Consolidated Statements Of Income - USD ($) shares in Millions, $ in Millions		12 Months Ended
		Jan. 01, 2016	Jan. 02, 2015	Jan. 03, 2014
Income Statement [Abstract]
Product		$ 1,533.5	$ 1,713.6	$ 1,649.9
Service		419.9	396.0	364.3
Subscription		337.0	285.9	273.9
Total revenues	[1]	2,290.4	2,395.5	2,288.1
Product		731.1	788.1	776.6
Service		164.2	152.6	141.9
Subscription		100.3	81.1	84.7
Amortization of purchased intangible assets		92.6	82.9	81.1
Total cost of sales		1,088.2	1,104.7	1,084.3
Gross margin		1,202.2	1,290.8	1,203.8
Operating expense
Research and development		336.7	318.0	299.4
Sales and marketing		374.6	387.6	348.1
General and administrative		255.3	247.1	216.9
Restructuring charges		11.4	1.7	6.0
Amortization of purchased intangible assets		69.8	75.6	81.7
Total operating expense		1,047.8	1,030.0	952.1
Operating income		154.4	260.8	251.7
Non-operating income (expense), net
Interest expense		(25.6)	(18.7)	(17.6)
Foreign currency transaction gain (loss), net		0.2	(5.1)	(0.9)
Income from equity method investments, net		17.9	12.4	20.7
Other income (loss), net		4.9	16.6	(1.0)
Total non-operating income (expense), net		(2.6)	5.2	1.2
Income before taxes		151.8	266.0	252.9
Income tax provision		31.1	52.1	34.7
Net income		120.7	213.9	218.2
Less: Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests		(0.4)	(0.2)	(0.7)
Net income attributable to Trimble Navigation Limited		$ 121.1	$ 214.1	$ 218.9
Basic earnings per share		$ 0.47	$ 0.82	$ 0.85
Shares used in calculating basic earnings per share		255.8	260.1	256.6
Diluted earnings per share		$ 0.47	$ 0.81	$ 0.84
Shares used in calculating diluted earnings per share		258.5	264.5	261.2

[1] Revenue is attributed to countries based on the location of the customer.