Electric standing desk
A motorised steel frame that you build upside down, then flip. Heavy, but genuinely simple.
Not what you bought? Try Four-leg desk or table · L-shaped or corner desk
What you need
In the box already: Allen key · Frame bolts · Wood screws · Control box and keypad · Cable tray and clips · Motor cables
Before you open anything
- Clear a big floor area. You build the whole thing upside down and then flip it.
- Put the top face-down on its own packaging. Standing desk tops are often bamboo or laminate and scratch instantly.
- Check whether your top is pre-drilled. If not, you will be marking and drilling pilot holes, which adds twenty minutes.
- Have the power outlet location in mind. The control box cable is not long.
Please don't skip these
- Never put your fingers between the legs and the frame while the desk is powering. The motors have real force.
- Keep cables clear of the lifting columns. A cable caught in a rising desk will be pulled apart.
- Do not exceed the stated weight limit, and remember a loaded desk raising itself puts all that weight on the motors.
The whole thing, step by step
10 steps-
Top face-down, frame parts laid out around it
Lay the desktop upside down on its packaging. Put the two leg columns, the crossbar, and the feet around it in roughly the right positions.
- Top face-down on padding
- Two leg columns, two feet, one crossbar
- Hardware bag opened into a bowl
-
Bolt the crossbar to the leg columns
The telescoping crossbar connects the two leg columns. Bolt it to both, finger-tight, and leave it loose so you can set the width later.
- Crossbar brackets onto the columns
- Finger-tight only
- If the crossbar is adjustable, leave its width bolts loose too
Tip. The crossbar usually adjusts in length to match different desktop widths. Setting it before you know your top width is backwards. -
Bolt the feet onto the columns
Each foot bolts to the bottom of a leg column. Note which way the foot points — the longer side usually goes toward the front of the desk.
- Foot plate onto the column base
- All bolts started, then tightened firmly
- Check both feet point the same way
Watch out. Feet on backwards makes the desk unstable front to back, which you only notice when you lean on it. Compare both sides. -
Center the frame on the top and set the crossbar width
Measure so the frame is centered side to side and set back a little from the front edge. Then tighten the crossbar width bolts.
- Measure from each side edge to the frame — make the numbers equal
- Set the frame back about an inch from the front edge
- Now tighten the crossbar length bolts
Tip. Setting the frame slightly back from the front edge means the front edge sits comfortably against you rather than over the steel.Watch out. An off-center frame makes the desk sag on the long side and look crooked. Measure both sides before you drive a single screw. -
Screw the frame to the top
Drive the wood screws through the frame into the top. If the top is not pre-drilled, mark every hole and drill shallow pilot holes first.
- Use only the short screws for the top
- Pre-drilled top: straight in
- Undrilled top: mark, then pilot drill to about two thirds of the screw length
Tip. If you are using a drill, set the clutch low. These are chipboard or bamboo tops and they strip easily.Watch out. Screw length matters enormously here. A long screw through a three-quarter inch top comes out the other side, and that is permanent damage to a desk you cannot hide. -
Mount the control box and keypad
The control box screws under the top, usually near the center. The keypad goes on the front edge on your dominant side.
- Control box in the center underside, away from the lifting columns
- Keypad on the front edge, right side for most people
- Pre-drill if your top is hardwood or bamboo
Tip. Sit in your chair and reach for where the keypad should be before you screw it down. Most people mount it too far in. -
Plug in the motor cables and tidy them
Each leg's motor cable plugs into the control box, plus the keypad and the power. Then clip every cable into the tray with plenty of slack.
- Each motor cable into its labelled port
- Keypad cable and power cable in
- Clip all cables away from the lifting columns, with slack for full travel
Watch out. Leave enough slack for the desk at full height. A cable that is just long enough at sitting height will be ripped out the first time it rises. -
Flip it with help
Two people, lift by the frame and the top together, and set it down on its feet. Do not lever it over on the legs.
- One person each end
- Lift, do not roll
- Set down on all feet at once
Watch out. Rolling a standing desk over on one leg puts the entire weight through a lifting column sideways. That is how motors get damaged. -
Reset the desk before you use it
Almost every electric desk needs an initialization reset. Hold the down button until it drops, bounces, and beeps. Until you do this, it may not move at all.
- Plug in
- Hold the down arrow for about ten seconds
- The desk lowers, dips, and beeps or flashes — that is the reset
Tip. If a brand new standing desk 'does not work', this reset is the answer about four times out of five. It is in the manual, usually on the last page. -
Set your heights and save presets
Sitting height: elbows level with the top, feet flat. Standing height: same elbow rule. Save both as presets.
- Sit, adjust until elbows are level with the desk surface
- Save as preset one
- Stand, repeat, save as preset two
Tip. Monitor top at or just below eye level. Most people set a standing desk slightly too low and then lean.
If something has gone wrong
The desk does not move at all
Do the initialization reset: hold the down button for about ten seconds until the desk drops slightly and beeps. This is required on a new desk and is the most common 'faulty desk' that is not faulty.
It makes a beeping error code
Look the code up in the manual — usually it means one motor cable is not fully seated, or the legs are out of sync. Unplug, reseat both motor cables, plug in, and reset.
One side rises faster than the other
The legs are out of sync. Run the reset procedure, which re-zeroes both motors together.
A screw came through the desktop
Wrong screw length. Back it out, fill with a wax repair stick in a matching color, and use the short screws. Compare screw length to top thickness before driving any others.
The desk wobbles at standing height
Some wobble at full extension is normal for single-motor frames. Check the crossbar bolts and foot bolts are fully tight, make sure the frame is centered, and avoid leaning on the far corner.
A cable got pulled out when it raised
Not enough slack. Unclip the cables, raise the desk to full height, then re-clip with the cables relaxed at that height.
Words you will see in the manual
- control box
- The electronics box under a standing desk that the motor, keypad and power cables all plug into.
- initialization reset
- The procedure that re-zeroes a standing desk's motors: hold the down button for about ten seconds until the desk dips and beeps. Needed on every new desk.
- crossbar
- The bar that joins two legs or two uprights. It looks decorative but it is the brace that stops the piece racking side to side. On a standing desk it also sets the desk's width.
- pilot hole
- A small hole drilled before a screw, so the screw bites instead of splitting the wood. Drill to about two thirds the screw length.