The trouble with stashing your cords in a drawer or box is that they’re not readily accessible when you need them.
For the most frequently used cables in my office and living room, I attach a small magnetic cable tie to the neck of the cable and stick it to a metal surface nearby, such as a radiator or filing cabinet. This way, while the bulk of the cord remains hidden behind an end table or desk, the connector stays visible and easy to grab.
If you don’t have something metal handy, you can also get a roll of metal tape or adhesive metal plates to affix to a table leg or on the underside of a desk, which serves the same purpose. The downside of this approach, though, is that the adhesive could damage your furniture if you decide to remove it later.
These cable ties are 6.25 inches long and made of stretchy silicone. Strong magnets keep them firmly fastened and let you stick them to metal surfaces. Use caution if you have kids or pets, as the magnets are removable.
The ties I have, the Lordtronics Reusable Silicone Magnetic Cable Ties, are super stretchy and come in a variety of colors. Use caution if you have kids or pets, though: The magnets are removable, so they could become a choking hazard.
Another way to cut back on cord clutter is to install outlets with built-in USB ports throughout your home. These let you plug your cables directly into the wall, eliminating the need for a charging brick, and they’re relatively simple to swap with an ordinary outlet; you can do it yourself, as long as you have access to your home’s breaker panel, or have a licensed electrician install them.
Top pick
This UL-listed wall outlet has two USB-C ports with a combined output of 30 watts, two standard AC outlets, and charge-status lights. It doesn’t include a wall plate, but it comes in six colors.
Our favorite of these, the Leviton T5635, has two USB-C ports sharing 30 W between them, which is enough power to charge two phones, a tablet, or a light-duty laptop at top speed. It’s a standard size, so you might be able to reuse your existing wall plate (the frame around the edges of an outlet), and it comes in a variety of colors (six, at this writing) to match your decor.
You can either leave your most frequently used cables plugged in at all times—since there’s no wall wart, it looks less cluttered, and both standard outlets remain free for you to plug in other devices—or keep them coiled with cable ties in a nearby drawer so you can easily grab them when you need them.
Having tested hundreds of surge protectors and power strips over the years, I can safely say that even the most elegantly designed models can still be a bit of an eyesore. It helps if you can mount them to a baseboard or on the underside of a shelf, desk, or nightstand, and many are equipped with small built-in holes and hardware that allow you to easily do so.
But if you’re a renter, or if you just don’t like drilling holes in your walls or furniture, you can use an under-desk cable-management tray. This is a small basket that clamps to your desk or tabletop and hangs just beneath it, keeping your surge protector and your assortment of connected cords and cables close by yet out of sight.
This tray is large enough to fit most surge protectors, and since it clamps to the back of a desk, it stays hidden. It’s painless to install and adjust, has good ventilation, and comes with useful hook-and-loop cable ties.
The one I have in my home office, the Litwaro Under Desk Cable Management Tray, has a thin layer of protective foam over the inner surfaces of the clamps, which helps protect your desk from scuffs or scratches. Also, it comes with hook-and-loop cable ties that are almost identical to the Velcro One-Wrap Thin Ties we recommend.
Litwaro’s tray is made of metal mesh, which effectively disperses heat from electronics and lets me use more of my nifty magnetic cable ties. However, if you prefer something more colorful or made of natural materials to camouflage your cords, my colleagues have some great non-metal recommendations (though they don’t come with desk clamps or cable ties).
To keep a few cables within easy reach on my desk, I have the Thinking Gifts KordKeeper. Shaped like a dachshund, it comes in a few different colors (black, gray, blue, and pink) and has four small slots on its back to hold cables firmly in place. It weighs 4.5 ounces, or about a quarter of a pound, and it’s encased in a grippy layer of silicone—both of which help keep it from sliding off the edge of your desk.
Shaped like a tiny dog, this desk organizer has slots for up to four cables, providing easy access to power. Weighing 4.5 ounces, it has a grippy silicone shell, which holds your cables (and the pup itself) firmly in place. Available in four colors.
If you want something that can hold even more cables, I’ve also used and like the Envisioned Weighted Desktop Cord Holder. It weighs 8.5 ounces and has slots for up to seven cables. It works about as well as the Thinking Gifts KordKeeper, but since it’s slightly bigger and heavier (albeit less cute) it’s even better at staying put on a tabletop.
