Do desk privacy screens work? What they do and what they don't.

Open plan has one view everybody knows. You look up from your screen and there's the person opposite, looking up from theirs. Sit there long enough and you'll know their whole lunch routine. They'll know yours.

So, do desk privacy screens work? For visual privacy, yes. A screen takes the person opposite and the busy room out of your eyeline, marks out your bit of desk and gives you somewhere to pin things. For sound, no. It won't make a phone call private. Here's what a desk privacy screen does, what it doesn't and how to pick the right size and fixing.

A light grey felt desk privacy screen between two facing workstations with monitors and black office chairs — Two facing desks, one screen. You still know they're there. You just don't have to watch.

What does a desk privacy screen actually do?

It changes what you see, and that changes how the room feels. If you can't see the busy room, it isn't on your mind. That's the whole job, and it's a bigger one than it sounds.

It breaks the eyeline. No more catching someone's eye every time you look up.
It cuts visual distraction. People walking past, screens flickering, the kettle queue. Out of sight helps.
It marks out a workspace. A long bench of desks turns into separate places to work.
It gives you somewhere to pin things. The felt takes drawing pins, so notes and photos go straight on.

What won't a desk privacy screen do?

Here's the honest bit. A desk screen doesn't block sound passing from one desk to the next. A conversation on one side is still a conversation on the other. It won't make a phone call private, and it won't turn a loud office into a quiet one.

If sound is the real problem, start with the room, not the desk. Our guide to office acoustics covers what to sort first and what felt can and can't do.

How tall should a desk privacy screen be?

Ours stand 400mm above the desk. The bracket holds the bottom edge about 5mm off the desk top. Sitting down, that's enough to take the person opposite and most of the room out of view. Standing up, you can see over it and talk to the person behind.

Plain screens have 40mm radius top corners, so the top edge reads soft rather than sharp.

What width do you need?

Our desk screens come in six widths: 790, 990, 1190, 1390, 1590 and 1790mm. Match the screen to the width of the desk it sits on.

Navy felt desk privacy screens dividing a long wooden table into separate workplaces, with a plant and white chairs — Down the middle and across the ends. A table becomes separate places to work.

Facing desks, side screens or a booth?

Most layouts are one of three.

Facing desks. One screen down the middle. The simplest and the most common.
Side screens. Short screens between desks in a row, so the person next to you isn't in the corner of your eye.
A booth. Front and side screens together, so each desk gets its own little bay. Good for focused work in a shared space.

Plain screens come in 12mm or 24mm. Decorative (12mm) and Engraved (24mm) screens have a pattern engraved into the face, not cut through, so they give the same privacy as a plain screen.

Blue engraved felt desk screens forming a booth of separate bays around a wooden desk with a laptop — A booth of engraved screens. The pattern is engraved, not cut through, so nothing shows through it.

How does a desk screen fix to the desk?

With brackets, sold separately in pairs. Every bracket fits both 12mm and 24mm screens.

Desktop brackets sit on the desk surface on a flat plate, in silver or black. No fixings, no holes.
Clamp brackets grip the edge of the desk top. One fits tops up to 26mm thick, the other up to 58mm. Measure your desk top before you order.
The Foldable screen needs no brackets at all.

Diagram of four ways to stand a felt desk privacy screen: a desktop bracket on a base plate, a clamp for desk tops up to 26mm, a clamp for desk tops up to 58mm, and the Foldable screen standing on its own — Four ways to stand a screen. Measure the desk top before choosing a clamp.

What about hot desks and home offices?

That's what the Foldable screen is for. It's three panels, 1550mm wide in all, that fold into a self-supporting U and stand on the desk with nothing to fix. Put it up when you sit down and fold it away when you're done.

It works just as well at home. A shared desk, a spare room or the end of the kitchen table where the laptop lives. It gives you an edge to work inside, then folds away when the table goes back to being a table.

A grey felt Foldable desk screen folded into a U around a laptop on a desk — The Foldable screen. Three panels, no brackets, nothing to fix.

Can you pin things to a desk privacy screen?

Yes. The felt takes drawing pins, so a screen doubles as a noticeboard for the to-do list, the rota or the photo of the dog.

What colours and thicknesses are there?

12mm screens come in 48 colours and 24mm in 20. Every colour is the same felt, so pick it for the room. A pale grey disappears into most offices. A strong colour can mark out a team. Our guide to PET felt explains the material, and the sample pack lets you see up to six colours on your own desk first.

A blue engraved 24mm felt desk screen with vertical grooves along a wooden desk, with a large plant — 24mm Engraved. Thicker, stiffer and grooved down the face.

Are desk privacy screens worth it?

If the problem is what people can see, yes. Screens are one of the quickest changes you can make to an open plan office. No building work, and with desktop brackets, no fixings either.

If the problem is what people can hear, a screen on its own won't fix it, and we'd rather tell you that now. Every screen is made to order in the UK and guaranteed for 10 years, with 2 years on the brackets.

Have a look at our desk screens, or our freestanding screens if you need something that stands on the floor. If you're not sure which bracket fits, send us a message with your desk thickness. We'll tell you which one.

The person opposite will still be there. You just won't have to watch them eat.

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