Before you begin. This procedure is general reference information, not professional advice. Equipment varies by manufacturer, model, and year. Always follow the documentation supplied with your equipment — where it differs from this page, follow the manufacturer. Verify that you have the tools, the working conditions, and the ability to do this task safely. If anything is unclear, if the equipment is damaged, or if the task exceeds your experience, stop and use a qualified professional. You are responsible for your own safety and for the outcome. This site accepts no liability for any loss, damage, or injury arising from the use of this information.
Specifications marked unverified could not be traced to a manufacturer source. Do not rely on them — obtain the value from your equipment documentation.
Summary
Every wall anchor on the shelf has a number on the package, and that number is almost never the answer to the question you are actually asking. A rating belongs to one anchor, in one wall material, at one thickness, with one screw size, at one distance from the wall. Change any of those and the same anchor holds something else entirely. TOGGLER publishes its own pull-out data for a single all-purpose anchor in half-inch drywall and in concrete, and the concrete figure is many times the drywall figure for the identical part; the manufacturer then says in the same table that the figures are guides only and cannot be guaranteed. That is why this page will not tell you what a drywall anchor holds.
What it does instead is teach the method. Weigh the load with its contents, identify the wall material and measure its thickness, look for a stud before you reach for an anchor at all, then read the value for your own material off the manufacturer's data sheet and find out whether it is an ultimate test value or a safe working one. Those two are not the same number, and treating one as the other is how a shelf full of books comes off a wall. Where the load is a grab bar, a handrail, a television or a chest of drawers a child can climb on, this page stops and sends you elsewhere — to the manufacturer of the item, to the CPSC anchoring guidance, or to a qualified contractor.
Necessary equipment
| Item | Note |
|---|---|
| Scale | A kitchen scale or a luggage scale gives the weight of the item. |
| Tape measure | Measure the thickness of the wall material and the distance from the wall. |
| Stud detector | A stud detector finds the wood parts and the metal parts behind the wall material. |
| Pencil | Mark the position of each stud and each hole. |
| Drill and drill bits | Use the drill diameter that the anchor manufacturer gives. |
| Screwdriver | Most anchors need a screwdriver for the final step. |
| Eye protection | Wear eye protection before you drill a hole. |
| Documentation for the anchor and for the item | The manufacturer gives the rating, the drill diameter and the hole depth. |
| Pin or needle optional | A pin shows you if the wall material is hollow or solid. |
| Camera optional | A photograph of the package keeps the data after you discard the package. |
| Wall anchors material | Buy the anchors only after you complete the first five sections. |
| Screws material | Use the screw type and the screw size that the anchor manufacturer gives. |
Measure the load
Estimated 8 min to 17 min
Source: FAQs — How much weight will your anchors hold? · tier 1 · accessed 2026-07-29
DO NOT USE A WALL ANCHOR FOR AN ITEM THAT CARRIES THE WEIGHT OF A PERSON.
The anchor can fail and let the person fall and injure them.
- Weigh the item with a scale.2mReport a problem with step 1, Measure the load
- Include the weight of the contents of the item.
- A shelf carries books and a cabinet carries plates after you install it.
- Record the total weight of the item and its contents.1mReport a problem with step 2, Measure the load
- You compare this weight with the value from the anchor manufacturer later.
- Add a margin for the contents that come later.
- Find the direction of the load on the anchor.2mReport a problem with step 3, Measure the load
- A load that pulls away from the wall is a tension load.
- A load that pulls down the face of the wall is a shear load.
- Most items apply the two loads together.
- A manufacturer publishes a different value for each direction.
- Measure the distance from the wall to the centre of the item.2mReport a problem with step 4, Measure the load
- TOGGLER states that an object away from the wall greatly reduces the allowable load of the anchor.
- A deep shelf and a swing arm for a television are examples.
- Give this distance to the manufacturer with your question.
- Decide if a person can pull on the item.2mReport a problem with step 5, Measure the load
- A child can climb on furniture with drawers, doors or shelves.
- A pull from a person is much more than the weight of the item.
- CPSC gives instructions for furniture and for a television.
Identify the wall material
Estimated 9 min to 21 min
No tier-1 source was found for this value. Take it from the documentation supplied with your equipment.
