How to Install Side-Mounted Drawer Slides

Remove the drawer and unscrew the old slide from each side. Skip this step if you are installing slides on the drawer for the first time.

Hold the drawer up to the opening in the dresser, desk or other furniture. Remove a drawer above or below the drawer you are working with to get a better view of the interior.

Push the drawer into the opening and make a pencil mark on each side where the drawer will align with the slide inside the furniture. As a guide to replacing old slides, make a mark on the side of the drawer at the top and bottom edges of the male slide inside the furniture. The new drawer slide will install between these two pencil marks.

Place the new slides on each side of the drawer to test-fit. Slides are typically labeled "L" and "R" to distinguish the left slide from the right and may also be stamped with an arrow noting the direction each slide should be installed. View the drawer from the front panel to place the left and right slides correctly.

Hold each slide against the drawer one at a time within the pencil marks and attach each slide with the supplied screws (or the old screws) and a screwdriver. When finished, each slide should be mounted along the center of the drawer from front to back.

Tip the back of the drawer downward to insert it in the furniture and align the the slides inside. Lower the drawer until horizontal and push it in all the way to test.