How to Raise Desk Height Safely: Measure, Lift, Check

Isometric illustration of desk height adjustment

If your desk is too low, the fix is usually a set of risers under each leg, sized to the exact number of inches your elbows need. First work out that number. Then match the lift to your leg shape and desk construction. Finally, check stability and knee room before you put weight on it. This guide walks through all three steps with a worked example, and tells you when raising the desk is the wrong answer.

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TL;DR

Sit with your feet flat and your elbows bent to about 90 degrees. Measure from the floor to the underside of your forearm. Subtract your current desk height. The result is the lift you need.
Risers under each leg are the fastest way to lift a fixed desk. They must fit your legs, whether round, angled or tapered, or the desk can slide or sway.
Lifting a desk makes its legs longer levers. Tighten every bolt first, and add bracing for tall lifts or heavy desks.
Check thigh clearance. A higher desktop is no help if your knees now hit a drawer or an apron.
If the problem is your monitor, not your keyboard, raising the whole desk is the wrong fix.

Why a low desk hurts more than it seems
Step 1: Measure the height you actually need
Is it the desk, or something else?
Ways to make a desk taller
Why custom-sized risers solve the usual problems
Step 2: Make the desk stable before you lift it
Step 3: Check knee and thigh clearance
What about the rest of the room?
Our perspective: measure first, then order once
Order risers sized to your desk
FAQ
Sources

Why a low desk hurts more than it seems

A desk that is too low pushes you into a slump. You hunch your shoulders, bend your wrists, or lean over the work. OSHA’s workstation guidance notes that keyboards and work surfaces set too high or too low can lead to awkward wrist, arm and shoulder postures.

The target is a neutral posture. According to OSHA’s desk guidance, your elbows stay close to your body and bend at roughly 90 to 110 degrees, with forearms horizontal to the floor. Your shoulders stay relaxed and your wrists stay straight, not bent up, down or sideways.

This is why a standard desk fits some people and not others. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety makes the point that there is no “average” person. A fixed-height desk is built for a guess, and your body is the real measurement.

Step 1: Measure the height you actually need

Don’t guess at “a couple of inches.” Use the elbow method that OSHA-based guidance describes.

Sit in the chair you really use, with your feet flat on the floor (or on a footrest if you use one).
Let your upper arms hang relaxed at your sides.
Bend your elbows to about 90 degrees, forearms level.
Have someone measure from the floor to the underside of your forearm. That is your target keyboard-surface height.
Measure from the floor to the top of your desk, at the spot where you type.
Subtract the second number from the first. That is your riser height.

A worked example

Say your forearm measures 28.5 inches from the floor. Your desk top measures 26.5 inches. You need 2 inches of lift. If your desk has a keyboard tray that hangs below the surface, measure to the tray instead, because that is where your hands will be.

The OSHA purchasing guide gives working ranges: a seated keyboard surface adjustable between 22 and 30 inches, and a standing one between 36 and 46.5 inches. The keyboard should sit at or slightly below elbow height. Your own number should fall inside that seated range. If it doesn’t, check your measuring posture again.

Desk height ranges and two-inch lift example

Measure twice, on a different day if you can. Your chair height, shoes and posture all change the result. Also decide now whether you will change your chair. The measurement is only valid for the chair and seat height you will keep using.

Is it the desk, or something else?

Before you lift anything, rule out two common misdiagnoses.

The monitor is the problem. Many people think the desk is too low when the screen is too low. OSHA’s guidance is that desk height follows your seated elbow height, while the monitor is a separate adjustment. If you raise the whole desk to fix screen position, you can end up with a keyboard that is too high, forcing your shoulders up or your wrists to bend. OSHA’s monitor tips put the top line of the screen at or below eye level, directly in front of you and at least 20 inches away. A monitor stand or a stack of sturdy books solves that without touching the desk.

The chair is too low or too high. If the desk is only slightly off, you may be able to raise the chair instead. OSHA and ergonomics professionals suggest lower-tech changes before buying new equipment: raise the chair and add a footrest so your body lines up with the desk you have. This only works if your legs still have adequate clearance under the desktop. A footrest matters here, because a raised chair with dangling feet creates a new problem.

Ways to make a desk taller

There are several routes. Which one is right depends on how much you need and what your desk is made of.

Method	Typical lift	Best for	Watch out for
Raise the chair and add a footrest	Any, within clearance	Small gaps, shared desks	Knee room under the desk
Stackable or stock risers	Pre-set steps	Flat, square-footed desks	Round, angled or tapered legs may not seat properly
Custom-sized risers	Exact to the hundredth of an inch	Any leg shape, exact fits	Order lead time, as they are built to order
Cut wooden blocks	Exact, if cut well	DIY with a saw	Uneven cuts cause rocking
Taller replacement legs or feet	Large lifts	Desks with removable legs	Needs compatible hardware
Sit-stand desk or converter	Full range	Daily position changes	Cost, and the habit has to stick

Risers under each leg

For a fixed four-leg desk, risers are the simplest fix. Woodworking guidance calls sliding risers under each leg, or cutting matching blocks, the fastest safe method, once you have measured how many inches your elbows need.

The weak point is fit. Pre-set risers come in whole-inch steps, such as 1, 2 or 3 inches, and they are made with a cup or a flat pad for a typical leg. If your desk has round legs, angled legs, or a tapered foot, the leg can sit loosely in the cup. If your target is 2.4 inches, you are stuck choosing between 2 and 3.

Desk legs sitting loosely on stock risers

Taller feet and legs

If your desk’s legs unscrew, replacement legs or extension feet can add more height than risers. The catch is compatibility: the thread, the mounting plate and the leg diameter all need to match. We also make custom furniture legs with a 2-inch pocket for cases where a riser is not the right shape for the job.

Sit-stand options

If your real goal is to vary your posture, not only to fix a height, a sit-stand setup deserves a look. A 2023 cluster randomized trial found that one intervention arm reduced sitting time by 63.7 minutes a day compared with controls. The researchers’ broader message is that the benefit comes from alternating positions, and early gains can fade if the habit is not kept up. A sit-stand desk is not a magic fix. If you are not going to stand, a correctly sized fixed desk does the job.

Why custom-sized risers solve the usual problems

Stock risers are designed around a typical leg and a typical lift. Desks vary a lot more than that. Metal-frame desks often have round tubes. Mid-century desks have angled, tapered legs. Some have a pad foot with a levelling bolt. A riser that doesn’t hold the leg is a riser that lets the desk creep, tilt or rock.

This is the gap we built our desk risers to fill. You enter the lift height you measured, down to the hundredth of an inch, and the dimensions of your leg. The configurator accepts round, angled, irregular and standard leg shapes, and updates the cost as you choose each option. Everything is 3D-printed to order. That means the riser is built around your desk, and you are not hunting for the closest stock size.

A few options are worth knowing about for a desk:

Extra stability reinforcement, for heavy desks, tall lifts or desks that carry multiple monitors. It costs $3.00 one-off per riser.
Wood grain texture, if you want the risers to blend into a wood desk. It costs $2.00 one-off per riser.
Colors and finishes. You can pick wood tones, solid colors or metallics, so the lift doesn’t look like an afterthought. See our colored risers and metallic risers.

For a very heavy desk, such as a solid wood executive desk or a workstation with a full load of equipment, start with our heavy duty furniture risers.

Step 2: Make the desk stable before you lift it

Stability is the most common pitfall. When you add height, you make every leg a longer lever. That raises the risk of side-to-side sway, which woodworkers call racking. Woodworking guidance recommends checking the hardware first: tighten every bolt in the leg-to-apron joints before you add any height, and consider diagonal corner bracing to keep the frame rigid once it is lifted.

A practical checklist:

Push test the desk now. Press on a corner and try to rock it. If it already wobbles, fix that first, because lifting will make it worse.
Tighten every fastener. Check leg bolts, brackets and any cam locks.
Lift all legs by exactly the same amount. Even a small mismatch makes a desk rock. Measure each riser, and put the desk on a flat floor.
Seat each leg fully in its riser. The leg should sit in a pocket or against a stop, not balance on a flat pad.
Test again after lifting. Push on each corner. Then type, write and lean on the desk as you normally do.
Re-check after a week. Fasteners settle. Tighten again if you feel any play.

