Making the right decision about buying a filing cabinet is easy. Just remember these two crucial factors: the purpose of the file cabinet and the required storage capacity.
Once you clearly understand these two factors, you can easily select the right file cabinet for your office or company.
Consider what other items you will be stored in the cabinet besides organizing files and folders, such as stationary or money, and also the size of your most commonly used files and folders (letter, A4, legal).
Additionally, it’s important to consider whether you are purchasing a file cabinet for a home office, small business, or larger company.
While there are many other factors to consider when purchasing a file cabinet, focusing on these two main factors will make your decision-making process much easier.
For a more detailed guide on buying the perfect file cabinet, you can read the in-depth file cabinet buying guide below.
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Three key factors that influence your filing cabinet buying the most.
Let’s go through them and pick the best file cabinet for your office. After that, you are free to go through the in-depth file cabinet buying guide given below.
Security
Many times you need very secure cabinets to keep your files safe. It could be your business secret files and some other sensitive data that has to survive along with your business life.
In such situations, you should prioritize fire-resistant and waterproof file cabinets with locks. If there is nothing to do with fire or water, then it’s good to buy a metal file cabinet with a reliable locking system.
Space
One of the primary goals to use filing cabinets is to organize and store paperwork and documents. So you must understand how much storage you need!
Businesses usually use 4-drawer or 5-drawer file cabinets. The reason is that you can’t replace it or upgrade it over time. Any additional bucks invested today will save a large amount later.
Well, it totally depends on your data, if you have some other cabinets where you move your data old files, then even a 3 drawers or 2 drawers file cabinet is enough.
Material
Businesses usually use metal and wooden file cabinets. As metal file cabinets are safe, durable, and reliable that’s why metal file cabinets take an edge for most business use.
Besides these 3 key areas, the type of filing cabinet influences your buying decision. But as all businesses use lateral file cabinets, so you should think of trying other things.
So if you have frequent file cabinet use at your business or home office, here is the best file cabinet that one of my fellows recently purchased for his small business.
White Lateral Filing Cabinet (Best-Selling office filing cabinet)
It’s one of the best 4-drawer filing cabinets.
Here is why this filing cabinet is worth investing in.
- Decorative file cabinet with lock (white and Black)
- Up to 4 drawers buying option
- Powerful assembling – durable
- Hanging files
- Suitable for all files like Letter, Legal, A4, and F4 sizes.
Here is another best one for the home office.
DEVAISE 3-Drawer Wood File Cabinet for Home Office
It’s one of the best 3-drawer filing cabinets.
Here is why it’s worth considering.
- It’s a mobile lateral filing cabinet.
- It’s multifunctional and decorative.
- It has a large open space.
- High-quality wood is used.
Now let’s move forward to the in-depth buying guide.
In-depth file cabinet buying guide
Now let’s discuss thoroughly which file cabinet is suitable for your home office or business. The minor details will make it even more clear which one suits you the most.
Here is what you must consider while buying a file cabinet.
Security
When it comes to buying an office file cabinet, security is the most important factor to consider. If security isn’t important for your filing, a beautiful plastic file cabinet will work pretty fine for you.
Otherwise, there are two important things to consider.
- If it has the best reliable locks.
- If it’s fire-resistant and waterproof.
Both factors make your file cabinet completely safe for all situations. The sensitive data is less likely to get theft or burned.
It’s possible that you might want to compromise on fire resistance, as you can imagine that your place has nothing to do with fire.
Makes sense. But offices see fires sometimes.
If your data is sensitive then you shouldn’t be afraid of investing a one-time investment.
Here is the best secure file cabinet to keep cash and sensitive data.
Fireking Fire Resistant File Cabinet and Safe
Here are some interesting details.
- Decorative and durable 2 drawers filing cabinet.
- Lightweight and fire rated.
- Best for letter and legal-sized files.
- Best locking system.
Material
Businesses widely use metal file cabinets and wood file cabinets. There are plastic file cabinets too, but those aren’t reliable and not even durable.
Metal file cabinets
Metal cabinets are the safest ones for business use. The metal can be either steel or aluminum. Both are reliable and durable.
