The Ultimate Guide to the Perfect LED Backlit Desk Setup

So you’ve decided to add some LED’s to your desk. Sweet!

Whether you want a simple well-lit workspace or a hardcore RGB battle station, we’re going to cover everything you need to know about adding LEDs to your desk setup. 

We’ll cover the benefits of bias lighting, the types of lighting to choose from, where to place them, how to ensure a long-term installation and more.

Key Takeaways

• Adding LED backlighting to your workspace has serious benefits in terms of eye comfort and aesthetics.
• There are a ton of LED lighting solutions to choose from in terms of colors, customizability, functionality, etc. 
• The most affordable way to add LED backlighting to your desk is with LED strips. They are super cheap and very reliable. 
• The main LED placement locations include behind your desk ledge and behind your monitor. Both of these bounce and spread on a rear wall and give the illusion of a much larger light source. 

The Benefits of LED Bias Lighting

Turns out, adding LEDs to your desk setup is a pretty wise investment with real benefits. The main benefit here is eye comfort which will be huge for those long hours at your desk. 

Reduced Eye Strain

A typical computer desk just has a monitor and a desk lamp. Besides your monitor, you only have one other light source illuminating one side of your desk. 

The area behind your monitor is still dark, creating a sharp contrast between your monitor and the back wall of your desk. The result is eye strain. 

Similar to watching TV in a completely dark room, your eyes feel more strained when only a small area of your view is bright. 

You ease your eye strain by adding more light around your monitor, thus spreading the light throughout your point of view. A well-lit environment is much easier on the eyes. 

Bias lighting bounces light off of your rear wall and brightens up the area around your monitor. This will be a huge benefit to adding LEDs to your desk setup. 

Aesthetic & Customizable Desk Setup

We cant talk about the benefits of an LED desk setup without talking about the aesthetic benefits. 

A backlit LED desk setup can provide a huge aesthetic boost to your desk. The areas that are typically in the shadows are now lit up!

My backlit monitor even lights up two framed pictures I have hanging above my desk. 

Also, many LED solutions are RGB, meaning they can change to pretty much any color. That means you can set the mood for anything at your desk. You don’t have to be stuck with a single color at any time. 

If you like changing up your desk’s appearance every so often, LED lights can easily do this with a press of a button. 

The Best LED Types For Desk Setups

There are a ton of LED lighting solutions on the market these days. Let’s talk about the main options out there. 

LED Strips

LED strips are going to be the most affordable option out there in terms of adding lights to your desk setup. Cheaper ones may not be as bright as more expensive ones, but they certainly get the job done. 

My first backlit LED upgrade to my desk was a simple LED strip along the rear ledge. They still function perfectly fine to this day!

They typically come with a wireless remote that lets you select the color, brightness, and any effects.

LED Light Bars

Quality LED light bars have been another popular offering for desk bias lighting. They are basically LEDs packed into a case with a nice diffused front cover. 

That means you don’t see any individual LED dots, only a smooth and diffused light source. I currently have these behind my monitor, and they are now my main backlit LED light source.

If you go for the nicer light bar options out there, they come with a solid mobile app that is actually supported with updates. Some will even work with your smart assistant devices! 

Popular options include the Philips Hue Play Bars and the Govee Flow Plus lightbars. I use the latter and have a dedicated Govee Light Bar Review here.

I mainly chose the Govee lights due to their price tag. If you want a brighter diffused light source, LED light bars are the way to go. 

Other Accent Lights

LED strips and light bars are not the only way to get nice lighting at your desk. There are plenty of other accent lights that can sit on top of your desk and add nice glowy aesthetics. 

These will take up some desk space but can add a lot of character to a desk. Here are a few examples:

You can also use the classic Himalayan Salt Lamps as a nice rocky accent piece. The options are pretty much endless with desktop accent lamps. 

LED Light Colors & Appearance

RGB vs Single Color

There are two main types of LEDs. RGB LEDs or single color LEDs. 

RGB stands for “Red Green Blue”. These three colors can work together to make millions of colors with different combinations and brightness levels. If you want some flexible and colorful lighting accents, this is definitely the way to go.

If you have simpler design goals and just want a single color, those options are available and are often more affordable. 

For example, many folks just want a shade of white. If you want a nice and cozy warm white, you can find those LEDs very easily. 

Brightness & Color Temperature

Two more properties to keep in mind are brightness and color temperature. The latter is more applicable to those with white-only lighting setups. 

I found that more expensive LED lights happened to be brighter. This is likely due to the type of LED that is being used on the product. 

I found that the super budget-friendly LED options were the dimmest. This is certainly the case for my LED strip is behind my desk. 

