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One of the most popular items for any home office is two-drawer file cabinets. They’re small enough so that they don’t take up any real room, but big enough that they can store all your important documents – It’s one of the main reasons I invested in one! That being said moving these around can prove to be a little bit difficult and so the question needs to be asked – How heavy is a two-drawer file cabinet?
Two-drawer file cabinets weigh 25.5 pounds (11.56kg) when empty and 138 (62.59kg) pounds when full. Two-drawer file cabinets usually hold around 56 pounds (25.4kg) of weight per drawer.
So do different material two-drawer file cabinets weigh different amounts? And what about larger file cabinets, how much do they weigh? Keep reading to find out more!
Now if you’re just interested in my recommendations for the best file cabinets that have the best weight capacity limits you can check them out here (all links take you to Amazon):
- Small cabinet (2 drawers)
- Medium Cabinet (3 drawers)
- Large (4 drawers)
(Just a heads up a lot of people reading my blog are in the process of designing their own home office. If you want to save some of the painstaking time I did in designing my office, you can find my recommended products here)
How much do two drawer file cabinets weigh?
File cabinet weight is one of those things that is incredibly difficult to gauge.
After all, the weight, height, and material will often determine the exact weight., not to mention if the cabinet is fireproof.
This can prove incredibly challenging for those of us who work from home and have invested in file cabinets.
Luckily I’ve compared 4 of the best selling file cabinets on the market and come up with the following conclusions:
-
- Two-drawer file cabinets weigh 25.5 pounds or 11.56kg when empty
- Two-drawer file cabinets weigh 138 pounds or 62.59kg pounds when full
- Each drawer of a two-drawer file cabinet can hold 56 pounds or 25.4 kg.
- The average depth of a vertical two-drawer file cabinet is 575.9mm or 22.67 inches.
- File cabinets made of steel and stainless steel are likely to be much heavier than file cabinets made of aluminum
- Fireproof two-drawer file cabinets are also made of galvanized steel and can weigh 3 to four times more than traditional file cabinets.
To help explain in a little more detail where I got these sizes from I’ve listed a table below:
| Filing cabinet name | Weight empty (pounds + KG) | Weight with items (pounds +KG) |
| Lorell 14341
My recommendation) |
19 pounds
(8.6kg ) |
119 pounds
(53.97kg) |
| Lorell 16873 | 20 pounds
(9.7kg) |
120 pounds
(54.4kg) |
| Lorell Soho | 28 pounds
(12.69kg) |
148 pounds
(67.09kg) |
| Hirsh Industries | 35 pounds
(15.87kg) |
165 pounds
(74.8kg) |
Can material impact how much two-drawer file cabinets weigh?
The stronger the material file cabinets are made out of the more they will weigh. File cabinets that are made of stainless steel will increase the weight of a file cabinet fourfold when compared to file cabinets made out of materials like wood or iron. and as such tend to weigh the most.
How much do file cabinets weigh?
So we’ve talked a lot about two-drawer file cabinets in this post but what about file cabinets with three and four drawers?
After all, you might need to invest in larger file cabinets at some point in the future.
The average weight of a file cabinet is 92.92 pounds (42.14kg) when empty and 242.26 pounds (109.88kg) when full. Larger file cabinets that have 4 or more drawers will weigh the most at 175.5 pounds (79.6kg) when empty.
Now the amount the file cabinets will weigh will vary dramatically depending on the number of drawers and material but to help summarize:
- The average weight of a filing cabinet regardless of size or number of cabinets is 92.92 pounds (42.14kg) when empty and 242.26 pounds (109.88kg) when filled with items.
- Small file cabinets’ weigh 25.5 pounds (11.56kg) when empty and 138 (62.59kg) pounds when full
- Medium file cabinets’ weigh 77.78 pounds (35.28kg) when empty and 208.28 pounds (94.47kg) when full.
- Large file cabinets’ weigh 175.5 pounds (79.6kg) when empty and 380.5 pounds (172.59kg) when full.
To help further explain this in more detail I once again compared 12 of the best-selling file cabinets on the market, these were the results.
