4 Drawer Filing Cabinet

Do you have loads of loose paperwork and files in need of a good storage area? Are you finding that your desk is simply cluttered with stacks of paper? Perhaps you are noticing that there is less and less space on your desk to do your work. Not to worry as you are not alone. Many people including (but not limited to) those running their own business or those working on multiple projects in a large corporation end up in the same situation.

What can you do to alleviate this problem? Have you considered getting a 4 drawer filing cabinet? With just one of these, you can neatly keep all your important files in one place, allowing you convenient access to the required information whenever you need without having to rustle through piles of paper. However, not all filing cabinets are built the same. You’ll encounter good quality as well as poor quality cabinets on the market. Also, different filing cabinets are designed for different purposes. I’ll go through what things to look out for so you’ll be less likely to get disappointed.

4 drawer filing cabinets are very popular as the storage capacity they provide is generally sufficient for most individuals and more importantly are of practical height for easy accessibility (without the need of a step stool).

Having said that, you should still take note of the overall dimensions of the filing cabinet you are checking out. If you are the one that is going to be regularly accessing the contents, ensure that can do with ease across all the drawers from top to bottom.

Also, you should check that the cabinet will actually fit inside your office without getting in the way of door openings, other furniture or blocking walking areas.

Continuing on the theme of dimensions, ensure that the interiors of the drawers can fit your documents. The common sizes available fit legal and letter sized files – some can manage both while others only accommodate for one of the sizes.

Next, find out whether the drawers can extend fully when you pull them outward. Some manufacturers build them to only extend ¾ of the way out. The choice may be a personal preference, but for myself, I would like them to come out as much as possible so I can easily see the drawer contents.

On some bad quality 4 drawer filing cabinets, the drawers have a tendency to come off their tracks after constant usage or when the drawers reach a certain capacity. Good quality heavy duty filing cabinets won’t have this problem. Additionally, steel ball bearing suspension is used to allow for smooth and quiet sliding of drawers.

Finally, there should be some sort of built-in mechanism that keeps the drawers closed when you slide them back in. For example, the Hon 4 drawer filing cabinet has a pull handle with a thumb latch for each drawer.

There are a couple of common ways to store folders in a filing cabinet. Some cabinets allow you to directly hang folders on the sides while others require hanging rails. This is something you need to check clearly. If the filing cabinet does not have hanging rails, are the sides full height so that you can do without the rails? If not, then you need to consider buying hanging rails separately and then installing them.

If the drawer of a filing cabinet is not full of folders yet, you might find the folders either slide along the rails or even end up slouching inside. Hopefully, the cabinet comes with spring loaded follower blocks whose job is to keep the folders upright and hence neatly together.

Of not critical importance, is a label holder on the front of each drawer so you can quickly identify the contents, assuming you have created some kind of grouping for the files.

Depending how much floor space you have, the layout of your office and your preference of accessing files, you can decide between a vertical 4 drawer filing cabinet and a lateral 4 drawer filing cabinet. For example, if your room doesn’t have much available depth, then a lateral cabinet might be more practical than a vertical cabinet.