Cable management is key to having a clean desk setup. Nobody likes the look of seemingly thousands of cables hanging behind their desk.
It can be a big project to install management trays and route cables everywhere without any guidance. This big hill to climb sometimes results in us just not managing our cables at all.
What if you instead could just pick up a desk that had cable management built into the design of the desk itself? Imagine just setting up your desk and all your cables just had a simple path laid out and you just had to route them.
Yup, these desks exist.
In this article, we’re going to cover these elusive desks that can do all the heavy cable management work for you. Just a fair warning, some of these also have other convenience features that really push the price tag up.
Don’t worry, we will also touch on more affordable options as well. Let’s get into those effortless cable management-friendly desks!
Desks With Built In Cable Management
IKEA ALEX Desk
Not to be confused with the IKEA ALEX drawer desks, the IKEA ALEX Desk takes a similar drawer design and puts it in a sleek dual-drawer desk. The two drawers are side by side and integrated into the tabletop.
The other feature on this desk that makes it worthy of this list is the built-in cable management compartment in the back of the desk.
Check out a detail of the cable management compartment here
As you can tell, there is a large compartment at the back of the desk with a hinged lid that can hide a ton of your wires and cables. You can fit a large power strip, power bricks, docking stations, and most importantly, tons of excess cable. Plus, this cable-hiding compartment has a soft close hinge!
There are grommet holes at the bottom of the hidden compartment so your power strip can exit and reach a plug point. Because of the cable management compartment, your drawers don’t go the full depth of the desk, so just be prepared for that.
The desk is so simple which makes it a pleasant surprise to have such an elegant cable management solution built in.
Otherwise, this is a relatively affordable and clean desk that gets a lot of things right. The price stays affordable mainly due to materials. It’s mostly made from particle board.
It also comes in three colors for all tastes. You can get it in black, turquoise, or white. The table dimensions are as follows:
- Width: 52 inches (132cm)
- Depth: 22.9 inches (58cm)
- Height: 29.9 inches (76cm)
SECRETLAB Magnus & Magnus Pro
If you want a desk that can hide cables and is more oriented to gamers with deep pockets, that is exactly what the SecretLabs Magnus desks are.
These are all metal desks with some serious thought in the “hiding wires” category. The Magnus is the name of their fixed-height desk, and the Magnus Pro is the standing desk equivalent.
Both of these desks have the same cable management solution that spans the entire length of the desk.
Towards the back of these desks, there is a gap where all your cables can cleanly fall into. They don’t just fall into an abyss though. There is a roomy concealed compartment here where you can place all your power strips, bricks, USB hubs, docking stations, etc.
This compartment opens up with a hinged lid similar to the IKEA desk covered previously. The Magnus desk is a standard four-legged desk.
The Magnus Pro
If you are eyeing the Magnus Pro, this standing desk does something very special that I haven’t seen any standing desks do before.
They have an internally routed plug system that lets you plug a power strip into the underside of the desk. Then there is a receptacle at the bottom of one of the standing desk legs. Once you plug that leg into the wall, your desk now has power!
You literally have zero power cables going down to the floor with this desk!
There are strong gamer vibes that come with this desk. It has an integrated RGB strip by the cable management compartment. The desk is all blacked out with the SecretLab insignia found everywhere.
Prepare your wallet for these prices though (at the time of writing):
- Magnus Desk (59″ x 28″): $549
- Magnus Pro Desk (59″ x 28″): $799
- Magnus Pro XL Desk (70″ x 32″): $949
Find the Secret Lab Desks here.
Vari Table
If you are looking for a rock-solid desk that can hide a simple power strip, the Vari Table might be worth a look. This table comes with a real wood table top which will last a long time along with a pretty intense set of tubular table legs.
It comes with a built-in tray that hangs from underneath the cable. It’s large enough to fit a power strip along with some tied-up cable lengths. The back of the desk has a little cutout that leaves space for cables if this desk is up against a wall, a nice touch.
This is for those that want a very strong desk with real wood and don’t have the need for super-intense cable management additions. The price will reflect these features as well.
This desk comes in four different tabletop configurations and three different sizes.
Tabletop Options:
- Reclaimed Wood
- Black
- Butcher Block
- Dark Wood
Desk Size Options:
- 60W x 24D
- 60W x 30D
- 48W x 24D
Make Any Desk Cable Management Friendly
If you are not very happy with any of the desks on this list, just remember that you can make any desk cable management friendly with some cable management racks.
You do have to go through with the install process, but you only have to do that once! It will be easier than you think!
Also, I’ve found that the more you are willing to spend on a cable management rack, the more capable that solution usually is.
Here are some great cable management solutions you can add to any desk.
If you need more help, check out our detailed cable management guides below:
