How to adjust kitchen cabinet doors

Key steps

• Adjusting the left screw moves the door closer to the cupboard.

• Loosening the top and bottom screws allows you to move the door up or down depending on your needs.

• Adjusting the right screw helps create an even gap along the door length to prevent doors from no’t closing properly.

Cupboard doors that don't quite close properly or are hanging loosely off their hinges can be very annoying, and even a safety hazard if they are heavy or high up on a wall. Read on for our advice on adjusting kitchen cabinet doors with step-by-step guides to repositioning hinges. If it's not your cupboard doors, but a uPVC door that needs adjusting, we have another simple guide for you!

Make sure you always support the weight of the cupboard door when adjusting it to prevent accidents if you loosen screws too much or the hinge becomes loose.

How to adjust kitchen cupboard doors: three simple methods for realigning your cupboards

Adjusting cupboard doors is actually a lot easier than you might think. Take a look at our three simple step-by-step guides below to learn how to adjust kitchen cabinet hinges.

N.B. First, check that the screws holding the hinge to the cupboard door are firmly in place. Only adjust the screws in the part of the hinge which sits inside the cupboard.

1. The most common adjustment you may need to try is known as the ‘side-to-side adjustment’. For this, you will need to adjust the screw on the left, closest to the cupboard door.

   • To move the door closer to the cupboard, turn the screw clockwise.

   • Don’t forget that you may need to adjust both the top and bottom hinge to ensure the door is properly aligned and sits flush to the cupboard.

2. The next adjustment you may need to make is known as the ‘vertical adjustment’. For this, you adjust the top and bottom screws, which are usually located in the holes at the top and bottom of the T-junction of the hinge.

   • Always support the weight of the cupboard door before making this adjustment.

   • Slightly loosen both screws.

   • This will allow you to move the hinge up or down depending on the adjustment you need to make.

   • Once you have aligned your cupboard door, simply tighten the screws.

3. The final adjustment you may need to make is known as the ‘front to back adjustment’. For this, you will need to adjust the screw to the right, sitting between the top and bottom screws required for the vertical adjustment.

   • Tightening or loosening this screw will move the door forwards or backwards.

   • This will allow you to create an even gap along the length of the cupboard door.

   • If the door is not closing properly, loosen the screw. This will increase the gap slightly and allow an equal gap from hinge to edge.

Now you know how to adjust cupboard doors, you can be sure to have perfectly aligned kitchen cabinets which both look good and are safe to use. Take a look at our other articles to pick up some more DIY skills, for example how to fix a squeaky hinge.