No tier-1 source was found for this value. Take it from the documentation supplied with your equipment.
- Identify the material of the wall before you select an anchor.3mReport a problem with step 1, Identify the wall material
- Examples are drywall, plaster and wood.
- Brick, block and concrete are solid materials.
- Tile over drywall is not the same material as drywall.
- One wall can have a different material in each part.
DO NOT USE A HOLLOW-WALL ANCHOR IN A SOLID WALL.
The anchor cannot open in a solid wall and it holds no load.
- Push a pin into the wall at a position that the item hides.1mReport a problem with step 2, Identify the wall material
- A pin goes into drywall or plaster with light pressure.
- A pin does not go into brick, block or concrete.
- A hollow sound with a knock also shows a hollow wall.
- Measure the thickness of the wall material at an opening.3mReport a problem with step 3, Identify the wall material
- The edge of the wall material is visible at a door opening or at a window opening.
- TOGGLER publishes a different value for each thickness of drywall.
- An anchor also has a minimum thickness and a maximum thickness.
- Find the free space behind the wall material.2mReport a problem with step 4, Identify the wall material
- A hollow-wall anchor opens in the space behind the wall material.
- The manufacturer data gives the minimum clearance behind the wall.
- An anchor cannot open if a part of the building is directly behind the hole.
Find a stud first
Estimated 8 min to 23 min
ATTACH FURNITURE AND A TELEVISION WITH THE ANCHOR KIT FROM ITS MANUFACTURER.
CPSC states that furniture and TV tip-overs kill and seriously injure children.
- Use a stud detector to find the wood studs in the wall.5mReport a problem with step 1, Find a stud first
- Move the stud detector slowly along the wall.
- Find the two edges of each stud and mark the centre between them.
- A stud detector also finds metal and cables.
- Mark the position of each stud with a pencil.1mReport a problem with step 2, Find a stud first
- Mark above the position of the item and below it.
- The two marks give you the line of the stud.
- If a stud is at a usable position, use a wood screw and no anchor.2mReport a problem with step 3, Find a stud first
- A wall anchor is for a position with no stud.
- The manufacturer of the item gives the screw type and the screw length.
- CPSC includes a stud detector in its list of tools for an anchor kit.
Read the rating of the anchor
Estimated 22 min to 1 hr
No tier-1 source was found for this value. Take it from the documentation supplied with your equipment.
Source: ALLIGATOR All-Purpose Anchors — technical flyer (A5/AF5 to A10) · tier 1 · accessed 2026-07-29
Source: SnapSkru Self-Drilling Drywall Anchors — technical flyer (SP Regular and SPM MINI) · tier 1 · accessed 2026-07-29
DO NOT USE A RATING THAT APPLIES TO A DIFFERENT WALL MATERIAL.
The anchor can fail and let the item fall and injure a person.
- Read the load rating on the package of the anchor.2mReport a problem with step 1, Read the rating of the anchor
- A rating applies to one wall material.
- A rating applies to one range of thickness.
- A rating applies to one screw size.
- A rating applies to a load close to the wall.
KEEP THE PACKAGE OF THE ANCHOR UNTIL THE INSTALLATION IS COMPLETE.
The package gives the rating, the screw size and the drill diameter.
- Get the technical data sheet for the anchor from its manufacturer.5mReport a problem with step 2, Read the rating of the anchor
- A data sheet gives a value for each base material and each thickness.
- A data sheet also gives the drill diameter, the hole depth and the screw sizes.
- The package usually gives less data than the data sheet.
- Ask the manufacturer if the value is an ultimate value or a working value.3mReport a problem with step 3, Read the rating of the anchor
- An ultimate value is the load at which the anchor failed in a test.
- TOGGLER states that one quarter of the ultimate load is a reasonably safe working load.
- Do not apply the rule of one manufacturer to the data of a different manufacturer.
- Use only the value for your own material and your own thickness.2mReport a problem with step 4, Read the rating of the anchor
- TOGGLER publishes a much higher value in concrete than in drywall for one anchor.
- TOGGLER states that its values are guides only and cannot be guaranteed.
- TOGGLER states that you must examine the age, the condition and the capacity of the wall.
