How Many Filing Cabinets Does Your Office Need? A GTA Planning Guide by Team Size (2026)

Almost every office guesses its filing cabinet count — and guesses wrong in one of two directions. Too few cabinets and files end up in bankers boxes on the floor, in desk drawers that will not close, and in piles nobody can search. Too many and you pay for steel boxes that hold three folders each while eating floor space your team needs. This guide gives GTA offices a practical way to count by team size and paper volume. At Ufficio Furniture, used filing cabinets start from $60 CAD, so getting the count right is also the cheapest planning you will do.

Start at https://www.ufficiofurniture.com and see current stock at https://www.ufficiofurniture.com/used-filing-cabinets .

Count paper honestly before you count cabinets

Walk the office with a notebook before you shop. How many drawers are genuinely full today? How many boxes in the storage room are really active files, and how many are archive material that could go to off-site storage or be scanned and shredded under your retention policy? Active paper — files someone touches monthly — belongs in cabinets near the team. Archive paper needs cheap, secure storage, not prime office drawers.

A standard lateral drawer holds a long row of letter or legal files side by side and is easy to browse standing up. A vertical cabinet takes less wall width but more depth when the drawer opens. As a rough planning figure, one well-filled four-drawer lateral serves a small team function — for example all client files for two or three staff in a paper-heavy role — while a mostly digital team of ten might need only two shared cabinets for contracts, HR records, and finance.

The storage lateral tower in this guide's photo shows the hybrid many offices now choose: lateral files below, enclosed storage above, in one footprint. Towers suit offices that need files plus supplies, binders, or personal storage without lining a whole wall with cabinets.

Planning numbers by team size

For a team of one to five that is mostly digital, start with one four-drawer lateral or two two-drawer cabinets placed where everyone can reach them, plus a locking cabinet for HR and finance if those records are on paper. Paper-heavy small practices — legal, accounting, insurance, real estate — should plan roughly one four-drawer cabinet per two paper-heavy staff, then adjust after a month of real use.

For six to fifteen people, think by department rather than by head. Finance and HR each get their own locking storage, never shared with general files. Operations or client work gets shared laterals along one wall, labelled by function. A common, workable pattern is three to five lateral cabinets for the whole office at this size, plus pedestals at desks for day files only.

Above fifteen, do a proper file audit. Offices this size often discover that a third of their stored paper is dead archive. Consolidate active files into fewer, better cabinets — laterals in consistent widths such as 36-inch units that line up cleanly — and move true archive off the floor. You will often end up with fewer cabinets than you feared and far better access to what remains. Global, Teknion, and Herman Miller cabinets all appear in our used stock; consistent sizing matters more than chasing one badge.

Locks, condition, and what to check used

Some files must lock — employee records, signed contracts, financial documents, and anything with personal information. Not every cabinet must lock, but the ones that hold sensitive paper must, and the key must actually work. When you buy used, check that every drawer opens smoothly under load, that locks turn and keys are present or replaceable, that drawers are not bent, and that safety features work so only one heavy lateral drawer opens at a time.

Price follows size, drawer count, brand, and condition. Small used verticals and two-drawer units sit at the lower end from $60 CAD, while large laterals, towers, and premium-brand cabinets cost more — still well below new prices for commercial-grade steel. Buy the condition you can inspect in person; a cheap cabinet with a sticking drawer will annoy your team every single day.

Place cabinets where the work happens

A cabinet across the office from the person who files in it will not be used — files will pile on the desk instead. Place shared laterals within a few steps of their main users, keep walkways and drawer clearance clear, and never block exits or electrical panels. Measure drawer pull-out space, especially for verticals in small offices.

Visit Ufficio Furniture, 1215 Meyerside Drive Unit 7, Mississauga, ON. We are open Mon–Sat 10am–7pm / Sun 11am–6pm. Call 647-898-8918 for filing cabinet inquiries, bring your team size and a rough count of full drawers and boxes, or browse https://www.ufficiofurniture.com/used-filing-cabinets via https://www.ufficiofurniture.com first and then call for a right-sized recommendation in CAD.