For small lifts, usually an inch or two, a tight frame is often enough. For larger lifts, a heavy desk or a tall hutch on top, add bracing or choose a heavier-duty riser. If the desk holds a lot of weight, remember the load is concentrated on four small contact points, so each riser needs to carry its share.

Step 3: Check knee and thigh clearance

Raising the desktop is not enough if your legs still don’t fit beneath it. People often forget thigh clearance when they add risers. CCOHS ergonomics guidance stresses that you need adequate space under the desktop to sit in a neutral position.

The good news: raising a desk with risers increases clearance, because the underside rises with the top. That is another advantage over lowering your elbow reach by other means. If you have a center pencil drawer that gets in the way, OSHA’s desk guidance suggests removing it to gain leg clearance.

Check these points after the lift:

Your thighs don’t touch the underside of the desktop or the drawer.
Your knees clear any cross-brace or modesty panel.
Your feet rest flat on the floor, or on a footrest.
Your chair can still roll in far enough that your forearms rest at the right angle.

If you find that the desk is now too high for your seat, you can also raise the chair slightly, but keep your feet supported.

What about the rest of the room?

A desk at the right height can still be a poor setup. A few adjacent fixes:

Monitor: top line of the screen at or below eye level, per OSHA’s monitor guidance.
Keyboard: at or slightly below elbow height, with wrists straight.
Chair: CCOHS notes that when the desk is fixed, an adjustable chair with a footrest is a practical way to reach a neutral posture.

If your dining table doubles as a workspace, the same measurements apply. Our table risers and chair risers are built the same way, to your own dimensions.

Our perspective: measure first, then order once

We see the same pattern again and again. Someone buys a set of stock risers, finds that the leg doesn’t sit in the cup, and ends up with a desk that rocks. Or they pick a 3-inch lift when 2.4 inches was the right answer, and now their shoulders ride up toward their ears.

We built the configurator around the opposite approach. Measure your elbow height. Measure the desk. Subtract. Then enter the exact number and the exact leg shape, and watch the price update as you choose finishes. That is the whole idea: a riser sized to the desk you own and the body that sits at it.

We also think it is worth being honest about when a riser is not the answer. If your problem is a low monitor, buy a monitor stand. If the gap is half an inch, adjust the chair. If you want to alternate between sitting and standing every day, a sit-stand desk may serve you better. When you have a fixed desk that you like, and it is simply too low, a well-fitted riser is the cleanest fix we know of.

— Harris

Order risers sized to your desk

Once you have your number, you can order custom desk risers in our configurator. Enter the height, describe your legs, choose a color or finish, add extra stability if the desk is heavy, and see the cost update as you go. If you are lifting something other than a desk, the same service covers beds and sofas, and you can start from the main configurator.

FAQ

What can I use to raise my desk higher?

The most direct options are risers under each leg, cut wooden blocks, or taller replacement legs. For a fixed desk, risers sized to your exact lift and leg shape are usually the cleanest and safest. For small gaps, raising your chair and adding a footrest also works.

How high should my desk be off the ground?

It depends on your body. Your keyboard surface should sit at or slightly below elbow height when your elbows are bent to about 90 degrees. OSHA’s purchasing guide gives a seated range of 22 to 30 inches for an adjustable keyboard surface. Measure your own elbow height rather than relying on a standard number.

What can I do if my desk is too low?

Measure first, so you know how many inches you need. Then lift the desk with risers, or raise your chair and use a footrest if the gap is small. Check that your thighs have clearance, and remove a center drawer if it is in the way. If you have shoulder or wrist pain that continues, see a doctor or an occupational therapist.

Will raising my desk make it wobble?

It can, because longer legs act as longer levers. Tighten every bolt before the lift, make sure each riser holds its leg fully, and lift every leg by exactly the same amount. For tall lifts or heavy desks, add diagonal bracing and choose reinforced risers.