- If the data sheet gives no value for your wall material, speak to the manufacturer.10mReport a problem with step 5, Read the rating of the anchor
- Give the wall material, the thickness and the weight of the item.
- Give the distance from the wall to the centre of the item.
- A value from a third party is not a value from the manufacturer.
Compare the rating with the load
Estimated 9 min to 20 min
No tier-1 source was found for this value. Take it from the documentation supplied with your equipment.
No tier-1 source was found for this value. Take it from the documentation supplied with your equipment.
- Compare the working value of the anchor with the weight of the item.2mReport a problem with step 1, Compare the rating with the load
- Use the working value and not the ultimate value.
- Use the value for your own wall material.
- Select an anchor with a working value more than the weight of the item.3mReport a problem with step 2, Compare the rating with the load
- A margin is necessary for the contents and for a pull from a person.
- Select a different anchor type if the margin is too small.
- Get the number of attachment points from the manufacturer of the item.3mReport a problem with step 3, Compare the rating with the load
- Do not divide the weight equally between the anchors without data.
- The instructions for the item give the pattern of the holes.
DO NOT ESTIMATE A LOAD RATING.
An anchor with an unknown rating can fail with no warning and injure a person.
- If you cannot get a value for your wall material, do not install the item.1mReport a problem with step 4, Compare the rating with the load
- Do not estimate a load rating.
- This page publishes no load rating.
- Speak to a qualified contractor.
Install the anchor
Estimated 15 min to 36 min
No tier-1 source was found for this value. Take it from the documentation supplied with your equipment.
EXAMINE THE WALL FOR ELECTRICAL CABLES AND PIPES BEFORE YOU DRILL A HOLE.
A drill bit that cuts a cable can cause an electric shock.
- Examine the wall for electrical cables and pipes before you drill.3mReport a problem with step 1, Install the anchor
- Use the detector on the full area of each hole.
- Examine the wall above and below a switch or a socket.
- Stop if you are not sure what is behind the wall.
WEAR EYE PROTECTION BEFORE YOU DRILL A HOLE.
Pieces of the wall material can go into your eye and injure it.
- Use the drill diameter that the anchor manufacturer gives.1mReport a problem with step 2, Install the anchor
- A hole that is too large decreases the strength of the anchor.
- Use a bit for masonry in brick, block or concrete.
- Drill the hole to the depth that the anchor manufacturer gives.2mReport a problem with step 3, Install the anchor
- Put tape on the drill bit as a depth mark.
- Remove the dust from the hole.
- Install the anchor as the manufacturer instructions show.4mReport a problem with step 4, Install the anchor
- Use the screw type and the screw length from the data sheet.
- Tighten the screw until the item is against the wall.
- Do not tighten more than this.
KEEP YOUR BODY AWAY FROM BELOW THE ITEM WHEN YOU APPLY THE LOAD.
An anchor that fails lets the item fall and injure you.
- Increase the load on the anchor in steps.3mReport a problem with step 5, Install the anchor
- Do not put the full weight on the anchor immediately.
- Stop if the anchor moves in the wall.
- Remove the load and speak to the manufacturer if the anchor moves.
- Examine the anchor and the item again after one week.2mReport a problem with step 6, Install the anchor
- Look for movement, for a crack in the wall and for dust below the hole.
- Remove the load if you find any of these.
Make a record of the anchor
Estimated 4 min to 7 min
- Write the anchor type, the screw size and the wall material in your record.3mReport a problem with step 1, Make a record of the anchor
- Add the thickness of the wall material.
- Add the value that the manufacturer gave you.
- Keep the package of the anchor with the record.1mReport a problem with step 2, Make a record of the anchor
- A photograph of the package is sufficient.
- The next installation then takes two minutes.
Terminology
This page uses one term for each item and holds it throughout, as ASD-STE100 requires. Equipment sellers and other guides use the names below for the same parts.
