How to Determine if Your Door is Left-Swing or Right-Swing

When you are looking for a new door for your home, you'll need to identify whether the one you are replacing is a left-swing or right-swing door. It's a frustrating, yet not uncommon, experience to order a new door, only to find that the hinges are on the wrong side when it arrives. If you don't want to go through the hassle of having this happen to you, it's important to know how to identify the direction of your door. Luckily, this process is relatively simple.

Handing vs Swing

First, it's important to know the different terms you may see to describe door handing/swing. The most common is left-swing vs right-swing door. However, you may also see left-handed or right-handed. These mean the same thing, so we'll be using them interchangeably throughout this article.

Method 1: Looking At The Outside Of The Door

The first and most straightforward method for determining the swing of your door is to stand on the outside of it. For an entry door, this would be the exterior of your home. For an interior door, you will want to stand outside of the room the door leads into. Look at which side the hinges are on. If the hinges are on the left, it's a left-handed door. If they are on the right, it's a right-handed door. Again, the process is actually very simple. The main issue homeowners have is that they either overthink it or they don't remember the swing correctly when it's time to order the door.

Method 2: Facing Away From The Door

If the first method doesn't work for you, or if you just want another way to confirm, open the door and face away from it with your back to the hinge jamb. Note which hand is closest to the doorknob. If it's your right hand, the door is right-swing. If it's your left hand, the door is left-swing.

Inswing vs Outswing

In addition to determining whether a door is left-handed or right-handed, you'll also need to know if it is inswing or outswing. This is easy to determine based on whether it swings into or out of a room, but it's still worth noting to make sure you get the right door for your needs. Inswing doors are much more common for interior doors, but some doors may be outswing depending on the design of your home or the amount of space in a given area.

High-Quality Doors

The Window Depot stocks a variety of interior, exterior, and patio doors at one of our locations. We also have other home improvement products including cabinets, skylights, countertops, and, of course, windows. We are committed to helping homeowners and contractors create beautiful living spaces. Visit one of our store locations to browse our left-swing and right-swing interior doors.