| Size | Filing Cabinet name | Weight empty (pounds + KG) | Weight with items (pounds +KG) | Weight capacity
(pounds +KG) |
| Small | Lorell 14341
My recommendation) |
19 pounds
(8.6kg ) |
119 pounds
(53.97kg) |
100 pounds (45.35kg) all together
50 pounds (22.67kg) per drawer |
| Small | Lorell 16873 | 20 pounds
(9.7kg) |
120 pounds
(54.4kg) |
100 pounds (45.35kg) all together
50 pounds (22.67kg) per drawer |
| Small | Lorell Soho | 28 pounds
(12.69kg) |
148 pounds
(67.09kg) |
120 pounds (54.43kg) all together
60 (27.21kg) pounds per drawer |
| Small | Hirsh Industries | 35 pounds
(15.87kg) |
165 pounds
(74.8kg) |
130 pounds (58.96kg) all together
65 pounds (24.94) per drawer |
| Medium | Hirsh Industries 20 inch
(my recommendation) |
65 pounds
(29.47kg) |
155 pounds
(70.26kg) |
90 pounds (40.82kg) all together
60 pounds (27.21kg) on the bottom drawer, 30 pounds (13.6kg) on the top two drawers |
| Medium | Sandusky Lee | 138 pounds
(62.56kg) |
348 pounds
(157.75kg) |
210 pounds (95.25kg) all together
Or 70 pounds (31kg) per drawer or |
| Medium | Bush Furniture | 82.65 pounds
(37.47kg) |
202.65 pounds
(91.86kg) |
120 pounds (54.4kg) all together
60 pounds (27.2kg) per drawer |
| Medium | Lorell LLR17427 | 25.5 pounds
(11.56kg) |
127.5 pounds
(57.80kg) |
107 pounds(48.5 kg)all together
50 pounds on the bottom two drawers (22.67kg) 7 pounds (3.17kg) on the top drawer |
| Large | Fireking Turtle Fireproof File Cabinet.
(my recommendation) |
405 pounds
(183.59kg) |
605 pounds
(274.25kg) |
200 pounds (90.71kg) all together
50 pounds(27.2kg per drawer |
| Large | Cooper Drawer | 27 pounds
(12.24kg) |
207 pounds
(93.83kg) |
180 pounds(81.64kg)all together
60 pounds (27.21) per drawer |
| Large | Sandusky Lee LF8F304-09 800 | 168 pounds
(76.16kg) |
408 pounds
(184.95kg) |
240 pounds (108.86kg) all together
60 pounds (27.21kg) per drawer |
| Large | HON 4-Drawer Letter File | 102 pounds
(46.24kg) |
302 pounds
(136.90kg) |
200 pounds altogether (90.71kg)
50 pounds per drawer (22.67kg) |
You can also check out my blog on file cabinet weight here.
How much weight can two drawer file cabinets hold?
Understanding how much weight a two-drawer file cabinet is able to hold will be essential to determine the number of drawers you will need
Two-drawer file cabinets are able to hold 56 pounds or 25.4 KG per drawer. The total weight capacity for a two-drawer file cabinet is 112 pounds or 50.8 KG. Two-drawer file cabinets weigh significantly less than three and four-drawer file cabinets.
Once again to help compare I’ve made a table below:
| Size | Filing Cabinet name | Weight empty (pounds + KG) | Weight with items (pounds +KG) | Weight capacity
(pounds +KG) |
| Small 2 drawer | Lorell 14341
My recommendation) |
19 pounds
(8.6kg ) |
119 pounds
(53.97kg) |
100 pounds (45.35kg) all together
50 pounds (22.67kg) per drawer |
| Small
2 drawer |
Lorell 16873 | 20 pounds
(9.7kg) |
120 pounds
(54.4kg) |
100 pounds (45.35kg) all together
50 pounds (22.67kg) per drawer |
| Small
2 drawer |
Lorell Soho | 28 pounds
(12.69kg) |
148 pounds
(67.09kg) |
120 pounds (54.43kg) all together
60 (27.21kg) pounds per drawer |
| Small
2 drawer |
Hirsh Industries | 35 pounds
(15.87kg) |
165 pounds
(74.8kg) |
130 pounds (58.96kg) all together
65 pounds (24.94) per drawer |
You can also check out this blog post talking all about file cabinet weight capacity here.
Do two-drawer file cabinets weigh less than three and four-drawer file cabinets?
Two-drawer file cabinets weigh 3 times less than three drawer file cabinets and 7 times less than four-drawer file cabinets. Two-drawer cabinets weigh 25.5 pounds 25.5 pounds (11.56kg) compared to 77.78 pounds (35.28kg) for three drawers and 175.5 pounds (79.6kg) for four-drawer cabinets
Wrapping things up
So some of the key takeaways from this blog it is safe to make the following assumptions:
- A two-drawer file cabinet weighs 25.5 pounds or 11.56kg when empty or 138 pounds or 62.59kg pounds when full
- Two-drawer file cabinets can hold 56 pounds or 25.4 KG per drawer
- Two-drawer file cabinets wight significantly less than three and four-drawer file cabinets.
Now if you are reading this there is a good chance that you are interested in buying a file cabinet so I would recommend you have a look at the following posts:
- Are file cabinets fireproof
- Can you scrap file cabinets?
- How to use a file cabinet without rails
- Can you stack file cabinets
- How deep are file cabinets
The content on this site has been written by Fehed Nicass who has over a decade worth of experience in sales and has worked remotely for the past 2 years.