What size work bag do I need for a laptop?

A 13-inch laptop is roughly 30 cm wide, so the bag needs to be about 32 cm across at minimum. A 15 or 16-inch machine needs around 36 cm. Most bags marketed as work bags are narrower than that, which is the single most common mismatch between the listing and the desk.

What makes a good work bag for women?

Three things, in order: it holds what you genuinely carry, it sits comfortably on the shoulder for the length of your commute, and it opens flat enough to find things at a desk. Materials, hardware and brand come after those. A bag that fails any of the three gets abandoned within a month.

Is a mesh bag suitable for work?

Not as a laptop bag. A 22 x 22 cm knitted mesh bag will not hold a laptop and we would rather say so plainly. It works well as a second bag alongside a laptop case: lunch, gym kit, a book, and the market run on the way home. Its open knit also means small items need a pouch.

Should I have one work bag or two?

Two is often more practical. One bag sized around the laptop, and one small bag for everything that is not work. Splitting the load stops the laptop bag becoming a bin, and means the evening walk home does not involve carrying a computer sleeve you no longer need.

best work bag

A plain-English guide from preon.store.

Most work bag advice starts with the bag. It should start with the job. Before anything else, answer one question: does this bag need to carry a laptop? Everything downstream — size, shape, strap, price — is decided by that answer, and a great deal of published advice quietly skips it. A 13-inch laptop is about 30 cm wide. Any bag narrower than roughly 32 cm is not a laptop bag, whatever the product page calls it.

Criterion one: it fits what you actually carry

Not what you imagine carrying. Empty your current bag onto a table and look at what is really there on a Tuesday. For most people it is a phone, a wallet, keys, a water bottle, headphones, a notebook, and — if the job requires it — a laptop and charger. Measure the widest item and buy above it. Our tote bag size guide translates centimetres into objects, including the A4 test, which remains the fastest way to judge a bag from a listing photo.

Criterion two: it is comfortable for the commute

A bag that is fine in a shop can be miserable after twenty minutes. Two things decide this: the weight of the bag before you put anything in it, and where the handles sit. Short handles that only clear the elbow force the bag into your hand for the whole journey; longer shoulder straps free your hands but swing. Handle width matters too — thin cords cut, flat handles spread the load. And an empty bag that already weighs a kilogram spends your carrying budget before you have packed. We wrote more about that in lightweight tote bags.

Criterion three: it opens flat at a desk

The overlooked one. A bag with a narrow opening, a stiff zip and a deep body means rummaging blind several times a day. A bag that opens wide and slumps flat lets you see everything at once. If you work across more than one location — a desk, a train table, a client's meeting room — this matters more than any other feature, because you unpack and repack constantly.

The honest bit about mesh bags and laptops

We make one bag, and it does not hold a laptop. Tonsiba is 22 x 22 cm with 18 cm handles, knitted from fine brass wire. A 13-inch machine is 30 cm wide, so the arithmetic simply does not work, and we would rather write that here than let a listing imply otherwise. What it does hold is set out object by object in what fits in a mesh tote: a paperback, a bottle, a pouch, fruit.

Where a second bag earns its place

The second bag is the one that carries the parts of a working day that are not work. Lunch to the office. Gym kit for the evening class. The market run on the way home, when the laptop bag is already full and you want to walk in the sun without a computer on your shoulder. That is the role Tonsiba (£95) fills — unlined, no interior pockets, about 382 g, made to order and dispatched within 14 days, free UK delivery. Because the knit is sheer, a small zip pouch inside keeps cards and keys findable.

A short buying checklist

Measure first: widest item plus 2 cm. If a laptop is on the list, that means 32 cm or more.
Weigh it empty: anything over about 700 g is spending your capacity on itself.
Check the opening: can you see the bottom of the bag without unpacking it?
Check the handle drop: 18 cm is hand or elbow; a shoulder carry needs roughly 25 cm or more.
Be honest about the second bag: one bag for everything is usually one bag doing two jobs badly.

If the bag you want is the small one, our minimalist carry guide covers how to strip a daily load down, and the FAQ answers shipping and returns questions.

Last reviewed: 2026-08-03