A full-extension runner is a drawer slide that allows the drawer to pull all the way out of the cabinet — typically 95–100% of the drawer-box length is accessible when the drawer is fully open. The design replaces older three-quarter runners that left a portion of the drawer hidden inside the cabinet at full extension.
Why full-extension matters
The contents at the back of a drawer are only useful if you can see and reach them. Three-quarter-extension runners leave the back 25% of the drawer permanently inside the cabinet — invisible without leaning over, awkward to reach, and the place the kitchen scissors live for the next decade.
Full-extension fixes the access problem. Pull the drawer; the back wall comes out of the cabinet; every cell is visible from above. For drawer organisers, this means the back rows of fork-spoon bays and spice racks are as usable as the front.
How to spot full-extension
Pull the drawer all the way out. If you can see the drawer's back wall in front of the cabinet face, it's full-extension. If part of the drawer disappears into the cabinet at maximum open, it's three-quarter (or shorter).
What it doesn't change
- Drawer interior dimensions. The internal length, width, and depth are set by the drawer box. Full-extension changes how much you see, not how much fits.
- Side clearance. Full-extension and three-quarter side-mount runners both take roughly the same width (~12.5 mm per side).
Where it helps Modu Drawer fits the most
Wide drawers benefit most from full-extension. A 60 cm drawer with three modules across loses the back module to invisibility under three-quarter extension; full-extension makes the back module as accessible as the front.
For the broader runner context, see drawer slide and runner clearance.