Sit upright in your usual position and look straight ahead: your eyes should line up with the top of the screen or a little below it, so you look slightly down at the middle of the screen. Set it about an arm’s length away. If it is too low, raise the monitor — on a riser or an arm — rather than the desk.
How to check. Sit back in your chair, set for your desk first — setting up a new office chair covers that. Look straight ahead with your head level. If your gaze lands on the top edge or just below it, the height is about right. If you look over the top of the screen, it is too low; if you have to tilt your head back to read the top lines, it is too high.
Distance and tilt. At arm’s length, with your fingers just touching the screen, most people can read without leaning forward. Tilt the screen back slightly — about 10 to 20° — so it faces your eyes rather than your chest. A larger screen usually needs to sit a little further away and a little lower, so you are not moving your head to reach its top corners.
How to raise it. A fixed stand that came with the monitor rarely goes high enough. Two ways to fix that:
- A riser lifts it a set amount. In our monitor riser stands hub, the WALI and GRIFEMA adjust to about 4, 4.7 or 5.5 in (10, 12 or 14 cm); the Simple Houseware lifts a fixed 5 in (12.7 cm), and the TEAMIX two-pack lifts 3.4 in (8.6 cm), or 6.75 in (17.1 cm) stacked.
- A monitor arm sets height, distance and tilt independently and frees the desk underneath. In our monitor arms hub, the height adjustment runs from 33 cm (13 in) on the Ergotron to 42 cm (16.5 in) on the HUANUO and 48 cm (18.9 in) on the Acer.
Why not move the desk. Raising the desk to lift the screen moves your keyboard up too, out of line with your elbows. Keep the desk where your forearms rest level, and set the screen on its own.
On a standing desk, recheck when you stand: the desk rises with the screen, but your eye level rises by a different amount, so a screen right for sitting may be slightly off for standing — see how tall a standing desk should be. With a laptop, a laptop stand plus a separate keyboard does the same job.
This is not medical advice. Adjustment ranges, stated weight capacities and construction details are specifications to verify on the current listing, never a guarantee about any individual body or condition. If pain, numbness or discomfort persists, that is a question for a qualified professional, not for a product description. We report what manufacturers publish — an adjustment range, a stated capacity, a certification — and this site describes the equipment only.
What buyers ask us first
I wear bifocals or progressives — does the rule change?
Yes. You read through the lower part of the lens, so a screen at the usual height makes you tilt your head back. Set it lower — often several centimetres below the usual position — and tilt it back slightly.
What about a laptop?
A laptop's screen is attached to its keyboard, so one of the two is always in the wrong place. Raise the laptop on a stand to bring the screen up, and use a separate keyboard and mouse at desk height.
Last reviewed 13 October 2026