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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Property, Plant and Equipment and Long-Lived Assets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2017
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Capitalization of internal use computer software	$ 3,789	$ 5,283
Loss (Gain) on Disposal/Write-down of Property, Plant and Equipment (Excluding Real Estate), net	$ (1,130)	$ (459)

X

- Definition

Amount of gain (loss) from the difference between the sale price or salvage price and the book value of an asset that was sold or retired, and gain (loss) from the write down of assets from their carrying value to fair value, excluding real estate.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	irm_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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X

- Definition

Additions made to capitalized computer software costs during the period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16265-109275

+ Details

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