At your standing elbow height: the desktop should sit where your forearms rest level, with relaxed shoulders and elbows at about 90°. That depends on your height and your shoes, so measure it rather than using a chart — then check that the desk’s stated range covers it.
How to measure. Stand in the shoes you usually work in, arms relaxed at your sides, and bend your elbows to 90° with forearms level. Measure from the floor to the underside of your forearm. That is your target desktop height — minus a little if your keyboard is thick, since the keys, not the desktop, are what your hands rest on.
Check the desk’s range against it. In our electric standing desks hub, the highest positions are 118 to 120 cm (46.5 to 47.2 in); if your standing elbow height is above that, those desks will not reach it. Check the low end too: the same desk is your seated desk, and the lowest positions here are 72 cm (28.3 in) on the ErGear, VASAGLE and Veken and 78 cm (30.7 in) on the OffiGo — high for a shorter person sitting. The Desktronic publishes no range at all.
With a converter, add your desk. A desk converter sits on your existing desk, so the standing height is your desk’s height plus the converter’s lift. The converters in our hub rise to between about 16 and 20.5 in (41 to 52 cm) above the desk; on a typical 29 to 30 in (74 to 76 cm) desk, that reaches roughly 45 to 50 in. Many have a keyboard tray that sits lower than the top, so measure to the tray, not the screen platform.
Then set the screen. Raising the desk raises the monitor with it, but your eye level rises by a different amount. The top of the screen should sit at about eye level; if it does not, a monitor arm or riser fixes it independently — see whether your monitor is at the right height.
Save both heights. Once you have found them, store your sitting and standing heights in the desk’s memory presets if it has them, so switching is one button. Deciding whether you need one at all? Do you need a standing desk? compares the options.
Last reviewed 13 October 2026