Countless books, television shows, and organizing gurus will tell you that a tidy workspace can improve your mood, productivity, and ultimately your happiness. The best desk organizers are stylish and minimalist, and offer ingenious tricks to help reduce clutter and maximize usable desk space. If you’ve ever tried to sit down for a long day’s work amid piles of unruly papers, errant supplies, and random piles of junk, you know how difficult it can be to concentrate. Not only can you find yourself wasting time, but all the visual noise around you can be very distracting.
Our modern lives and high speed-internet grant us the flexibility to work in multiple locations, and this makes it even more important to invest in the best desk organizers to keep your home office operating at its optimal potential. From pencil cups that moonlight as USB chargers to ergonomic monitor stands that offer convenient storage for your computer glasses, files, and pens, there are some great solutions to help create a pleasant and orderly desk and result in a more productive workday.
- Best ergonomic desk organizer: Sundale Bamboo Wood Monitor Stand
- Best desk organizer tray: All-in-One Desk Organizer & Docking Station
- Best desk drawer organizer: Set of 24 Interlocking Desk Drawer Organizer Tray
- Best desk file organizer: PENGKE File Organizer Triangle Iron Desktop Storage
- Best desk cable organizer: Scandinavian Hub Under Desk Cable Management Tray
- Best cheap desk organizer: iDili All-in-1 DIY Desk Organizer
Get the best desk organizer for your office
In order to get the best desktop organizer for your office, consider style, design, and function. We’ve selected some great options depending upon the type of supplies you need to store and how much space you have.
A good desk organizer will promote good habits
Ideally, a well-kept and organized workspace will promote good working habits, putting all your everyday items within clear sight and reach, reducing time spent searching for supplies. When we talk about a model being ergonomic, we mean that the designer created the product to enhance ease of use, comfort, and efficiency.
The best ergonomic desk organizers feature designs that utilize the space below your monitor for storage. Not only does this maximize your desk area, but it also raises the monitor to eye level, which promotes better posture and body alignment. Other useful features include sloped bins, which are easy to use, and bins, drawers, and shelves designed specifically for the size of the items you need to store.
Related: 20 seriously cool desk accessories for your workspace, handpicked by a PopSci editor
Best ergonomic desk organizer: Sundale Bamboo Wood Monitor Stand
Wooden Classic
This sturdy wood desk organizer maximizes desk space under your monitor while encouraging better posture. Amazon
This ergonomic desk organizer uses the space below your computer monitor for storage while lifting to an optimal viewing height for comfort. Made from sturdy bamboo hardwood, this desk organizer offers two small drawers and an open desk organizer shelf, as well as a cup holder, cellphone stand, and pen holder.
Need a desk tray organizer that includes USB chargers?
Desk organizers with a tray-style design are a good solution to help promote quick and easy access for your most essential desktop tools. Without cumbersome drawers and bins, the tray design keeps essentials within your range of sight and within quick grasp.
The best desk tray organizers offer space solutions for your most important daily items, such as your computer glasses, Post-its, pens, and smartphone. Plus, with the ever-increasing importance of our personal handheld devices, finding a desk organizer tray that includes USB storage is a smart solution. USB ports can help to keep your phone in sight and fully charged.
Best desk organizer tray: All-in-One Desk Organizer & Docking Station
Organize and Charge
A flexible storage tray allows you to stack and arrange bins for your important desk tools with three added USB ports. Amazon
A simple solution for your most essential desktop items, this tray-style design comes in classic white or black. Bins can be arranged and stacked, and one of them includes three USB charging ports, making this desk organizer tray a good solution for keeping your smartphone charged and in sight on your desk.
Do you need a desk drawer organizer?
Nothing is more terrifying than the dreaded junk drawer. Over time, so many of us amass a freaky amount of random stuff that we don’t want to throw out but also don’t really need. The same thing happens in desk drawers. Concealed storage lets you hide the mayhem in plain sight.
The best desk drawer organizers offer a flexible system to get a mess of different-sized stuff under control. Although you can purchase tray-style inserts to place into your existing drawer, the sizing might not be right, and you could find yourself with some unusable “dead” space. A great solution is to purchase a drawer organizing system that offers bins in a variety of sizes that can be arranged and snapped together in a way that works for you.