Metal file cabinets usually come with, 2 drawers, 3 drawers, 4 drawers, or at most 5 drawers.
There comes many shapes in file cabinets but lateral file cabinets are the best choice for office use. Vertical file cabinets are good to store long-lasting data in your store.
Here are a few best ones for office use.
Scranton & Co 4 Drawer 22″ Deep Letter File Cabinet
Here are some details.
- It’s a 22″ x 52″ and 15″ deep filing cabinet.
- Made with heavy-duty steel.
- You will get it fully assembled.
Greenvelly Lateral File Cabinet with Lock
Here is why it’s best for the office.
- Multiple buying options with 2, 3, and 4 drawers.
- Best for legal and letter size with adjustable hanging bars
- A noiseless filing cabinet.
Wood
A wood file cabinet is another safe and best option. Although, it’s not as best as a metal file cabinet.
When it comes to durability, it depends on the wood itself. If the wood used is durable and reliable, the cabinet is durable and reliable too.
Many times wood file cabinets match the office furniture. It’s not a bad idea to use wood file cabinets unless you don’t keep very sensitive files in them.
Here are a few of the best wood file cabinets for office use.
Bush Furniture 2 Drawer Lateral File Cabinet
Bush Furniture is famous for its beautiful and durable furniture. This article is one of the best 2-drawer filing cabinets.
Here are a few other things for the filing cabinet.
- Best-selling 2-Drawers file cabinet.
- Drawers are designed to accommodate files in 3 different ways.
- Every piece is tested.
- Its beautiful design fits in every office.
Size and capacity
Here comes another main thing. The size of your folders, and also of cabinets have a great impact on buying.
Let’s separately discuss both of these.
The size of the filing cabinet for your office depends on the available space in your office.
If you have space issues, you can rely on pedestal file cabinets. You can keep the pedestal filing cabinet under your desk or wherever you get some space.
In a small office, the other option is a vertical file cabinet. It might not be a decent choice but you have no other options.
The great thing about vertical file cabinets is that they have great storage.
The other thing is how deep or large the file cabinet is.
Usually, file cabinets come with multi options to keep Letter, Legal, F4, and A4 sizes. But in some cases, you should see if it matches your files and folder sizes.
The next question is how many files you would keep in your office file cabinet?
If you have so many files then you should buy 5 drawer filing cabinet. Otherwise, 3 or 4-drawer file cabinets are decent choices.
Here is the tip.
As it’s a one-time investment, it’s better to choose a bit larger than your expectations.
Mobility
There are many types of file cabinets. But as we have discussed it’s better to use lateral file cabinets for the office, the other flat, vertical, or pedestal doesn’t suit office use but personal or home use.
But there is one thing that’s worth considering.
Do you want to move your file cabinet?
If you want to move it, then there are many rolling file cabinets available for office use.
Design and weight
The design and weight don’t influence the buying decision. But still, it’s important to consider both things.
You should not buy an ugly designed file cabinet otherwise you will regret it. There are many decorative file cabinets for office use, so why not choose from the big list?
The best scenario is to match your file cabinet with your office furniture. Usually, there are white, black, and wood color filing cabinets.
One thing I know is that white color fits everywhere.
Secondly, weight also has a small impact on your decision.
If you keep changing your office location or at least the looks, you should not choose a heavyweight file cabinet. It will always create trouble in moving it.
Where to buy your filing cabinet?
You might be wondering where should you buy your filing cabinet. You can buy locally and online. When it comes to online purchases, you have many platforms offering you competitive prices.
But as I said in where to buy business computers, Amazon is good a good place to buy your furniture as they offer a 90-day money-back guarantee that you don’t get anywhere else.
Best Brands
Every country or state has its own best companies. Here are some of the best companies in the United States.
- Bush Business Furniture
- Hon
- Lorell
- Devaise
- Poppin
- MIIIKO
- Yitahome
There are many other best companies in the furniture industry.
How much does a file cabinet fcost?
An office 4-drawer file cabinet will cost between $100 to $1000. The cost depends on the material, size, and functions.
What is the use of a filing cabinet in an office?
In a filing cabinet, you can store and organize documents and stationery and sometimes keep the money.