Goodwill and Intangible Assets - Schedule of Changes in Goodwill by Reportable Segments (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		9 Months Ended
Nov. 01, 2019	Jun. 27, 2020
Goodwill [Line Items]
Balance, October 1, 2019		$ 1,238,179
Foreign currency translation adjustment		2,115
Balance, June 27, 2020		1,605,204
Onshape
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill, acquired	$ 364,900	364,910
Software Products
Goodwill [Line Items]
Balance, October 1, 2019		1,196,064
Foreign currency translation adjustment		2,043
Balance, June 27, 2020		1,563,017
Software Products \| Onshape
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill, acquired		364,910
Professional Services
Goodwill [Line Items]
Balance, October 1, 2019		42,115
Foreign currency translation adjustment		72
Balance, June 27, 2020		42,187
Professional Services \| Onshape
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill, acquired		$ 0

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77989000&loc=SL49117168-202975

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99380562&loc=d3e13770-109266

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_Goodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of increase in asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized resulting from a business combination.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108376223&loc=d3e13816-109267

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GoodwillAcquiredDuringPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of foreign currency translation gain (loss) which increases (decreases) an asset representing future economic benefits from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (f)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108376223&loc=d3e13816-109267

+ Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=ptc_OnshapeMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=ptc_SegmentSoftwareProductsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=ptc_ProfessionalServicesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: