Stock-based Compensation Expense Stock-Based Compensation Expense - Additional Information (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	0 Months Ended		3 Months Ended							3 Months Ended							0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Jan. 14, 2014	Jan. 06, 2012	Apr. 30, 2014 StockPlans		Apr. 30, 2013		Apr. 30, 2014 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) and Performance Shares	Apr. 30, 2013 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) and Performance Shares	Jan. 31, 2014 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) and Performance Shares	Apr. 30, 2014 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)	Apr. 30, 2013 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)	Apr. 30, 2014 Performance Stock Unit	Apr. 30, 2013 Performance Stock Unit	Apr. 30, 2014 Performance Stock Unit Share-based Compensation Award, Tranche One [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Performance Stock Unit Share-based Compensation Award, Tranche Two [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Performance Stock Unit Share-based Compensation Award, Tranche Three [Member]	Jan. 06, 2012 Employee Stock Plan 2012	Apr. 30, 2014 Employee Stock Plan 2012	Apr. 30, 2014 Employee Stock Plan 2012 Maximum	Apr. 30, 2014 Directors stock plan 2012	Apr. 30, 2014 Directors stock plan 2012 Maximum	Apr. 30, 2014 Directors stock plan 2012 Minimum	Apr. 30, 2014 ESP Plan	Apr. 30, 2013 ESP Plan
Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Disclosure [Line Items]
Share based compensation arragements by share based payment awards, number of active plans (presented as an integer)			2
Share based compensation arrangement by share based payment award expired or terminated plans (presented as an integer)			8
Awards, number of additional shares authorized	11,400,000
Awards, number of shares authorized																	32,600,000			2,600,000
Stock issued during period, shares, restricted stock award, net of forfeitures																	26,600,000
Stock issued during period, shares, share-based compensation, forfeited																	6,000,000
Share-based compensation shares granted to share issued		$ 2.11															$ 1.79
Options granted in period			0	[1]														16,100,000		400,000
Award vesting period																		3 years			3 years	1 year
Share based compensation arrangement by share based payment award options expiration term (in years)																			10 years
Employee stock plan shares remaining available for issuance																		17,700,000		2,200,000			37,000,000
Sale of stock, price per share (in usd per share)			$ 48.02
Nonvested awards, total compensation cost not yet recognized (in usd)			$ 4.3							$ 156.0		$ 15.1
Annual vesting percentage														33.33%	33.33%	33.33%
Nonvested options outstanding, weighted average remaining contractual term			9 months 18 days
Awards granted in period, weighted average grant date fair value (in usd per share)							$ 49.96	$ 41.58
Awards vested in period, fair value							29.4	33.6
Awards granted in period							1,049,500			600,000		500,000
Allocated share-based compensation expense (in usd)										$ 22.9	$ 16.0	$ 3.0	$ 2.7
Nonvested awards, total compensation cost not yet recognized, period for recognition										1 year 9 months 18 days		1 year 7 months 6 days
Awards, nonvested, number							6,684,500		6,515,600	5,700,000		900,000
Employee stock purchase plan maximum percentage of compensation to purchase shares by eligible participants (presented as a percent)																							15.00%
Employee stock purchase plan minimum percentage of common stock fair value defined to purchase shares by eligible participants (presented as a percent)																							85.00%
Options, other increases (decreases) in period																							10,000,000
Options, other increases (decreases) in period percentage calculation (presented as a percent)																							2.00%
Shares issued under employee stock purchase plans																							1,100,000	1,500,000
Awards issued, share average price (in usd per share)																							$ 33.66	$ 22.32
Weighted average grant date fair value per share of stock options granted (in dollars per share)			$ 0.00	[2]	$ 0.00	[2]																	$ 14.26	$ 11.84

[1] Autodesk did not grant stock options in the three months ended April 30, 2014.

[2] The weighted average grant date fair value per share of stock options granted is calculated, as of the stock option grant date, using the BSM option pricing model. For the three months ended April 30, 2014 and 2013, Autodesk did not grant stock options.