How much weight can a drywall anchor hold?
From about 10 lb for a plastic anchor to 265 lb for a heavy-duty strap toggle, each, hung flush in 1/2" drywall. The rating for every common kind, and how many it takes for what you are hanging.
About 10 lb for a plastic anchor, up to 265 lb for a heavy-duty strap toggle — per anchor, hung flush.
A 40 lb mirror, with the weight doubled for margin, takes 2 spring-wing toggle bolts at 70 lb each, or 8 plastic anchors at 10 lb.
How that is worked out
- An anchor in drywall is held by the paper face and the gypsum behind it, not by anything a formula can take as an input, so the figure is the rating printed on the package.
- These are the ratings of one widely stocked product of each kind, in 1/2" drywall, loaded in shear — hung flush, the way a picture, a mirror or a shelf bracket pulls.
- Double the weight before you divide by the rating. That 2× margin is what covers a weaker anchor than the one on the package, a wall softer than the one it was tested in, and somebody leaning on the shelf.
Anchors to hang it with a 2× margin
| Anchor | Rated, each | 10 lb | 25 lb | 50 lb | 100 lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plastic expansion anchor | 10 lb | 2 | 5 | 10 | 20 |
| Self-drilling anchor | 50 lb | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Spring-wing toggle bolt | 70 lb | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Heavy-duty strap toggle | 265 lb | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Worth knowing
- The number on the package you buy governs over this table. Ratings vary by brand and size inside each kind, and the field on the calculator is editable for exactly that reason.
- Shear only. Something that pulls straight out from the wall — a hook a bag hangs from — loads an anchor in tension, and every kind here holds noticeably less that way.
- Plaster and lath, a double layer of drywall, or a patched and crumbling spot are not the wall these ratings were taken in. A stud beats every anchor here and does not depend on the drywall at all.
Work out your own numbers
- Wall anchor weight calculator
How much a plastic anchor, self-drilling anchor, toggle bolt or heavy-duty strap toggle holds in drywall, and how many it takes.
- Picture hanging template
Where the nail goes for a sawtooth, two D-rings, or wire — printed at true size so the spacing is exact, not eyeballed.
- Screw and nail holding strength
What a screw, nail or lag holds before it pulls out, by species and by how deep the thread goes.
Related questions
- How much weight can a toggle bolt hold in drywall?
- About 70 lb for a common spring-wing toggle and 265 lb for a heavy-duty strap toggle, each, hung flush in 1/2" drywall. Toggles hold more than sleeve anchors because the wing bears on the back of the drywall over its whole width instead of gripping the sides of a hole.
- How many anchors for a 40 lb mirror?
- 2 spring-wing toggles, or 1 heavy-duty strap toggle — though two is the least that stops a mirror swinging on one point. Plastic anchors would take 8, which is the table telling you to use a different anchor.
- Should I use a stud instead?
- Wherever the thing you are hanging can reach one. A screw into a stud is held by solid wood and beats every anchor on this page; anchors are for the places the studs are not.