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Label Element Value
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
SEC Form dei_DocumentType 485BPOS
Period end date dei_DocumentPeriodEndDate Feb. 29, 2024
Registrant Name dei_EntityRegistrantName EATON VANCE MUTUAL FUNDS TRUST
Registrant CIK dei_EntityCentralIndexKey 0000745463
Investment Company Type dei_EntityInvCompanyType N-1A
Amendment Flag dei_AmendmentFlag false
Class A  
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
Trading Symbol dei_TradingSymbol EAPDX
Class I  
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
Trading Symbol dei_TradingSymbol EIPDX
Parametric Dividend Income Fund  
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
Risk/Return rr_RiskReturnHeading Parametric Dividend Income Fund
Objective rr_ObjectiveHeading Investment Objective
Objective, Primary rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund's investment objective is total return and current income.

Expense rr_ExpenseHeading Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Expense Narrative rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. Investors may also pay commissions or other fees to their financial intermediary, which are not reflected below. You may qualify for a reduced sales charge on purchases of Class A shares if you invest, or agree to invest over a 13-month period, at least $50,000 in Eaton Vance funds. Certain financial intermediaries also may offer variations in Fund sales charges to their customers as described in Appendix A – Financial Intermediary Sales Charge Variations in this Prospectus. More information is available from your financial intermediary and in Sales Charges beginning on page 15 of this Prospectus and page 21 of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

Shareholder Fees Caption rr_ShareholderFeesCaption Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Operating Expenses Caption rr_OperatingExpensesCaption Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination July 1, 2025
Portfolio Turnover rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading Portfolio Turnover
Portfolio Turnover rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” the portfolio).  A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account.  These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 52% of the average value of its portfolio.
Portfolio Turnover, Rate rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate 52.00%
Expense Breakpoint Discounts rr_ExpenseBreakpointDiscounts You may qualify for a reduced sales charge on purchases of Class A shares if you invest, or agree to invest over a 13-month period, at least $50,000 in Eaton Vance funds. Certain financial intermediaries also may offer variations in Fund sales charges to their customers as described in Appendix A – Financial Intermediary Sales Charge Variations in this Prospectus. More information is available from your financial intermediary and in Sales Charges beginning on page 15 of this Prospectus and page 21 of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.
Expense Breakpoint, Minimum Investment Required rr_ExpenseBreakpointMinimumInvestmentRequiredAmount $ 50,000
Expense Example rr_ExpenseExampleHeading Example.
Expense Example Narrative rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.  The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods.  The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year, that the operating expenses remain the same and that any expense reimbursement arrangement remains in place for the contractual period.  Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Strategy rr_StrategyHeading Principal Investment Strategies
Strategy Narrative rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities, which primarily include common stocks of U.S. companies selected from the Russell 3000® Index (the “80% Policy”).

The Fund seeks to employ a top-down, disciplined and systematic investment process that emphasizes a diversified portfolio of quality companies that have historically demonstrated high current income and lower levels of risk on a sector relative basis.  Such companies may be referred to as durable dividend payers. This rules-based strategy applies a series of durability rankings to a broad universe of U.S. equity securities. In seeking broad diversification, each economic sector generally receives an equal weight.  The top-ranked securities within each sector based on the sub-adviser’s yield and risk screening are also generally weighted equally.  The investment process is periodically re-evaluated and may be adjusted to ensure that the process is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and strategies. The portfolio is rebalanced periodically to maintain diversification, and is reconstituted on an annual basis.  The portfolio managers seek to manage portfolio risk by using a quantitative model to construct a diversified portfolio of durable dividend paying companies.  The Fund may lend its securities.

Strategy Portfolio Concentration rr_StrategyPortfolioConcentration The Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities, which primarily include common stocks of U.S. companies selected from the Russell 3000® Index (the “80% Policy”).
Risk rr_RiskHeading Principal Risks
Risk rr_RiskTextBlock

Market Risk.  The value of investments held by the Fund may increase or decrease in response to social, economic, political, financial, public health crises or other disruptive events (whether real, expected or perceived) in the U.S. and global markets and include events such as war, natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest. These events may negatively impact broad segments of businesses and populations and may exacerbate pre-existing risks to the Fund. The frequency and magnitude of resulting changes in the value of the Fund’s investments cannot be predicted. Certain securities and other investments held by the Fund may experience increased volatility, illiquidity, or other potentially adverse effects in reaction to changing market conditions.  Monetary and/or fiscal actions taken by U.S. or foreign governments to stimulate or stabilize the global economy may not be effective and could lead to high market volatility.