- wall anchor
- Also called: wall plug, rawlplug, drywall anchor, sheetrock anchor, plasterboard fixing, molly bolt, toggle bolt, screw anchor, those little plastic things
- wall material
- Also called: base material, substrate, drywall, sheetrock, plasterboard, what my wall is made of
- load rating
- Also called: weight limit, holding power, how much weight will it hold, capacity, pull-out strength, holding strength
- ultimate load
- Also called: ultimate value, failure load, breaking load, tested load, the number on the packet
- working load
- Also called: safe working load, allowable load, safe load, rated load, what it will actually hold
- tension load
- Also called: pull-out, pullout, straight pull, pulling away from the wall
- shear load
- Also called: shear, downward load, hanging weight, sliding down the wall
- stud
- Also called: wall stud, timber, the wood behind the wall, framing, stud finder, stud detector
When to use a professional
Stop if the item carries the weight of a person. Examples are a grab bar, a handrail, a swing, a hammock and a pull-up bar. Speak to a qualified contractor. An installation of this type comes from a design and not from a package.
Stop if the item goes on a ceiling or above a bed, a cot or a seat. Speak to a qualified contractor. A load above a person needs a different assessment from a load on a wall.
Stop if you cannot identify the wall material with confidence. An old wall can have laths, a hollow block or a panel of an unknown material. Speak to a qualified contractor.
Use the anchor kit from the manufacturer for furniture and for a television. CPSC gives instructions for this work and states that tip-overs kill and seriously injure children. Do not substitute a general wall anchor for the kit.
Stop if the manufacturer of the anchor gives no value for your wall material. Do not estimate the value. Do not use a value from a website that is not the manufacturer.
Stop if the anchor moves in the wall, or if the wall material has a crack. Remove the load. Speak to a qualified contractor before you make a new hole in the same area.
Common questions
How much weight will a drywall anchor hold?
There is no general answer, and any page that gives you one is guessing on your behalf. A published figure belongs to a specific anchor, in a specific wall material, at a specific thickness, with a specific screw, holding a load close to the wall. TOGGLER's own data sheet for a single self-drilling drywall anchor lists three different tension figures for three different thicknesses of the same drywall — the thicker the board, the higher the number, for the identical part. The figure you need is the one the manufacturer of your anchor publishes for the wall you actually have, and this page will not print a number in its place.
Is the number on the packet what it will actually hold?
Often not, and this is the single most expensive misunderstanding about anchors. Manufacturers frequently publish an ultimate value, which is the load at which the anchor failed in a laboratory test — not a load you are meant to hang on it. TOGGLER says plainly that industry safety standards recommend a quarter of that ultimate load as a reasonably safe working load for each installed anchor. Find out which of the two your packet is quoting before you compare it with anything, and ask the manufacturer if the packet does not say. Do not take one manufacturer's rule and apply it to another manufacturer's number.
Do I still need an anchor if I hit a stud?
No. A wall anchor exists to solve the problem of there being nothing solid behind the wall material, so when there is something solid the anchor is the wrong tool. Find the studs first with a stud detector, mark the centre of each one, and see whether the item can be positioned to reach at least one. CPSC's own anchoring guidance lists a stud finder among the tools for the job, which tells you where it expects the screws to end up. If only some of the fixing points land on a stud, that is a question for the manufacturer of the item, not something to improvise.
Are toggle bolts stronger than those plastic plugs?
That question has no answer until you say what the wall is made of. Anchor types are not ranked on a single scale — they are designed for different base materials, and a design that is excellent in one is useless in another. A hollow-wall anchor needs a cavity behind the board to open into, and does nothing at all in solid brick; a solid-wall plug needs the sides of the hole to push against, and does very little in a sheet of drywall. Identify the wall first, then look at what each candidate anchor's manufacturer publishes for that material.
Why won't you just publish a chart of anchor types and weight limits?
Because a load rating is a safety-critical value, and the only honest source for it is the manufacturer of the anchor you are actually holding. A chart on a website is a number that has travelled — copied from a packet, in one wall material, at one thickness, at some point in the past — and there is no way for you to tell which of those conditions matched yours. TOGGLER states in its own tables that its figures are guides only, cannot be guaranteed, and that the age, condition and capacity of the wall must be considered; that is the manufacturer being more careful about its own numbers than a chart could be. So the method is here in full, and the numbers stay where they can be checked.
Does it matter how far the shelf sticks out from the wall?
