You've finally bought that 75-inch OLED. It’s thin. It’s gorgeous. It’s also currently sitting in a massive cardboard box on your floor, taking up way too much space. You want it on the wall, but honestly, the thought of drilling massive holes into your drywall is probably giving you a bit of anxiety. If you mess up, you’re looking at a structural nightmare or, worse, a shattered screen on the floor.
Learning how to hang a tv wall mount isn't actually about the drilling. It’s about the physics of weight distribution. Most people think they can just "wing it" with some plastic anchors they found in a junk drawer. Don't do that. Please. You need to understand that a static TV weight is different from the "pull force" applied when you tilt or extend an articulating arm.
The stuff you actually need (and the stuff you don't)
Most "all-in-one" kits are lying to you. They include a tiny bubble level that’s about as accurate as a weather forecast from three weeks ago. Throw it away. Get a real 2-foot carpenter’s level. You’ll also need a stud finder that actually works—look for one with "center-finding" logic rather than just edge detection. Franklin Sensors makes a professional-grade one that is basically the gold standard for DIYers because it uses multiple sensors to show you the width of the stud, not just a blinking red light that might be a pipe.
You need a power drill, a socket wrench set, and a painter’s tape roll. Why tape? Because marking up your eggshell-finish paint with a heavy graphite pencil is a mistake you’ll regret the second the TV is mounted and you see those stray marks peeking out from the top.
Why your wall type dictates everything
If you have wood studs, you’re in luck. That’s the easiest scenario. But if you live in a modern high-rise or a converted loft, you might have metal studs or even solid concrete/brick. Metal studs are a nightmare for heavy TVs. They are thin, C-shaped channels of steel that will fold like a wet noodle if you try to use standard lag bolts. For metal, you need specialized 1/4-inch Snaptoggle anchors. These are heavy-duty toggle bolts that flip behind the metal and provide a massive amount of surface area for the load.
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Concrete is different. You’ll need a masonry bit and a hammer drill. If you try to use a regular cordless drill on 40-year-old cured concrete, you’ll spend forty minutes making a 2mm dent and burning out your motor.
Finding the studs is the hardest part of how to hang a tv wall mount
Studs are usually 16 inches apart. Usually. In older homes, contractors sometimes got "creative." You might find them at 24-inch intervals, or you might find a random fire block (a horizontal piece of wood) right where you want to run your cables.
Once you think you’ve found the stud, take a tiny finishing nail. Tap it into the wall where you think the center is. If it goes "pop" and then hits nothing, you missed. If it meets solid resistance, you’re golden. Do this a few times to map out the edges. It’s better to have five tiny pinholes that the mount will cover than one giant hole where a lag bolt stripped out the drywall.
The height mistake everyone makes
People hang their TVs way too high. It’s called "TV-Too-High Syndrome" for a reason. Unless you’re at a sports bar or standing up in a kitchen, the center of the screen should be at eye level when you are sitting down. For most people, that’s about 42 inches from the floor to the center of the display.
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Measure the distance from the bottom of your TV to the holes where the brackets attach. This "offset" is what trips people up. If you want the bottom of the TV to sit 30 inches off the floor, you have to calculate exactly where the wall plate sits based on those bracket positions.
Bolting the plate to the wall
This is the point of no return. You’ve marked your holes. You’ve leveled your lines. Now, you drill pilot holes. Do not skip pilot holes. If you drive a 3-inch lag bolt into a dry 2x4 without a pilot hole, you risk splitting the wood. If the wood splits, the bolt has zero grip.
Hold the plate up. Have a friend hold the level on top of it. Drive the first bolt in about 80% of the way. Re-level. Drive the second bolt. Honestly, even if you’re a perfectionist, most mounts have "post-installation leveling" screws. These allow you to tilt the TV a few degrees left or right after it's on the wall to fix any minor mishaps.
Managing the cable mess
A beautiful wall-mounted TV looks terrible if it has five black cables dangling down like a tech-themed waterfall. You have two choices. You can buy plastic raceways that stick to the wall and paint them the same color as your room. Or, you can go "pro" and install an in-wall power kit.
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Brands like Legrand or DataComm make kits that allow you to run power and HDMI behind the drywall legally. Note: You cannot just drop your TV’s power cord behind the wall. That’s a fire code violation because those cords aren't rated for in-wall heat. You need a kit that uses Romex (house wiring) to bridge the gap between the top and bottom outlets.
The final "click"
Attach the vertical arms to the back of your TV. Make sure you use the right screws. Most TVs come with a bag of 50 different bolts—M6, M8, long, short. If you use a screw that’s too long, you’ll poke right through the internal components of the screen. If it’s too short, it won’t catch enough threads to hold the weight. Use the spacers if the back of your TV is curved.
Lift the TV with two people. Don’t be a hero. Hook the top of the brackets onto the wall plate. You’ll usually hear a click or have to tighten a "safety screw" from the bottom. Give it a gentle tug. If it doesn't move, you’ve successfully mastered how to hang a tv wall mount.
Actionable Next Steps
- Audit your wall: Use a magnet to check if your studs are metal or wood before buying hardware.
- Check your VESA pattern: Look at the back of your TV to ensure the mount you buy matches the hole spacing (e.g., 400x400).
- Buy a dedicated level: A 24-inch level is the best $15 investment you’ll make for this project.
- Phone a friend: Never attempt the final hang alone; one slip can cost you the entire display.
- Plan for peripherals: Decide where your Apple TV, Xbox, or cable box will live—either on a shelf below or tucked behind the TV with velcro.