6	7	6	15
Pre-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 37	$ 47	$ 37	$ 98
Post-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 37	$ 47	$ 37	$ 97
Dealer
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts \| contracts	0	0	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts \| contracts	0	0	0	0
Significant Amount of Amount Disclosed Represented by Two Customers \| Customer \| Mining
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts \| contracts	40
Pre-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 17
Post-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 17
Significant Amount of Amount Disclosed Represented by Four Customers \| Customer \| Asia/Pacific
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts \| contracts	104
Pre-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 8
Post-TDR Amortized Cost	$ 8

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Number of financing receivables that have been modified by troubled debt restructurings.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 33
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118936363&loc=SL6953676-111524

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 34
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118936363&loc=SL6953682-111524

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Amount of financing receivable modified as troubled debt restructuring within previous 12 months, with subsequent payment default.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 34
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