Best desk drawer organizer: Set of 24 Interlocking Desk Drawer Organizer Tray
Customize Your Drawer
This set of interlocking varying-sized bins can be mixed and matched for flexible storage. Amazon
An affordable solution to help streamline and organize, this desk drawer organizer comes with 24 interlocking trays you can build and arrange according to what you have. Lightweight, sturdy plastic makes them easy to wipe out and keep clean.
Will you be using an office desk organizer mostly for paper?
Important papers call for a special type of organizing. Traditional filing systems that utilize file drawers or cabinets are your best bet when tackling lots of paperwork. However, there are always a few documents that you want to keep out on the desktop, for quick reference or to remind you that they’re pressing or pending.
The best desk file organizers offer a neat and aesthetic way to display a few of your important files, papers, or notebooks. With quick access in mind, we suggest opting for a desk file organizer that offers open storage rather than pull-out drawers. (It’s too easy to forget about what you have if it’s hidden away in a drawer.) The best desk file organizers store papers horizontally or vertically, with vertical storage offering a more space-maximizing solution.
Best desk file organizer: PENGKE File Organizer Triangle Iron Desktop Storage
Why not select a more stylish option for your open file storage? This desk file organizer is modern and comes in a few colorways to coordinate with your office decor. And we very much appreciate the vertical design, which frees up desk space.
Is your workspace full of cables and wires?
We don’t always want to acknowledge them, but all our awesome computers, printers, tablets, and smartphones come with a lot of tangly, ugly wires. It’s easy to become blind to the wire jungle, but there are affordable solutions to rid your home of this unsightly mess. The best desk cable organizer conceals wires, power strips, and chargers while leaving them accessible and ventilated.
When it comes to concealing wires, there are many options to consider. The most expensive option is to hire an electrician to custom place an outlet exactly where you need it. For most people, this isn’t realistic. A quicker, easier first step is to buy plastic toggle ties to condense the tangle behind the computer. (That won’t solve the problem if you have multiple power strips, it’ll only contain it.) The best desk cable organizer consists of a custom rack mounted along the wall or below the desktop to lift and hide the cables, wires, and powerstrip.
Best desk cable organizer: Under Desk Cable Management Tray
Lift and Hide
Sturdy open-wire trays that can be mounted below your desk to hold and conceal wires, power strips, and cables. Amazon
An affordable solution to reduce the amount of ugly wire clutter around your desk, this cable tray, which comes in black and white, features two under-mounted cord organizers with an open-basket design to allow for airflow around power strips. Be sure you can drill into your desk, otherwise, you’ll need to hang it on the wall.
Best budget desk organizer: What you get for under $25
Desk organizers don’t have to be expensive, so you will find a lot of choice in the cost-effective category. Budget options are typically constructed with metal, wire, or plastic, which are less expensive to manufacture. More expensive materials include leather and wood. The best cheap desk organizers include a variety of sized storage options including drawers, shelves, and bins or cups. Organizing need not break the bank!
Best cheap desk organizer: iDili All-in-1 DIY Desk Organizer
This is a great budget option for supplies and files as it offers a good variety of organizing solutions. Packed with six divided compartments, you can assemble or adjust the boxes to whatever position you like, rearranging the cubbies to suit your needs.
Desk organizer FAQ: Everything else you need to know
How do I choose a desk organizer?
The best way to choose a desk organizer is to make an inventory of the items you regularly use. The best desk organizers have clever customized designs specific to commonly used office supplies as well as paper files and small personal electronic devices.
Are expensive desk organizers worth it?
It’s not necessary to spend a lot of money in order to have a durable, stylish well-organized desk. The more expensive desk organizers tend to be crafted of leather, which has a traditional, classic look and is highly durable. However, this is a matter of taste, and plenty of alternatives keep your desk organized just fine while also being reasonably priced.
Will a desk organizer really help?
The best desk organizers will truly help reduce clutter and improve productivity. By harnessing a clever ergonomic design and multi-use storage, you can create a workspace that’s actually conducive to work.
Related: Need more office- and desk-organization ideas? Here are 31 of our best
A final word on shopping for the best desk organizer
The best desk organizers for your needs offer clever solutions to help you be more productive and solve organizational problems (even if you didn’t realize you had them). When they’re well-designed and durable, desk organizers will encourage quality work from home.