This LED strip is very dim compared to my more expensive Govee Light Bars. The cheap strip also flickers when recording video of my desk. 

If you want a variety of color temperatures with your white LEDs be sure to specifically look for adjustable color temperature LED lights. 

These adjustable temperature lights actually have both cool and warm LEDs integrated into the light strip and they simply adjust the brightness of each type to get the desired temperature. Here’s an example of a white LED strip with adjustable color temperature. 

Setting Up & Positioning LED Lighting At Your Desk

Exposed LEDs vs Bounced LEDs

When shopping for LED lights for your desk, it’s a good idea to think about how you want them placed. Some people like the look of exposed LEDs, while others like to hide their LED lights and have them bounce on the rear walls. 

Exposed LEDs simply mean LEDs that are placed such that you can actually see the light source when you are sitting at your desk. Bounced LEDs are usually placed behind your monitor or behind your desk. These bounce the light on the rear wall giving a more natural and diffused look.

Gamers typically lean toward the exposed LEDs, because they are much more pronounced. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about where to place your LED lights at your desk!

Behind Monitor Placement

If you want to attack eye strain head-on, place your LED light strip or light bars behind your monitor. This creates a natural extension of your monitor brightness to the area right behind your monitor. 

This is my go-to light to turn on when I start working at my computer. They also have LED light strips pre-cut made specifically for behind your monitor.

Here’s how I set up the lights behind my monitor. You can see I have two Govee Light Bars hooked up using the supplied Govee mounts. 

I also increase the distance between my monitor and my wall to spread the light as much as possible. These light bars can pretty much illuminate my entire room when turned to their maximum brightness. 

Behind Desk Ledge Placement

If you want your desk ledge to not disappear into a shadow, adding a light strip on the back edge of your desk can make for a very interesting look. 

This was my first LED lighting addition to my desk setup. Behind desk light strips have the best effect when you have full visibility of your desk’s rear ledge. 

I started using a monitor shelf that obscures the back of my desk. So now my LED strip is not as noticeable anymore. 

Before the desk shelf, it was a really clean bounce light. I placed the LED strip behind the desk as shown in the image below:

You also want to force your desk to have a gap with the rear wall. That ensures that your LEDs can actually diffuse and bounce the light. I currently have about a 1-2 inch gap. 

This gap also ensures that you don’t see the individual LED spots. 

If you have no choice but to place your desk really close to the wall, I would highly recommend using a pre-diffused silicone-covered LED strip, such as the ones below:

These are already diffused so you don’t see the little LED dots everywhere. It’s a much cleaner and more continuous LED light source.

Using Adhesive Back LED Mounts/Strips

Most of these LED backlit desk setups will require you to use adhesive back mounts. 

Not all of these products stick really well, so here are some tips so you can get the best adhesion with whichever LED product you go for. 

• Step 1: Thoroughly wipe down and clean the mounting surface. Wipe down with isopropyl alcohol to ensure a clean and dry mounting surface. 
• Step 2: Add pressure when sticking your adhesive back products to your desk or monitor. This helps maximize the holding strength. I add pressure for about 10-20 seconds. 

Controller Placement of Your LED Lights

All of these LED products have a controller of some kind. Even if you have an app on your phone, keep this controller in as convenient of a place as possible. 

Trust me, you will get tired of looking for an app on your phone every time you want to turn on the lights. Keeping the controller convenient lets you sit at your desk and just press a button. 

I have my Govee Light Bar controller right behind my monitor. All I do is reach behind the monitor and click a button. 

My LED strip that is behind my desk uses a little wireless remote. That remote is in my drawer and is ready to go at any moment. 

Pro-tip, if your LED strip has a wireless remote, keep the receiver end of the LED strip easily visible from the remote’s perspective. This will ensure you don’t have any connection issues and your button presses work right away.  

Manage LED Cables

After you have all your LEDs up and running manage those cables! I have a dedicated article on how to manage monitor cables for those using behind-monitor LED lights. 

You’ll see my exact process for hiding those light bar cables. Also, check out our article on how to hide cables under your desk. This covers how I hide my rear desk LED strip cables. 

Popular LED Brands Worth Considering

Though the no-name Amazon brands will be a bit cheaper, you may get better lifetime product support by using a well-known LED light brand. 

For example, I had a small problem with a flickering Govee LED light, and they just sent me a new one after I proved the issue. That’s great service that will keep me a customer! 

Here are some great LED light brands that will keep you happy in the long run:

• Phillips Hue
• Govee
• Nanoleaf

They make everything from screw-in light bulbs to LED strips, and even decorative LED panels. Phillips will be the most expensive option of the bunch.