Standing desks

How Small Can a Standing Desk Be Before It Gets Uncomfortable?

Published · By Ergocrew · Specs and guidance as of that date, from the pages under Sources

Summary

Width can shrink a long way. Depth cannot, because the monitor has to stay far enough from your eyes. OSHA asks for a desk deep enough to hold a monitor at least 20 inches away and a top large enough for a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse. A compact sit-stand desk also needs clear space for your knees and feet, and room around it for the top to travel up and down.

Depth decides whether the monitor fits

OSHA's purchasing guide wants a desk "deep enough to accommodate a monitor placed at least 20 inches away from your eyes," and its monitor guidance puts the preferred range at 20 to 40 inches. That distance runs from your eyes, so it includes the space between you and the front edge of the desk. A shallow top is less of a problem when the screen can go further back, on a monitor arm clamped to the rear edge or a wall mount behind the desk.

If you work from a laptop, the screen and keyboard come as one piece, and the screen ends up wherever your hands are. OSHA's purchasing guide suggests a docking station for laptops "so the monitor can be placed in the best possible location." Our laptop setup guide covers the rest.

What still has to fit on top

OSHA describes the minimum surface as one "large enough to accommodate a monitor, a keyboard and an input device," and adds that the items used most "such as keyboard, mouse, and monitor" should sit "directly in front of the user." On a narrow desk, that is the first thing to test. Put the keyboard in front of you, the mouse beside it, and see what space is left.

A notebook, a phone stand or a second screen can move to a shelf, a monitor arm or a side table. The keyboard and mouse cannot. Our guides to small desk setups and to chairs for small rooms cover the rest of a tight room.

Under and around the desk

A small room makes the gap under the desk look like storage. OSHA's checklist sets minimum clearance depths of "17.6 inches for knees and 24 inches for feet," and its desk page is direct about what goes there: "Avoid storing items, such as a CPU, under desks." A computer tower or a bin under a compact desk takes the room your knees need when you sit.

A sit-stand desk occupies more space than its footprint. As it rises, the top can reach a window sill, a shelf, a wall-mounted light or the underside of a cabinet, and every cord to the wall has to stretch to the highest position. One run through the full range, in the spot you plan to use and before anything goes on top, shows which of these is in the way. CCOHS's sit/stand guidance asks that "cables, electrical access, storage of materials, and general layout do not make adjusting the desk difficult."

Related guides

Sources

  1. OSHA Computer Workstations eTool, Purchasing Guide
  2. OSHA Computer Workstations eTool, Desks
  3. OSHA Computer Workstations eTool, Monitors
  4. CCOHS, Office Ergonomics - Sit/Stand Desk

We have not tested these products. Specs and guidance are as published on these pages on the date above and can change; the manufacturer's page for your model has the current details.

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