Mounting a TV on your wall requires drilling into a stud: the vertical wooden beam inside your wall that provides the structural support needed to hold heavy weight. Drywall alone can’t handle a TV, even with heavy-duty anchors. Doing so is how you end up with a shattered screen and a hole in your wall.
But what if you’re ready to mount your TV and can’t find your stud finder, or don’t want to spend $30+ on a tool you’ll barely use? Fortunately, you don’t actually need one.
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1. Use a magnet and string
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This simple trick uses two household items you probably already have: a magnet and a piece of string. Measure about four feet up from the floor, which is where you’ll typically find studs. Tape or tie the magnet to the string and slowly run it along the wall at that height, keeping the magnet about half an inch away from the surface.
The magnet will pull toward the wall when it detects the metal screws or nails holding the drywall to the stud. Mark these spots with a pencil. Since studs run vertically, you can drill higher or lower than where you found the magnet pull, as long as you stay in line with that vertical beam. Remember that studs are usually spaced 16 inches apart from the center of each stud.
2. Knock on the wall and listen
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The most straightforward method is simply knocking on the wall with your knuckles. Tap along the wall and listen to the sound. Where it sounds hollow, there’s no stud behind it — just empty space. Where it sounds solid and dense, you’ve found a stud.
This takes a bit of practice to distinguish between hollow and solid sounds, but after tapping a few times, the difference becomes obvious. Work your way across the wall, knocking every few inches until the sound changes from hollow to solid. Once you find one stud, measure 16 inches to either side to locate the next ones.
3. Check around windows and doors
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Studs are always located on both sides of windows and doors for structural support. Use these as reference points to find other studs in the room. Measure 16 inches from the edge of a door or window frame — that’s the standard spacing between studs in most homes. Combine this measurement method with the knock test to confirm you’ve found the next stud.
This trick is particularly useful when you’re hanging something in a specific area and need to know if a stud is nearby. If you’re 16 inches from a door and the knock test confirms solid sound, you’ve definitely found your stud.
4. Look at electrical outlets and light switches
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Electrical boxes for outlets and switches are almost always attached to a stud on one side. Knock on both sides of the outlet or switch to determine which side sounds solid — that’s where the stud is located. Once you’ve found that stud, use the 16-inch spacing rule to find others in the wall.
This method works particularly well because outlets and switches are evenly distributed throughout rooms, giving you multiple reference points to work from. Just remember the stud could be on either the left or right side of the electrical box, so test both directions.
5. Download a stud finder app on your phone
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Your smartphone can actually function as a stud finder thanks to apps that use the phone’s built-in magnetometer, which normally powers your compass app. These apps measure magnetic fields and alert you when your phone gets near metal objects like the screws and nails in studs.
Download Stud Finder from your app store and slowly move your phone along the wall. The app will indicate when it detects metal fasteners. The caveat is that these apps sometimes pick up other metal objects like electrical wiring or pipes, so they’re not 100% accurate.
Use the app in combination with the knock test to verify you’ve actually found a stud and not just random metal in the wall.
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