Very much, and it catches people out because the weight has not changed. A load held out from the wall acts on the anchor with far more force than the same load held tight against it — TOGGLER's guidance is that moving an object away from the wall significantly increases its effective weight and greatly reduces the allowable load of the anchor. A deep shelf, a bracket arm, or a TV mount that swings out are all this problem. Measure the distance from the wall to the centre of the load and give that measurement to the manufacturer along with the weight.
Can I hang a TV on drywall with anchors?
Take this one to the manufacturer of the mount and the manufacturer of the TV rather than to a general anchor rating. Wall mounts are supplied with their own hardware and their own instructions, and those instructions normally tell you what they expect to be fixed into. CPSC's Anchor It! guidance is that TVs not wall mounted should still be anchored to the wall, and that you should follow the manufacturer's instructions to secure TVs and furniture properly. If a mount's instructions call for studs and your chosen position has none, move the position — do not substitute an anchor of your own choosing.
How many anchors do I need, and do they share the weight equally?
The number of fixing points is set by the manufacturer of the item, and no, the load is generally not shared equally between them. On a bracket or a cabinet, the upper fixings tend to be pulled straight out of the wall while the lower ones are pushed into it, so treating the total weight as evenly divided flatters the top anchor — the one that actually fails first. This is exactly the sort of arithmetic that belongs to whoever designed the item, which is why this page publishes no calculation. Use the hole pattern supplied, use every hole, and ask the manufacturer if the pattern does not suit your wall.
Related procedures
- What drill bit and what speed should I use for wood, metal, plastic or concrete?
- How do I set a click type torque wrench and what setting do I leave it on when I put it away
- How do I work out what size bolt this is, and what do the lines on the head mean?
- What size blade fits my circular saw, and does the RPM rating on the blade matter?
Sources
Every specification on this page is traced to one of these sources. Tier 1 is a manufacturer document, a published standard, or a government safety authority. See Standards for the full tiering rule.
- Tier 1FAQs — How much weight will your anchors hold?
- Tier 1SnapSkru Self-Drilling Drywall Anchors — technical flyer (SP Regular and SPM MINI)
- Tier 1ALLIGATOR All-Purpose Anchors — technical flyer (A5/AF5 to A10)
- Tier 1Anchor It! — Safety Education Center
- Tier 1Anchor It! — how to install an anchoring kit
Revision history
Current version 1 · updated 2026-07-29 · next review due 2027-07-29
- v1 · 2026-07-29First draft. This record publishes NO load rating, NO weight limit and NO anchor-selection chart, and says so on the page in the summary, in step c4, in a specification and in the FAQ. A load rating is a safety-critical value under config.json safety_critical_specs, and the sourcing research assigned this topic the tier1-per-unit band: named manufacturer documents exist and the values are still per model, per base material, per thickness, per screw size and per distance from the wall. Three TOGGLER (Mechanical Plastics Corp) technical documents and two CPSC properties were read on 2026-07-29. The TOGGLER figures that prove the point — an identical anchor at 57 lb ultimate tension in half-inch drywall and 544 lb in 3,500 psi concrete, and a SnapSkru anchor at three different tension values across 3/8, 1/2 and 5/8 inch drywall — are recorded in the source notes as evidence and are deliberately NOT printed on the page. Do not 'fix' this record by pasting them in. The only figures the page carries are the manufacturer's own statements about the meaning of a figure: that ultimate values come from independent laboratory tests and are guides only, that industry safety standards recommend one quarter of an ultimate load as a reasonably safe working load, and that a load away from the wall greatly reduces the allowable load. Each is published as an attributed statement with a tier-1 source, not as our recommendation. Sources are proposed in data/sources-additions-choose-a-wall-anchor-for-a-load.json and the record holds on checks 2 and 3 until scripts/sources_admit.py admits them, because config.json models.never_delegate forbids a delegate writing data/sources.json.
Corrections to this page are listed in the public corrections log. Reports that are credible and not yet verified are listed in the public errata register, and an open one renders above the step it concerns.
Comments and corrections
Found an error? A correction with a manufacturer source is applied and logged publicly. You can also write to corrections@fixchecklist.com.
Every step above carries its own report control, which tags the report with that step so a correction reaches the right place. For anything about the procedure as a whole — the order of the sections, a step that is missing, something that did not match your equipment — use this: report something about this whole procedure.