Equity Securities Risk. The value of equity securities and related instruments may decline in response to adverse changes in the economy or the economic outlook; deterioration in investor sentiment; interest rate, currency, and commodity price fluctuations; adverse geopolitical, social or environmental developments; issuer and sector-specific considerations; unexpected trading activity among retail investors; or other factors. Market conditions may affect certain types of stocks to a greater extent than other types of stocks.  If the stock market declines in value, the value of the Fund’s equity securities will also likely decline.  Although prices can rebound, there is no assurance that values will return to previous levels.

Income Risk. The Fund’s ability to distribute income to shareholders will depend on the yield available on the common stocks held by the Fund.  Changes in the dividend policies of companies held by the Fund could make it difficult for the Fund to provide a predictable level of income.

Smaller Company Risk.  The stocks of smaller companies are generally subject to greater price fluctuations, limited liquidity, higher transaction costs and higher investment risk than the stocks of larger, more established companies. Such companies may have limited product lines, markets or financial resources, may be dependent on a limited management group, and may lack substantial capital reserves or an established performance record. There may be generally less publicly available information about such companies than for larger, more established companies.  Stocks of these companies frequently have lower trading volumes making them more volatile and potentially less liquid and more difficult to value.

Liquidity Risk.  The Fund is exposed to liquidity risk when trading volume, lack of a market maker or trading partner, large position size, market conditions, or legal restrictions impair its ability to sell particular investments or to sell them at advantageous market prices.  Consequently, the Fund may have to accept a lower price to sell an investment or continue to hold it or keep the position open, sell other investments to raise cash or abandon an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on the Fund’s performance. These effects may be exacerbated during times of financial or political stress.

Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves a possible delay in recovery of the loaned securities or a possible loss of rights in the collateral if the borrower fails financially.  The Fund could also lose money if the value of the collateral decreases.

Rules-Based Management Risks. The sub-adviser uses proprietary investment techniques and analyses in making investment decisions for the Fund, seeking to achieve its investment objective while minimizing exposure to security-specific risk. The strategy seeks to take advantage of certain quantitative and behavioral market characteristics identified by the sub-adviser, utilizing a rules-based process and systematic rebalancing. A systematic investment process is dependent on the sub-adviser’s skill in developing and maintaining that process. The Fund’s strategy has not been independently tested or validated, and there can be no assurance that it will achieve the desired results.

General Fund Investing Risks. The Fund is not a complete investment program and there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.  It is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund.  The Fund is designed to be a long-term investment vehicle and is not suited for short-term trading.  Investors in the Fund should have a long-term investment perspective and be able to tolerate potentially sharp declines in value.  Purchase and redemption activities by Fund shareholders may impact the management of the Fund and its ability to achieve its investment objective(s).  In addition, the redemption by one or more large shareholders or groups of shareholders of their holdings in the Fund could have an adverse impact on the remaining shareholders in the Fund.  The Fund relies on various service providers, including the investment adviser and sub-adviser, if applicable, in its operations and is susceptible to operational, information security and related events (such as public health crises, cyber or hacking attacks) that may affect the service providers or the services that they provide to the Fund.  An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

Bar Chart and Performance Table rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading Performance
Performance Narrative rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and how the Fund’s average annual returns over time compare with those of one or more indexes intended to measure broad market performance. The Fund’s primary benchmark index was changed from the Russell 1000® Value Index to the S&P 500® Index effective May 1, 2024 to comply with the regulation that requires the Fund’s primary benchmark to represent the overall applicable market. The additional index(es) in the table provide a means to compare the Fund’s average annual returns to a benchmark that the investment adviser believes is representative of the Fund’s investment universe. The returns in the bar chart are for Class A shares and do not reflect a sales charge. If the sales charge was reflected, the returns would be lower. Effective April 29, 2022, the Fund’s Investor Class shares were redesignated as Class A shares and the Fund’s Institutional Class shares were redesignated as Class I shares. Past performance (both before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The Fund’s performance reflects the effects of expense reductions. Absent these reductions, performance would have been lower. Updated Fund performance information can be obtained by visiting www.eatonvance.com.

Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and how the Fund’s average annual returns over time compare with those of one or more indexes intended to measure broad market performance. The Fund’s primary benchmark index was changed from the Russell 1000® Value Index to the S&P 500® Index effective May 1, 2024 to comply with the regulation that requires the Fund’s primary benchmark to represent the overall applicable market. The additional index(es) in the table provide a means to compare the Fund’s average annual returns to a benchmark that the investment adviser believes is representative of the Fund’s investment universe.
Performance Availability Website Address rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress www.eatonvance.com
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture Past performance (both before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Bar Chart Does Not Reflect Sales Loads rr_BarChartDoesNotReflectSalesLoads The returns in the bar chart are for Class A shares and do not reflect a sales charge. If the sales charge was reflected, the returns would be lower. Effective April 29, 2022, the Fund’s Investor Class shares were redesignated as Class A shares and the Fund’s Institutional Class shares were redesignated as Class I shares.
Annual Return Caption rr_AnnualReturnCaption Calendar year-by-year total return
Bar Chart Closing rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

During the period from December 31, 2014 through December 31, 2023, the highest quarterly total return for Class A was 19.60% for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, and the lowest quarterly return was -29.03% for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.  The year-to-date total return through the end of the most recent calendar quarter (December 31, 2023 to March 31, 2024) was 5.43%.

Performance Table Does Reflect Sales Loads rr_PerformanceTableDoesReflectSalesLoads These returns reflect the maximum sales charge for Class A (5.25%).
Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on a shareholder’s tax situation and the actual characterization of distributions, and may differ from those shown.
Performance Table Not Relevant to Tax Deferred rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred After-tax returns are not relevant to shareholders who hold shares in tax-deferred accounts or to shares held by nontaxable entities.
Performance Table One Class of after Tax Shown rr_PerformanceTableOneClassOfAfterTaxShown After-tax returns for other Classes of shares will vary from the after-tax returns presented for Class A shares.
Performance Table Explanation after Tax Higher rr_PerformanceTableExplanationAfterTaxHigher Return After Taxes on Distributions for a period may be the same as Return Before Taxes for that period because no taxable distributions were made during that period. Also, Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares for a period may be greater than or equal to Return Before Taxes and/or Return After Taxes on Distributions for the same period because of losses realized on the sale of Fund shares.
Performance Table Closing rr_PerformanceTableClosingTextBlock

These returns reflect the maximum sales charge for Class A (5.25%). On April 29, 2022, the Fund’s Investor Class shares were redesignated as Class A shares and the Fund’s Institutional Class shares were redesignated as Class I shares.  Investor Class shares had previously been sold without a sales charge. Class A and Class I commenced operations on March 26, 2014.  

The S&P 500® Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates (“SP DJI”) and any Third Party Licensor, and has been licensed for use by Eaton Vance. S&P®, S&P 500®, US 500, The 500, iBoxx®, iTraxx® and CDX® are trademarks of S&P Global, Inc. or its affiliates (“S&P”); Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”); any Third Party Licensor Trademarks are trademarks of the Third Party Licensor and these trademarks have been licensed for use by SPDJI and sublicensed for certain purposes by Eaton Vance. The Fund is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, S&P, their respective affiliates, or any Third Party Licensor and none of such parties make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s) nor do they have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of the S&P 500® Index. Investors cannot invest directly in an Index.

After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on a shareholder’s tax situation and the actual characterization of distributions, and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to shareholders who hold shares in tax-deferred accounts or to shares held by nontaxable entities.   After-tax returns for other Classes of shares will vary from the after-tax returns presented for Class A shares. Return After Taxes on Distributions for a period may be the same as Return Before Taxes for that period because no taxable distributions were made during that period. Also, Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares for a period may be greater than or equal to Return Before Taxes and/or Return After Taxes on Distributions for the same period because of losses realized on the sale of Fund shares.

