How to Measure a Standing Desk Before You Buy One

A standing desk is worth buying only when its platform can reach your standing elbow height and still work at your seated elbow height. If the desk you already have does both, stop here.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety describes a sit/stand desk as a work platform that lowers and raises so you can switch between sitting and standing. CCOHS says the reason to consider one is that changing position more often may help, and it names two downsides: what the desk costs, and standing too long, which may lead to foot, knee, hip, and back problems. This page does not add a medical claim on top of that.

Write down five measurements

Use a tape measure and a helper, or a pencil mark on the wall. Record inches.

1. Floor footprint. Mark the rectangle the desk top will cover, including the feet. Leave a path behind the chair.
2. Seated elbow height. Sit in the chair you will actually use, feet supported, and measure from the floor to the underside of your elbow while the elbow stays close to your body.
3. Standing elbow height. Stand in the footwear you wear at the desk and measure from the floor to that same spot under the elbow.
4. Knee clearance. While seated, measure from the floor to the top of your thigh, then add the thickness of the desktop you are considering. The moving parts under the top have to clear your knees at the low setting.
5. Cable path. Note where the power outlet is, and whether a monitor or laptop cable can move through the full height range without catching.

CCOHS says that in the standing position the platform should be about at your standing elbow, with your arms in the same position you would use while sitting. It also says hands, wrists, and forearms should be straight, in line, and roughly parallel to the floor, and that elbows should stay close to the body and bend at about 90 degrees. The head stays level. For the screen, CCOHS puts the seated sight line between horizontal and 30 degrees below horizontal, and the standing monitor between horizontal and 35 degrees below.

Those are setup rules, not a desk model. Take them to the manufacturer page and compare them with the published minimum and maximum height. If the page does not publish both numbers, you do not yet know whether the desk fits.

Named desks on this site

Four HUANUO desks have pages here: a 48x24 Rustic Brown, a 48x24 whose title includes 2 drawers, a 71x30, and a 65.5 by 57.6 inch L. The pages use those titles. A manufacturer height range was not read, so none of them is described as a fit for your elbow height. The 71x30 and the drawer desk do not have separate reviews. Compare the four in HUANUO standing desk sizes. FlexiSpot, Autonomous, Vari, and Branch spec pages were not readable as a confirmed height range on 2026-11-03, so those names are not listed.

When not to buy

Skip a new desk when any of these is true:

• The desk you have already meets both elbow heights and has knee room.
• The floor rectangle is smaller than the top you would need for the keyboard and a screen.
• Cables, a drawer, or a shelf would block the lift.
• You cannot stand in supportive shoes, or you already know that standing bothers your feet, knees, hips, or back. CCOHS lists that as a downside and mentions an anti-fatigue mat and a footrest as things to consider. A new desk does not remove that issue.

How long to stand, according to CCOHS

CCOHS says suggestions vary. One end of the range it cites is sitting for an hour and standing for five minutes. Other suggestions it cites switch between sitting and standing for 20, 30, 45, or 60 minutes. It says a health professional may also make a suggestion, and that the useful point is to alternate rather than to adopt one number. It also notes that some people go back to sitting for most of the day after the first trial. This site does not choose among those schedules.

Keep taking breaks away from the screen. CCOHS says that still matters for the eyes and for changing the position of the head, upper body, arms, and hands.

Where to go next

If the desk height is already fine and the chair is the tight spot, use how to choose an office chair size. If the screen is the wrong height on a desk you are keeping, use how to measure a monitor arm. If the keyboard is deeper than the remaining desk, use how to choose a keyboard and mouse.