| Lateral file cabinets are commonly seen in office | | | | placed side by side. Some of them have optional |
| cubicles. This is due to the need to efficiently maximize | | | | crossrails that can be used in the direction of your |
| office space. When this type of cabinet is present, it | | | | choice. The advantage of keeping files side by side is |
| expands the desk top or table space without | | | | that it is easier to look through them quickly to pick out |
| compromising the floor space. It provides a place to | | | | the needed file. |
| store and sort all important files, thus minimizing clutter. | | | | Some models feature counterbalanced or adjustable |
| A vertical filing cabinet, another type of filing cabinet, is | | | | drawers. Units with more than two drawers usually |
| also utilized for a similar purpose- to store and | | | | have interlocks, which allow only one drawer to be |
| organize files. However, the lateral type of cabinet is | | | | opened at a time, to avoid the whole thing from falling |
| able to accommodate a bigger bulk of documents | | | | over from the weight of multiple drawers. Most of |
| without having to stack. This means that much less | | | | them have steel ball bearings for silent opening and |
| floor space is used to store the same bulk of | | | | closing of drawers. |
| paperwork. | | | | In big corporations and other congested office areas, |
| In a lateral filing cabinet, there are horizontal drawers | | | | the presence of lateral file cabinets also contributes to |
| that resemble a dresser. Unlike the vertical units where | | | | keeping the flow of operations running smoothly and in |
| files are hung front-to-back, the files in lateral units are | | | | an organized manner, despite the lack of space. |
