Segment Information - Segment Information (Detail) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Product sales									$ 13,690	$ 13,061	$ 12,591
Services									9,532	8,653	7,417
Gross profit	4,224	3,442	3,509	3,298	3,890	3,288	3,347	3,113	14,473	13,638	12,169
Gross profit percentage									62.30%	62.80%	60.80%
Research and development									2,761	2,560	2,151
Selling, general and administrative									7,338	7,004	6,479
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									224	110	97
Total costs and expenses									10,323	9,674	8,727
Operating income (loss)									4,150	3,964	3,442
Other income (expense), net									(285)	(160)	(193)
Income tax provision									772	918	640
Revenues	6,682	5,539	5,614	5,387	6,030	5,278	5,311	5,094	23,222	21,714	20,008
Information Storage
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Product sales									10,694	10,283	10,042
Services									5,438	5,157	4,642
Gross profit									9,082	8,860	8,291
Gross profit percentage									56.30%	57.40%	56.50%
Revenues									16,132	15,440	14,684
Information Intelligence Group
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Product sales									180	200	209
Services									467	440	452
Gross profit									419	432	425
Gross profit percentage									64.80%	67.50%	64.20%
Revenues									647	640	661
RSA Information Security
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Product sales									453	414	441
Services									534	475	387
Gross profit									655	604	470
Gross profit percentage									66.40%	68.00%	56.80%
Revenues									987	889	828
EMC Information Infrastructure
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Product sales									11,327	10,897	10,692
Services									6,439	6,072	5,481
Gross profit									10,156	9,896	9,186
Gross profit percentage									57.20%	58.30%	56.80%
Research and development									1,453	1,402	1,216
Selling, general and administrative									4,567	4,484	4,348
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									0	0	0
Total costs and expenses									6,020	5,886	5,564
Operating income (loss)									4,136	4,010	3,622
Revenues									17,766	16,969	16,173
Pivotal
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Product sales									110	106	76
Services									199	164	54
Gross profit									118	153	76
Gross profit percentage									38.00%	56.70%	58.60%
Research and development									117	124	70
Selling, general and administrative									165	155	120
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									0	0	0
Total costs and expenses									282	279	190
Operating income (loss)									(164)	(126)	(114)
Revenues									309	270	130
EMC Information Infrastructure plus Pivotal
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Product sales									11,437	11,003	10,768
Services									6,638	6,236	5,535
Gross profit									10,274	10,049	9,262
Gross profit percentage									56.80%	58.30%	56.80%
Research and development									1,570	1,526	1,286
Selling, general and administrative									4,732	4,639	4,468
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									0	0	0
Total costs and expenses									6,302	6,165	5,754
Operating income (loss)									3,972	3,884	3,508
Other income (expense), net									(336)	(177)	(252)
Income tax provision									911	968	805
Revenues									18,075	17,239	16,303
VMware Virtual Infrastructure Within EMC Corp
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Product sales									2,253	2,058	1,823
Services									2,894	2,417	1,882
Gross profit									4,589	3,976	3,189
Gross profit percentage									89.20%	88.90%	86.10%
Research and development									826	700	550
Selling, general and administrative									2,003	1,739	1,430
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									0	0	0
Total costs and expenses									2,829	2,439	1,980
Operating income (loss)									1,760	1,537	1,209
Other income (expense), net									22	27	7
Income tax provision									317	271	134
Revenues									5,147	4,475	3,705
Corp Reconciling Items
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Product sales									0	0	0
Services									0	0	0
Gross profit									(390)	(387)	(282)
Gross profit percentage									0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Research and development									365	334	315
Selling, general and administrative									603	626	581
Restructuring and acquisition-related charges									224	110	97
Total costs and expenses									1,192	1,070	993
Operating income (loss)									(1,582)	(1,457)	(1,275)
Other income (expense), net									29	(10)	52
Income tax provision									(456)	(321)	(299)
Revenues									0	0	0
United States
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Long-lived assets, excluding financial instruments, deferred tax assets, goodwill and intangible assets	4,433				3,994				4,433	3,994
Revenues									12,230	11,510	10,550
International
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Long-lived assets, excluding financial instruments, deferred tax assets, goodwill and intangible assets	$ 877				$ 698				$ 877	$ 698