Average Annual Return, Caption rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption Average Annual Total Return as of December 31, 2023
Parametric Dividend Income Fund | Risk Lose Money  
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
Risk rr_RiskTextBlock The Fund is not a complete investment program and there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.  It is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund.
Parametric Dividend Income Fund | Risk Not Insured Depository Institution  
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
Risk rr_RiskTextBlock An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Parametric Dividend Income Fund | S&P 500® Index  
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
Index No Deduction for Fees, Expenses, Taxes rr_IndexNoDeductionForFeesExpensesTaxes (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
One Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 26.29%
Five Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 15.68%
Life of Fund rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 12.25%
Parametric Dividend Income Fund | Russell 1000® Value Index  
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
Index No Deduction for Fees, Expenses, Taxes rr_IndexNoDeductionForFeesExpensesTaxes Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
One Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 11.46%
Five Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 10.90%
Life of Fund rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 8.42%
Parametric Dividend Income Fund | Class A  
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice 5.25%
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of the lower of net asset value at purchase or redemption) rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice none [1]
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.30%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 0.25%
Other Expenses(1) rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.27% [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.82%
Expense Reimbursement(2) rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.13%) [3]
Total Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.69%
1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 592
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 761
5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 944
10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 1,474
2015 rr_AnnualReturn2015 (0.68%)
2016 rr_AnnualReturn2016 19.33%
2017 rr_AnnualReturn2017 15.47%
2018 rr_AnnualReturn2018 (7.62%)
2019 rr_AnnualReturn2019 21.64%
2020 rr_AnnualReturn2020 1.11%
2021 rr_AnnualReturn2021 26.06%
2022 rr_AnnualReturn2022 0.03%
2023 rr_AnnualReturn2023 4.81%
Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate Mar. 31, 2024
Bar Chart, Year to Date Return rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn 5.43%
Highest Quarterly Return, Label rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel highest quarterly total return
Highest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate Jun. 30, 2020
Highest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn 19.60%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel lowest quarterly return
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate Mar. 31, 2020
Lowest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn (29.03%)
One Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (0.70%)
Five Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 9.01%
Life of Fund rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 8.21%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Mar. 26, 2014
Parametric Dividend Income Fund | Class A | After Taxes on Distributions  
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
One Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (1.42%)
Five Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 8.36%
Life of Fund rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 7.31%
Parametric Dividend Income Fund | Class A | After Taxes on Distributions and Sales  
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
One Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 0.07%
Five Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 7.09%
Life of Fund rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 6.43%
Parametric Dividend Income Fund | Class I  
Prospectus [Line Items] rr_ProspectusLineItems  
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of the lower of net asset value at purchase or redemption) rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.30%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets none
Other Expenses(1) rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.27% [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.57%
Expense Reimbursement(2) rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.13%) [3]
Total Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.44%
1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 45
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 170
5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 305
10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 701
One Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 5.07%
Five Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 10.46%
Life of Fund rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 9.07%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Mar. 26, 2014
[1] Class A shares purchased at net asset value in amounts of $1 million or more are subject to a 1.00% contingent deferred sales charge if redeemed within 12 months of purchase.
[2] Includes interest expense of 0.04%.
[3] The investment adviser and administrator and sub-adviser have agreed to reimburse the Fund’s expenses to the extent that Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.65% for Class A shares and 0.40% for Class I shares.  This expense reimbursement will continue through July 1, 2025.  Any amendment to or termination of this reimbursement would require approval of the Board of Trustees.  The expense reimbursement relates to ordinary operating expenses only and does not include expenses such as:  brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses of unaffiliated funds, borrowing costs (including borrowing costs of any acquired funds), taxes or litigation expenses.  Amounts reimbursed may be recouped by the investment adviser and administrator and sub-adviser during the same fiscal year to the extent actual expenses are less than any contractual expense cap in place during such year. Pursuant to this arrangement, the investment adviser and administrator and sub-adviser may recoup from the Fund any reimbursed expenses during the same fiscal year if such recoupment does not cause the Fund’s Total Annual Operating Expenses after such recoupment to exceed (i) the expense limit in effect at the time of reimbursement; or (ii) the expense limit in effect at the time of recoupment.