If your feet do not reach the floor when the chair is at a useful keyboard height, a stable footrest can provide support without forcing you to sit too low for the desk. It should support both feet, fit the available space and allow you to change position. First check the chair and desk together: a footrest cannot make an overly deep seat or a cramped desk opening fit.
This ThermoLuma guide focuses on one common seated-work problem: choosing between comfortable access to the keyboard and supported feet. For the rest of the workstation, use our desk ergonomics checklist.
Identify why your feet are unsupported
Sit in the chair you actually use, wearing your usual work footwear. Settle against the backrest and look at what happens when you bring your hands to the keyboard. Do your feet lose contact with the floor at that height? Or can they reach only when you slide to the front of the seat?
These are different problems. A height mismatch may call for a raised surface beneath your feet. If the seat is too deep, sliding forward to reach the floor also moves you away from the backrest. Check the chair's seat-depth adjustment, if provided, before treating every seating problem as a footrest problem.
OSHA's chair guidance considers both seat height and seat depth. It recommends stable foot support when lowering the seat would leave the workstation too high, while separately addressing seats that do not fit the user's legs. Our plain-English lumbar-support guide explains why reaching the backrest and fitting the seat belong in the same check.
Keep the keyboard height in the decision
Lowering the chair until your soles reach the floor may feel like the obvious fix. Before keeping that setting, try a normal typing task. If you now need to lift your arms toward the keyboard, the floor contact has come at the expense of another part of the workstation.
CCOHS's office-chair adjustment guidance describes this fixed-desk situation: adjust the chair to suit the work surface, then use a footrest if the feet cannot reach the floor. It calls for an adjustable support that accommodates both feet. The practical aim is to make the seat, work surface and foot support work together.
If the desk has a usable height adjustment, check that option too. An accessory is not automatically the best first purchase. At a shared or fixed workstation, note the actual mismatch so the person responsible for equipment can help with a suitable arrangement.
After any chair or desk-height change, recheck the screen and controls. You may have changed more than your distance from the floor. For a desk that switches between sitting and standing, our sit-stand setup guide covers the separate task of making both positions usable.
Check the platform with both feet on it
Judge a footrest with your shoes on its surface, rather than from its overall width in a listing. Can both feet rest fully on it, with room to reposition them? Are you balancing on your toes, reaching forward for the edge, or holding your legs in place to keep contact?
The HSE's Seating at work guidance, in its footrests section, favors a surface large enough for foot movement, adjustable height and a freestanding support that does not shift accidentally. This is longstanding workstation guidance, not a clinical trial of a particular accessory.
Start with a modest setting and adjust according to the footrest's instructions. Recheck contact with the chair back and seat edge as you change it. A higher setting is useful only if it suits the whole arrangement; maximum height is not a target.
If the model offers tilt or rocking, understand how that mechanism works and whether it can hold a suitable position. Choose the features for the support and movement you need. A moving surface is not automatically more comfortable, and a fixed surface should still leave room to reposition your feet.
Make space for the support and the chair
A footrest needs usable floor space, not just a place to squeeze it under the desk. Clear bags, loose boxes and unused equipment from the area where your legs and chair move. Keep the footrest within a natural seated reach rather than pushing it to the far wall behind stored items.
OSHA's desk guidance treats under-desk clearance as part of workstation fit. Stored objects can restrict repositioning or prevent the chair from approaching the controls. A small platform does not solve that larger space problem.
Check your ordinary arrival and departure: draw the chair in, place both feet, move the chair back and stand up. Notice whether a caster meets the footrest or whether the platform blocks the way out. Follow the accessory's intended use; an office footrest is not a step for reaching a shelf.
Try a real task and look for one clear change
Complete a familiar piece of seated work with the proposed setup. Check whether both feet remain supported, the platform stays where you placed it and the chair still approaches the keyboard. If you keep chasing the support across the floor, its stability on that surface needs attention.
Record the problem in concrete terms: “My heels lose contact when I sit back,” or “The chair base hits the platform before I reach the keyboard.” Change one setting or position and try again. This is a practical setup trial, not a validated assessment or a reason to keep working through discomfort.
Supported feet also do not mean feet held still all day. OSHA's working-position guidance recommends changing position. Keep separate opportunities to leave screen work; our meeting-day screen-break guide helps with that part of the routine.
Know when the footrest is not the answer
If the chair cannot support you while you sit back, the desk leaves too little room for your thighs, or the controls remain beyond easy reach, address that mismatch. Adding another accessory can make the space more crowded without fixing the underlying fit.
The sources describe general workstation considerations. They do not establish that a footrest treats symptoms or that one height, angle or product suits everyone. Persistent setup difficulties deserve an individual workstation assessment; recurring pain, numbness or other health concerns deserve appropriate professional advice.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a footrest if my feet already reach the floor?
Not necessarily. If both feet are supported while you sit back and use the controls comfortably, begin with the arrangement you have. Consider a footrest for a specific unmet support need rather than as a required addition to every desk.
How high should a desk footrest be?
There is no single height for every person and workstation. Use the available adjustment to support both feet at your working chair height, then recheck the seat edge, backrest contact and room beneath the desk. Follow the manufacturer's instructions.
Is a cushion the same as a footrest?
Do not assume so. Check the item's intended use, stability and ability to support both feet at the needed height. A soft object that shifts or changes height under your shoes may not provide the support you were trying to add.