What do I call my sliding door layout?
Count the panels and say which slide. The tool names the configuration, draws it, and tells you how to measure the opening.
How this works
The trade describes a sliding door with a string of letters read from outside, left to right: O for a fixed panel, X for one that slides. It is the first thing a technician or a parts supplier asks, because it decides which panel carries rollers, where the lock is, and which way the door is handed.
The measuring steps are the ones used to size rollers, glass and a replacement door: the smallest of three widths and three heights, each sliding panel on its own, and the sill.
It runs in your browser and nothing you enter is sent anywhere. It is a guide, not a diagnosis — door makers differ, so check your manufacturer where it says to, and the technician confirms what has actually worn when they see the door.
Questions people ask
- What do XO and OX mean on a sliding door?
- O is a fixed panel and X is a sliding one, read left to right as seen from OUTSIDE. XO means the left panel slides; OX means the right one does. From inside the letters swap, so always say which side you are standing on.
- What is an OXO sliding door?
- A three-panel door with a fixed panel each side and a sliding panel in the middle. OXXO is four panels with the centre pair sliding apart; OXXXO is five with three centre panels that stack.
- How do I measure a sliding glass door opening?
- Width across the frame at the top, middle and bottom; height from the top of the sill track to the header at the left, centre and right. Use the smallest of each. Then each sliding panel's own width and height, and the depth of the sill.
- What is a pocket sliding door?
- One whose panels slide into a pocket in the wall and disappear, leaving the opening clear. They are usually top-hung and measured from the jamb to the pocket mouth plus the pocket depth.
Other free tools
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