Earnings Per Share (Net Income Per Share Basic And Diluted) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Numerator:
Net income	$ 199,850	$ 131,901	$ 120,898	$ 83,463	$ 131,274	$ 55,925	$ 103,275	$ 28,887	$ 536,112	$ 319,361	$ 251,723
Denominator:
Denominator for basic earnings per share - weighted-average shares outstanding									155,134	158,874	169,879
Effect of dilutive employee stock awards:
Employee stock awards									1,950	1,488	1,391
Denominator for diluted earnings per share - weighted-average shares outstanding									157,084	160,362	171,270
Net income per share attributable to Citrix Systems, Inc. stockholders - basic (in dollars per share)	$ 1.28	$ 0.85	$ 0.78	$ 0.54	$ 0.85	$ 0.35	$ 0.64	$ 0.18	$ 3.46	$ 2.01	$ 1.48
Net income per share attributable to Citrix Systems, Inc. stockholders - diluted (in dollars per share)	1.26	$ 0.84	$ 0.77	$ 0.54	$ 0.84	$ 0.35	$ 0.64	$ 0.18	$ 3.41	$ 1.99	$ 1.47
Anti-dilutive weighted-average shares from stock awards									322	2,151	3,026
Senior Notes Due 2019
Effect of dilutive employee stock awards:
Convertible debt, conversion price (in dollars per share)	$ 90.00								$ 90.00