Cables and desk layout

Where Should Each Desk Cable Go, From the Laptop to the Wall?

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

Summary

Sort the cables by where they run. Short leads between devices stay on the desktop, the power strip and adapters go under the desk in a spot your legs don't need, and as few cords as possible make one planned trip down to the wall. The desktop cables are the ones you change most often, so they stay easy to reach, and the cords carrying mains power stay out of places where they get covered, stepped on or squeezed.

Count what you have first

Take an ordinary home desk: a laptop, one monitor, a lamp, a pair of powered speakers and a phone charger. The laptop, monitor, lamp and speakers each need a power cord, and the phone charger takes a fifth outlet. On the signal side there's a video cable from the laptop to the monitor and an audio cable to the speakers. That's five power cords and two signal cables before you add a keyboard or a webcam.

The signal cables start and finish on the desk. Every power cord ends at the wall. That difference is what the three zones below are built on.

Zone one, the desktop

Only cables that connect things you touch belong up here: the video cable, a keyboard or mouse lead, the cable you charge your phone from. Don't shorten these to make the desk look tidy. OSHA's purchasing guide wants input-device cords long enough for the keyboard and mouse to move around, and says "At least six feet of cord length is desirable." A short cord fixes the keyboard in one spot.

Zone two, under the desk

The underside takes the power strip, the laptop's power brick and any spare length. The limit is your legs. OSHA's desk page says the space under the work surface "should remain free of items such as files, CPUs, books, and storage," and asks for enough clearance "for users to frequently change working postures." Fix things toward the back edge, tight against the underside, so the front of that space stays open for knees and feet. Our under-desk cable management guide gives OSHA's clearance dimensions and how to measure them.

Zone three, the run to the wall

This part has safety rules attached, because it carries mains power. The Electrical Safety Foundation (ESFI) says in its working-from-home advice to "Never run cords under rugs/carpets, doors, or windows." Its extension cord page explains why covering a cord matters: "If a cord is covered, heat cannot escape, which may result in a fire hazard." The same page says power strips "must be plugged directly into mounted electrical receptacles; they cannot be chained together."

In practice that means one power strip, plugged straight into the wall, with its cord taking a short path along the wall or down a desk leg and nothing resting on it. If a chair caster or the desk frame can reach that cord, the route needs to change.

Moving five plugs onto one strip also doesn't give the wall outlet more capacity. ESFI puts it this way: "Power strips only add additional outlets; they do not change the amount of power being received from the outlet."

Leaving room for the next change

Label both ends of cords that look alike, such as two identical black power bricks. Hook-and-loop ties open and close again, so they suit bundles you'll add to later, and loose slack belongs next to anything that moves, like a monitor arm or a laptop you take with you. CCOHS, the Canadian occupational safety centre, includes two questions about this in its checklist for people working from home: "Are cords and cables causing a tripping hazard?" and "Are extension cords in good condition and positioned properly?"

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Related guides

Sources

  1. OSHA Computer Workstations eTool, Desks
  2. OSHA Computer Workstations eTool, Purchasing Guide
  3. ESFI, Electrical Safety While Working From Home
  4. ESFI, Extension Cord Safety Tips
  5. ESFI, Don't Overload Your Home
  6. CCOHS, Telework / Remote Work / Working From Home

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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