How to Pack a TV for a Move Without Cracking the Screen

The screen is the fragile part, and it fails in a specific way: pressure on one point. A corner knock in the van rarely kills a television. A heavy box sliding against the panel, or the screen flexing because the TV was carried flat with something resting on it, is what leaves you with a black patch or a web of lines when you plug it in at the new place. Packing a TV well is mostly about stopping anything pressing on that panel for the whole journey.

The short answer

If you kept the original box, use it: the foam inserts were moulded for exactly this screen. If the box is long gone, wrap the screen face in a soft layer first, then cushion all four corners, then box it with padding on both faces, and move it upright, never flat, with nothing stacked on top. A 55 inch television takes one person about twenty minutes to pack properly. Our packing services crew does this as part of a full pack, but it is a job most people can do themselves with the right order of steps.

What you need

• The original box and foam, if you still have them
• A television box from a removals supplier or a large double-walled box you can cut down
• Two soft blankets or large towels for the screen face
• Bubble wrap or foam sheet for the edges and corners
• Packing tape, a marker, and a small bag for screws and cables
• Corner protectors if the box is a generic one (cardboard folded into L shapes works)

One roll of bubble wrap costs a few pounds. A replacement 55 inch screen costs several hundred, and most manufacturers will not repair a cracked panel under warranty because the repair costs more than a new set. The maths favours the bubble wrap.

The rest of the setup: soundbar, consoles and cables

The television rarely travels alone. The soundbar, the streaming box, the console and the games, the remote controls and the HDMI leads all belong to the same setup, and the move is the moment they scatter. Coil each cable and tape the coil, put the remotes and the small boxes in one clear bag or one small box, and keep that bag with the television rather than in a general electronics pile.  The wall bracket deserves the same care: its bolts and spacers go in a labelled bag taped to the bracket itself, because a bracket without its fixings is a trip to a hardware shop on your first evening.

Step by step

1. Photograph the back before you unplug anything

Take a clear photo of every cable going into the back of the TV. Thirty seconds now saves twenty minutes of guessing at the new address, and it tells you which cable belongs to the soundbar, the box and the console. Coil each cable, tape the coil, and put cables, the remote and any wall-mount screws in one labelled bag. Tape the bag to the back of the TV stand, not to the screen.

2. Take the TV off the wall or the stand

Wall-mounted sets need two people for this step even if the TV feels light. One person takes the weight while the other lifts it off the bracket. Lay it face up on a bed or a sofa, never face down on a hard floor, and never on top of anything small and hard like a remote. Remove the stand legs if they come off, and bag the screws with the cables.

3. Protect the screen face first

This is the step people skip, and it is the one that matters most. Dust and grit trapped under a blanket will scratch the coating when the blanket shifts, so wipe the screen gently with a dry microfibre cloth first. Then lay a soft blanket or a foam sheet directly over the face. Only after that soft layer is in place should anything firmer go near it.

4. Wrap edges and corners

Corners take the knocks. Wrap the whole set in bubble wrap with the bubbles facing outwards, and add extra layers or folded cardboard L shapes on the four corners. Tape the wrap to itself, not to the television: tape residue on a screen coating is a miserable job to remove.

5. Box it upright, padded on both faces

Slide the wrapped TV into its box standing upright, the way it sits on its stand. Fill the gap on the screen side with a folded blanket or foam sheet so the face is cushioned but not pressed. Fill the back gap the same way. The TV should not be able to slide in any direction when you tilt the box gently. Write "this way up", "fragile, screen" and the room it belongs in on both sides of the box.

Big screens and wall mounts

Screens of 65 inches and above change the job in two ways. The first is hands: a large panel is a two-person carry at every stage, never a one-person lift by the edges, because the frame flexes and the panel takes the strain. The second is the mount. A television that has lived on a wall for years often has a bracket whose fixings have settled, and the stand it came with is in a loft or long gone. Decide before moving day whether the screen is going back on a wall at the new place (keep the bracket and every fixing) or standing on furniture (find or order the stand feet in advance), because that decision changes what needs packing today.

Moving day: how the TV should travel

Upright, always. A modern LED panel is not built to carry weight across its face, so a TV laid flat with boxes on top is the single most common way screens die in transit.

In our vans a boxed TV travels strapped upright against a padded wall, with nothing resting against the screen side. If you are moving it in a car, the back seat footwell trick works for smaller sets: upright, wedged gently with cushions, seatbelt across the box.

Never in a boot piled with other items.

Size matters for the lift. Up to about 43 inches, one careful person can carry a boxed set. At 55 inches and above, two people, one at each end, carrying by the box and not by any strap or handle cut into it. If the set is 65 inches or larger, or it is an OLED you would struggle to replace, treat it like furniture removals work and let the crew carry it as part of the move.

Before and after photographs: your own condition record

Photograph the television working, showing a picture, before it is unplugged, and photograph it again once it is set up at the new place. Do the same for any screen that matters to you. It takes a minute, it settles any later argument about when a fault appeared, and it doubles as a record of the settings and the cable layout you photographed at the back. Keep the photographs with your moving paperwork rather than buried in a camera roll.

When the original box is long gone

Most people throw the box away, so you have three honest options. A purpose-made TV box with foam corners costs roughly £15 to £30 depending on size and adjusts to fit. A removals company full pack includes the materials, and on our packing services page the packing is priced as crew time, so a single television is a small part of a bigger job rather than a separate product. The third option, wrapping the set in blankets and moving it unboxed, is the one we would talk you out of: it survives a short careful trip sometimes, and "sometimes" is the problem.

The mistakes that crack screens

Almost every damaged screen traces back to one of four moments. Laying the panel flat with weight on it, even briefly, loads the face in the way it is least able to bear. Carrying it by the top corners twists the frame. Standing it unboxed against a wall invites the slide and the fall. And plugging it in the moment it arrives, straight from a cold van into a warm room, can put condensation where you least want it; give it an hour at room temperature first. None of these needs equipment to avoid, just the decision to slow down at the four moments that matter.

At the new place

Let the TV stand in its box for an hour or so if it has come in from the cold, so condensation clears before you plug it in. Refit the stand or bracket, work from your photograph for the cables, and check the screen with a plain white and a plain black picture before the moving boxes around it get unpacked. If there is damage, you want to know on day one, not day ten.

If you would rather the whole job, televisions, mirrors, pictures and the lot, was wrapped and boxed by the crew, that is what our packing team does on moves across London every week. And if the TV is one piece in a smaller flat move, the same care applies on our flat and apartment moves page: the packing order is the same, only the volume changes.

Once the TV is sorted, the same careful approach applies in the kitchen, so follow our guide to packing the kitchen for a house move in London.

If you would rather not pack at all, our packing service can wrap and box the TV and the rest of the home for you.