How to Hide TV Wires: Cable Management for a Tidy TV Wall

There are three ways to hide TV wires: cover them with a surface raceway painted to match the wall, route them inside the wall with a kit designed for that purpose, or hide them behind and inside furniture. Covers suit renters and quick jobs, in-wall kits give the cleanest look on a wall-mounted screen, and furniture tricks work best when the TV stands on a unit. Whichever you choose, the TV's own power cord should never simply be pushed through the wall.

Plan before you buy anything

A tidy result starts with a short inventory. Count every lead that will reach the TV: power, one or more HDMI cables, an antenna cable, a network cable, and the soundbar connection. Then decide where the devices will live. A streaming stick can hang behind the screen; a console, router or receiver needs a shelf with airflow. Every device you move closer to the TV removes one long cable from the job.

• Measure the run from the TV position to the nearest socket and the device shelf.
• Note whether the wall is plasterboard on studs, solid masonry or something else; it decides which methods are practical.
• Leave spare capacity. An extra HDMI cable or a pull cord left in place makes later upgrades painless.
• If the TV is on a swinging or full-motion mount, allow enough slack for it to move without pulling on the plugs.

The main options compared

Option 1: a cord cover on the wall

A raceway is a slim plastic channel that sticks or screws to the wall and snaps shut over the cables. Run it straight down from the back of the TV to the top of the unit or the baseboard, then paint it the wall color so it reads as part of the wall rather than a strip of plastic.

1. Hold the TV's cables in place and mark a vertical line with a level.
2. Cut the channel to length with a fine-tooth saw and add corner pieces where it turns.
3. Fix it with the supplied adhesive strips or small screws, then lay the cables in.
4. Close the cover, fill any gaps at joints and paint it.

Choose a channel with enough room for every cable plus one more. Overfilled covers bow open over time.

Option 2: inside the wall, done safely

Low-voltage cables such as HDMI, network and antenna leads can run inside a hollow wall between two openings, ideally in cables whose jackets are marked as suitable for in-wall use. Mains power is different. Ordinary power cords and extension leads are not designed to be enclosed in a wall, and building and electrical rules in many places do not allow it.

The common solution is an in-wall power kit made for TVs: a recessed inlet behind the screen connected by in-wall rated cable to a second box near a socket lower down, where the kit plugs in. Some kits plug into an existing outlet; others must be wired in. If any part of the job involves connecting to the home's wiring, adding a new outlet or working near the breaker panel, hire a licensed electrician.

Before cutting any hole, use a stud finder that also detects live wires, and check for pipes. Cut openings between studs, away from sockets and switches whose wiring may run vertically above or below them.

Option 3: let the furniture do the work

• Pick a TV unit with a cable hole in the back panel, or drill one with a hole saw.
• Fix a power strip to the back or underside of the unit so plugs stay off the floor.
• Screw a cable tray or basket under the desk-style top of a media unit to hold power bricks.
• Stand the TV close to the wall; a large gap behind the unit only shows the cables more.

Finishing touches

• Bundle what remains with hook-and-loop ties or a braided sleeve. They are easy to undo, unlike zip ties.
• Use short cables. A three-foot HDMI lead to a stick or box avoids a coil of spare cable behind the screen.
• Use right-angle adapters where plugs would otherwise stick out and push a wall-mounted TV away from the wall.
• Label both ends of each cable with a small tag so swapping a device later is not guesswork.
• Keep devices ventilated. Boxes mounted behind the TV with hook-and-loop pads still need some space around them to shed heat.

Mistakes to avoid

1. Hiding the power cord inside the wall without a rated kit.
2. Pulling cables tight; plugs work loose and sockets suffer.
3. Bending optical cables sharply inside covers, which can crack the fiber.
4. Covering every cable before testing that everything works.

That last point matters most. Connect and test the picture and sound first, using the steps in connecting a soundbar to a TV and, if a computer is part of the setup, connecting a laptop to a TV. Then hide the cables, knowing the system already works.