How to Adjust Kitchen Cupboard Hinges

August 25, 2026

Over time, daily use, natural settling, and the weight of kitchenware can cause cupboard doors to shift out of alignment. Misaligned doors not only spoil the clean lines of a fitted kitchen, but they can also rub against adjacent frames or fail to latch properly. Fortunately, modern concealed hinges (often called Euro or cup hinges) are engineered for simple, three-way realignment using nothing more than a standard manual screwdriver.

Understanding Concealed Hinge Adjustment

Concealed hinges sit inside a round recess—typically a standard 35 mm cup drilled into the back of the door—and clip or screw onto a mounting plate attached to the cabinet carcase. Most standard and soft-close cabinet hinges feature specific adjustment screws that control three distinct planes of movement:

Side-to-side (Horizontal): Shifts the door left or right to fix uneven gaps between paired doors.
Up-and-down (Vertical): Raises or lowers the door relative to the cabinet frame.
In-and-out (Depth): Moves the door closer to or further from the carcase to ensure it sits flush without binding.

Before beginning, check that the mounting plates and hinge cups are securely fastened. Tighten any loose fixing screws before adjusting the alignment.

Step 1: Adjusting Side-to-Side (Horizontal Alignment)

If your cabinet doors are crooked, touching in the middle, or leaving a wide, uneven gap, the horizontal adjustment screw needs attention. This is generally the screw located closest to the door front on the hinge arm.

To move the door towards the hinge side: Turn the screw anticlockwise.
To move the door away from the hinge side: Turn the screw clockwise.

When aligning a pair of doors, make small, quarter-turn adjustments to both the top and bottom hinges. For example, if a door is sagging at the top outer corner, turn the top hinge screw clockwise and the bottom hinge screw anticlockwise to tilt the door back into square.

Step 2: Adjusting Up and Down (Vertical Alignment)

Vertical adjustment ensures that all door fronts align neatly across the run of cabinetry. When adjusting kitchen cupboard hinges vertically, the mechanism depends on the type of mounting plate installed:

Standard slotted plates: Loosen the top and bottom fixing screws on the cabinet carcase slightly, slide the door up or down to the desired height, and retighten the screws securely while holding the door in place.
Modern 3D cam-adjustment plates: Simply turn the central cam screw on the mounting plate clockwise or anticlockwise to raise or lower the door smoothly without loosening the main fixing screws.

Step 3: Adjusting In and Out (Depth Alignment)

If a door does not close flush with the carcase or binds against the frame when opened, depth adjustment is required. The depth screw is usually positioned furthest back on the hinge arm.

Loosen the rear screw slightly to release the tension.
Push the door in or pull it out until it sits flush with the adjacent units (allowing a consistent 1–2 mm gap so the door does not catch).
Tighten the screw firmly to lock the hinge arm back into place.

On higher-specification soft-close cabinet hinges, this is often controlled by an integrated spiral screw rather than a loose slide clamp, providing continuous, millimetre-precise control.

Tips for Trouble-Free Adjustments

Achieving perfect alignment takes patience and methodical testing. Keep these best practices in mind:

Use a manual Pozidriv screwdriver: Avoid power drills or impact drivers, as high torque can easily strip the screw heads or tear out the chipboard threads.
Work in small increments: Make quarter-turns and close the door to check the reveal before making further adjustments.
Support the door: Place a small packer or wedge beneath tall or heavy doors to take the load off the hinges while you make vertical adjustments.