Why most desk-height advice is wrong for you
The standard online advice is that your desk should be 73cm high. This is the height of nearly every fixed-leg office desk sold in the UK, and it’s the default of every sit-stand desk before adjustment. It’s also the wrong height for most people who aren’t around 170cm tall.
A 73cm desk is approximately correct for a 170cm-tall adult sitting on a chair set to a standard 44cm seat height, with feet flat on the floor, elbows at roughly 90 degrees, and forearms parallel to the desk surface. Outside that height window, the same desk requires either compromise (raised arms, slumped shoulders, footrest) or a different chair height that breaks one of the other measurements.
This guide walks through how to actually size a desk and chair to your body. It’s aimed at UK buyers about to spend £400 or more on a chair-and-desk combination, who want to get the sizing right at the first attempt rather than discovering at month three that the setup is wrong.
This article provides general information about ergonomic setup. It is not medical advice. If you experience persistent pain, consult a healthcare professional.
What “correct” sizing actually means
The Health and Safety Executive’s display screen equipment guidance and the broader ergonomic literature converge on the same set of body angles for sustained desk work:
- Elbows at roughly 90 to 100 degrees, with forearms parallel to (or sloping slightly down toward) the desk surface.
- Wrists straight, neither flexed up nor bent down, with the keyboard at a height that lets the hands rest naturally.
- Hips at 90 to 110 degrees, with knees slightly lower than hips and feet flat on the floor (or a footrest).
- Top of the monitor at or slightly below eye level, with the screen 50 to 70 centimetres from your face.
- Lower back supported by the chair’s lumbar curve, not slumped against a flat back.
The trick is that all five of those constraints have to be true simultaneously, and your desk and chair heights are fixed (or have a limited adjustment range). That’s why getting the sizing right at purchase matters — once you’ve bought a non-adjustable desk and a chair without enough range, the setup is what it is.
Desk height — what the evidence says
Desk height is determined by your seated elbow height. Sit upright in a chair you’d actually use for work, with your shoulders relaxed and your upper arms hanging vertically. Bend your elbows to 90 degrees so your forearms are parallel to the floor. Measure from the floor to the underside of your forearm. That’s your seated elbow height — and your desk should be at approximately that height, plus zero to two centimetres for keyboard thickness if you use a thicker mechanical keyboard.
For an average UK adult height range, this gives:
| Standing height | Approximate seated desk height |
|---|---|
| 150cm | 65–67cm |
| 160cm | 68–71cm |
| 170cm | 72–75cm |
| 180cm | 76–79cm |
| 190cm | 80–83cm |
| 200cm | 83–86cm |
These are approximations — your body proportions matter more than your overall height. Someone with a long torso and short legs will sit taller for a given height, which raises their seated elbow height and pushes the right desk height up. Someone with the opposite proportions sits lower at the same height. Always measure your actual seated elbow height rather than relying on the table — it’s a five-minute test that calibrates the rest of the decision.
The honest implication: if you’re outside the 165 to 175cm range, the standard 73cm fixed-leg desk is probably wrong for you. A sit-stand desk with a wide adjustment range solves this, which is one of the strongest arguments for buying one even if you never plan to stand.
Chair seat height — what to actually measure
Chair seat height is determined by your popliteal height — the distance from the floor to the back of your knee when your foot is flat on the floor with your knee at 90 degrees. Wear the shoes you’ll wear at the desk when you measure (or measure barefoot if you’ll work barefoot). Sit in a chair that’s the wrong height; lift your foot until your thigh is parallel to the floor; measure from the bottom of your foot to the back of your knee.
For an average UK adult height range:
| Standing height | Approximate chair seat height |
|---|---|
| 150cm | 38–41cm |
| 160cm | 40–43cm |
| 170cm | 42–46cm |
| 180cm | 45–49cm |
| 190cm | 47–51cm |
| 200cm | 50–54cm |
Two complications matter:
Adjustment range. Most office chairs in the UK list a seat height range of around 42 to 52cm. A user under 160cm will often find their correct seat height is below the lowest setting — meaning the chair is too tall even at minimum, and the user’s feet won’t reach the floor. A footrest is the workaround, but it’s better to find a chair with a lower minimum (some Sihoo, FlexiSpot, and HÅG models reach 41cm or lower).
Tall users. Users over 185cm often find the chair’s maximum is too low. The same models with low minimums sometimes have low maximums — a chair with a 41–48cm range is great for shorter users but useless for taller ones. Tall users should specifically check the chair’s maximum seat height before buying.
For more detail on chairs that handle these edge cases, our ergonomic chair guide for under £400 and mesh chair guide for under £250 cover the body-fit segmentation that head-term reviews skip.
Monitor placement — the missing third dimension
Once desk and chair are right, monitor placement is the next adjustment most people get wrong. Two distances matter:
Vertical position. The top of the monitor screen should be at or slightly below your eye level when you’re sitting upright with your head in a neutral position. For most users, this means the monitor needs to be lifted off the desk — a 27-inch monitor on its stock stand is typically 35–40cm tall total, which puts the screen centre about 20cm below eye level, which produces neck-down posture over time.
