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What are your secrets to cable managing your desk?
- Thread starter shyam09
- Start date
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Dumped behind my desk between the desk and the wall.
At work with a sit/stand desk, though, I use stick-on cable management troughs on the underside of the desk. Something like this - don't even remember where I got it.
At work with a sit/stand desk, though, I use stick-on cable management troughs on the underside of the desk. Something like this - don't even remember where I got it.
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I have a bunch of external hard drives (+ NAS drives); Mac mini, eGPU, dongles with wires plugged in, USB speaker, two monitors (plan on making this three), game consoles (PS3, PS4, Switch), lamps, landline phone, ethernet wires, microphone, etc.
With the L-shaped desk, I want to have the middle part (right angle part) be where my monitors are and use one side for my iPad/MacBook Pro set up, and maybe have the other side be a charging portion?
I'm planning on moving my game consoles and hard drives into a mini storage center (if I can find one lol).
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Oh interesting. I've never seen these before. I'll look into them some more.
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Ha, everything is dumped behind my desk and the wall right now, but it looks so ugly. I want a cleaner look, especially since I'm "starting" fresh.
But that stick-on cable management trough looks interesting. I was looking at something like this:
Stand Up Desk Store Under Desk Cable Management Tray Black Horizontal Computer Cord Raceway and Modesty Panel (Black, 51")
The Stand Up Desk Store Under Desk Cable Management Tray Black Horizontal Computer Cord Raceway and Modesty Panel is perfect for keeping your unsightly cables, power cords, and power bricks organized and tidy. In addition to providing functional cord management, the cable raceway also doubles as ...
www.amazon.com
And housing a surge protector (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KSLQ9GS)
And using sleeves for the wires (sort of like the troughs): https://www.amazon.com/Management-Sleeve-JOTO-Computer-Entertainment/dp/B015HWXG4M/
Also tempted to RGB it up, lol.
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My secret: don’t step on it. Just how close to typical am I? 
1PC, MBP, 2 monitors, printer, scanner, document scanner, 5 external hard drives, USB hub.
1PC, MBP, 2 monitors, printer, scanner, document scanner, 5 external hard drives, USB hub.
That's exactly what mine looks likeMy secret: don’t step on it. Just how close to typical am I?
1PC, MBP, 2 monitors, printer, scanner, document scanner, 5 external hard drives, USB hub.
(currently have two desks put in L-shape formation, so both sides)
I've had a 2" hole saw and a package of desk type grommets in my Amazon cart for months, that's one of my plans (er, eventually) to clear some wires off the desktop (since mine is free floating so speak ...).
One lazy option is to drape a cloth so you don't see the mess and just worry about the ones that are visible.
For those use velcro cable wraps which allow for easy reconfiguration.
For those use velcro cable wraps which allow for easy reconfiguration.
Yeah, I would get some velcro straps, I recall I got a 50 pack of 6" (with a loop-through) from Monoprice for like $7, and get all the leads out of devices untangled, wrapped up tight, maybe run down one corner of the desk - then I'd get a cable box, they're usually about $20-40, various sizes, have slots on the ends, and a lid, you can pack all the excess cables, strips, etc., into one (or more), really cleans things up.
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Like so:
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Like so:
Cable Management Box Hide Wires and Surge Protector Box, Wire Organizer for Home and Office, Cable Box- Cable Organizer Box - Cord Box - Cable Hider Box - Power Strip Box - Computer Cable Management
Cable Management Box Hide Wires and Surge Protector Box, Wire Organizer for Home and Office, Cable Box- Cable Organizer Box - Cord Box - Cable Hider Box - Power Strip Box - Computer Cable Management
www.amazon.com
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Just ordered a 2020 MBA which only has a couple places to connect to anything other than wirelessly, so that should tend to keep cable clutter down to a dull roar, no matter where I park myself and my local data. Just moving from desktop to laptop a long time ago certainly reduced the clutter I used to have to deal with. Or chose to deal with. Over the years my idea of peripherals I absolutely had to have on tap kept shrinking.
But yeah back in the day, the cable clutter was between a wall and the back edge of the desk. I must have got close to wearing out a lot of velcro trying to make it all look rationally arranged. But velcro ties were pretty handy. At least the cats used to think so. For some reason they loved that stuff.
Long short, I ended up switching to cloth ties after awhile because at least they didn't attract cat hair or the owners of said decorations. I used the stretchy tops of old crew socks, cutting into the circular slices of ribbing so to make short elastic "ties" and then throwing a broad strip of brightly colored fabric over the unsightly result on the back of the desk once I had bundled the cables to my liking yet again.
But yeah back in the day, the cable clutter was between a wall and the back edge of the desk. I must have got close to wearing out a lot of velcro trying to make it all look rationally arranged. But velcro ties were pretty handy. At least the cats used to think so. For some reason they loved that stuff.
Long short, I ended up switching to cloth ties after awhile because at least they didn't attract cat hair or the owners of said decorations. I used the stretchy tops of old crew socks, cutting into the circular slices of ribbing so to make short elastic "ties" and then throwing a broad strip of brightly colored fabric over the unsightly result on the back of the desk once I had bundled the cables to my liking yet again.
Currently behind my 27" Thunderbolt display, and my newly acquired 15" 2015 i7 MBP.
Please ignore the old 2007/8 20" iMac ODDs