How to pack electronics for moving

Planning your move

Written by Daniel, founder, Metro City Moves

To pack electronics for moving safely, work in a fixed order: back up the data, photograph the cabling, remove batteries and discs, wrap each device on its own in anti-static bubble wrap, box it with padding on every side, and label the box on three faces. Electronics rarely break from one big impact. They break from vibration, from crush weight, from static and from damp — all of which good packing prevents.

The short version

Back up every device before you unplug anything.
Photograph the back of each device, then bag and label its cables — one bag per device.
Remove batteries from everything. Leaked batteries do damage that rarely gets repaired.
Wrap in anti-static bubble wrap, never newspaper. Two layers minimum.
One device per double-walled box, padding on every side, nothing able to shift.
Screens travel upright. Always.

How to pack electronics for moving, step by step

Back up first. A useful rule of thumb is 3-2-1: three copies of your data, on two kinds of storage, one of them kept somewhere else — a cloud copy counts. Check the backup opens before you pack the original.
Photograph and label the cables. Take a photo of the back of each device before unplugging. Label both ends of every cable as it comes out, and put each device's cables and remote in its own resealable bag.
Empty the machines. Eject discs, memory cards and USB drives, and tape optical drive trays shut. Take the toner cartridge out of a laser printer and seal it in its own bag — loose toner in a box is a disaster.
Remove the batteries. From remotes, controllers and anything portable. Batteries leak in transit and storage, and the corrosion is usually terminal.
Wrap each device individually. Anti-static bubble wrap for anything with a circuit board, two full layers. Put soft tissue against screens before wrapping. Skip newspaper: the ink can mark a display for good.
Box with clearance. One device per double-walled box, with roughly a hand's width of padding on every side and every gap filled, so the device cannot move at all.
Seal and label. Tape every seam. Write the contents, the destination room and "fragile — this way up" on three sides, so the warning survives stacking.

Flat screens travel upright, full stop

Laying a TV flat puts uneven pressure across the panel, and the resulting damage is permanent and easy to cause. Wrap the screen, protect all four corners, use the original box or a purpose-made TV box, and keep it vertical from wall to wall.

Televisions, computers and audio kit

Televisions: soft tissue on the screen, two layers of anti-static wrap, corner protection on all four corners, then a snug box with the remaining space filled. Upright in the vehicle, wedged so it cannot tip.
Desktop computers: back up, then wrap the tower and box it with padding on all sides. On a long or rough journey, take out a heavy graphics card and carry it separately in an anti-static bag.
Turntables: the most fragile thing in most homes. Lock the tonearm with its clip, lift the platter off the spindle and pack it separately, and use the original box if it exists.
Speakers: wrap and box individually, cones facing up, never face-down.

Original boxes are engineered for the exact device, with inserts a generic box cannot copy

If you kept them, this is the day the hoarding pays off.

Van, car, or both

Small high-value items — laptops, cameras, tablets, consoles — travel best in your own car: better temperature, less vibration, and nothing loaded against them. Everything too big for the car goes on the van, loaded last so it sits at the top of the load, strapped, with nothing heavy above it. If a removals crew is loading, ask how the electronics will be secured; it is a fair question and takes a minute to answer.

Cold vans and condensation

Moisture is the quiet killer. A cold device carried into a warm room grows condensation inside it, and damp circuit boards short. On a winter move, let devices sit at room temperature for a couple of hours before switching anything on. A few silica gel sachets in each box cost pennies and absorb the residual damp. If the boxes are going into storage, choose a unit with heating and ventilation rather than a bare container — storage is worth a conversation before, not after.

If you would rather not do this yourself

Packing electronics well is entirely doable; it is just slow, and the cost of a shortcut is a dead screen. If you would rather hand it over, packing is a service we quote for — tell us what the equipment is and we will say how we would pack it, in writing, before you book. Start at packing services or ask for a quote.

Questions we get about packing electronics

How do I pack a TV for moving?

Tissue against the screen, two layers of anti-static bubble wrap, protection on all four corners, then the original or a purpose-made TV box with every gap filled. It travels upright and strapped, never flat.

Do I really need anti-static bubble wrap?

For anything with a circuit board, yes. Ordinary bubble wrap can hold a static charge, and static damage is invisible until the device fails. The anti-static version costs little more.

When should I start packing electronics?

Non-essentials two to three weeks out. Daily-use kit — router, phone chargers, the kettle-adjacent things — packs on the last day and unpacks first.

Should electronics go in the car or the removal van?

Small and precious: the car. Big and heavy: the van, loaded last, on top, strapped. Never under other items in either vehicle.

Are electronics covered if something goes wrong in transit?

Ask any firm you book — us included — to name the cover type and its limit in writing before moving day, and tell them about unusually valuable items when you book, not after. If an item matters, photograph it and its serial number before it is packed.

Sources

This guide is working practice, not council fact. It quotes no fees, statutes or third-party figures, so there are no source documents to list. Where a guide does rely on an authority's numbers — the parking guides, for instance — every figure carries its source and the date we read it.