The fix is a monitor arm, a monitor riser, or a stack of books. A height-adjustable monitor arm is the right solution for most setups because it lets you tune the height precisely and re-adjust if you change chair or desk. Most users find their correct monitor centre height is somewhere between 35 and 45cm above the desk surface, but it depends on your seated eye level — measure with the monitor in place and adjust to suit.
Distance. Aim for 50 to 70cm from your face to the screen. Closer than 50cm and your eyes work harder to focus; further than 70cm and you’ll lean forward to read text, which puts you back into bad posture. For a typical 60cm-deep desk with a monitor pushed to the rear of the desk and your chair pulled in normally, this distance falls into range automatically. For a 50cm-deep desk, the monitor needs to be on an arm with the screen pushed back over the rear edge of the desk — the desktop alone won’t give the distance.
For the sit-stand desk decision specifically, our sit-stand desk guide for small UK home offices covers desk depth and the height-range considerations that matter once monitor placement is locked in.
Adjustment ranges to look for when buying
When you’re shopping for a chair and desk, the spec sheets that matter for sizing are:
Chair: seat height range (the two numbers — minimum and maximum), seat depth adjustment (important for tall users with long thighs and short users with shorter thighs), backrest height, lumbar support height adjustment, and armrest height range. A chair with adjustments only on seat height and tilt is rarely enough for users outside the 165–180cm range.
Desk (fixed-height): the desk’s height, full stop. You’re choosing between manufacturer-stated heights of typically 72, 73, 74, or 75cm. Pick the one closest to your seated elbow height plus zero to two centimetres.
Desk (sit-stand): the height range, listed as two numbers. A typical UK sit-stand desk runs 71 to 117cm or thereabouts. Check that the lower end is below your seated desk height (it almost always is) and the upper end is at or above your standing elbow height (this matters for tall users — some cheaper desks max out at 117cm, which is too low for users over 195cm to use standing).
The chair adjustment range will usually limit your options before the desk does. If you’re outside the 160–185cm window, prioritise finding a chair with adjustments that suit your body before you commit to the desk.
Buyer checklist before you order
- Measured your seated elbow height with the chair you’ll actually use, so you know your target desk height to within a couple of centimetres.
- Measured your popliteal height in the shoes you’ll wear at the desk, so you know your target chair seat height.
- Confirmed the chair’s seat height range covers your target with margin (don’t buy a chair where your target is at the very minimum or maximum — you’ll have no room to fine-tune).
- Confirmed the desk’s height (or sit-stand range) suits your target seated desk height, plus standing elbow height if it’s a sit-stand.
- Checked the chair’s seat depth adjustment if you’re significantly taller or shorter than average — short thighs need a shorter seat pan to avoid pressure behind the knee; long thighs need a longer pan for proper support.
- Identified whether you’ll need a footrest (likely if your seated desk height target requires the chair to sit higher than your popliteal height — common for users under 160cm).
- Planned for a monitor arm or riser to bring the screen up to eye level — assume the monitor’s stock stand will be too low.
- Allowed for the seat height to need re-adjusting once the chair arrives. The optimal height isn’t always the calculated one — your body’s preference matters too.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the right desk height for someone 190cm tall?
For a 190cm adult, the seated desk height target is typically 79 to 83cm — meaningfully above the standard 73cm fixed-leg desk. A 73cm desk forces the user to either lower their chair (which puts knees above hips, which is wrong) or raise their arms to reach the keyboard (which strains the shoulders). The right answer is usually a sit-stand desk with the bottom of its range at or below 73cm and the top above 117cm; raise it to your correct seated height and leave it there, or change posture during the day.
Should I buy a footrest if my chair is too tall at minimum?
A footrest is the right solution if your chair’s seat height minimum is above your popliteal height — as long as the chair’s seat depth and lumbar support are otherwise correct for your body. The footrest restores feet-flat support and lets the rest of the ergonomics work. The wrong solution is to slump down or perch on the front of the seat to reach the floor; both produce posture problems within weeks. A flat platform footrest works fine; you don’t need a tilting one unless you have a specific reason.
Can I just adjust to a sit-stand desk in standing mode all day instead?
Standing all day produces its own problems — leg fatigue, lower back strain, pooling in the lower extremities. The current ergonomic guidance is to alternate between sitting and standing, with most evidence pointing to roughly 30–45 minutes of sitting followed by 15–20 minutes of standing as a reasonable starting rhythm. Starting at 100% standing is more likely to make you abandon the standing desk than benefit from it. Build up gradually.
The bottom line
Get the seated elbow height and popliteal height measurements first, before you choose any specific products. Use those numbers to evaluate the adjustment ranges of any chair and desk you’re considering, and rule out anything where your target sits at the limit of the range rather than comfortably within it.
For the chair side of the decision, our ergonomic office chair guide for under £400 covers the body-fit segmentation that matters once you’ve measured. For the desk side, our sit-stand desk guide for small UK home offices covers the height-range and footprint trade-offs.
Sized right, a desk and chair combination should disappear into the work — you should stop noticing them after a week. If you’re still aware of the chair or the desk a month in, something in the sizing was wrong, and it’s worth going back to the measurements.