How to Measure Your Foot at Home
Guessing your shoe size is how wrong sizes happen. Measuring takes five minutes and gives you a number in centimeters that converts cleanly into any sizing system. Here is the paper-tracing method, start to finish.
What you need
- A sheet of paper larger than your foot
- A pen or pencil
- A ruler or tape measure marked in centimeters
- A hard floor and a wall
The paper-tracing method, step by step
- Measure in the evening. Feet swell through the day and are largest in the evening. A morning measurement can read up to half a centimeter short, which is enough to push you into the wrong size.
- Tape the paper to the floor against a wall so it cannot slide.
- Stand barefoot on the paper with your heel flat against the wall. Stand normally, with your weight on the foot, because a foot spreads under weight.
- Trace around the foot holding the pen upright, keeping it close to the foot. Mark the tip of your longest toe clearly; for many people that is the second toe, not the big toe.
- Mark the back of the heel on the paper as well.
- Measure from the heel mark to the longest-toe mark in centimeters, to one decimal place. This is your foot length.
- Repeat for the other foot. Almost everyone’s feet differ slightly.
- Use the larger of the two numbers. Shoes are sold in pairs; fitting the larger foot keeps the smaller one comfortable too.
Why evening matters
Feet are not a fixed size through the day. Standing, walking, and warmth expand them, and by evening they are at their largest. Measuring then means your shoes fit at the end of a long day, not just first thing in the morning.
What about width?
Length and width are separate attributes of fit. This method measures length. If shoes in your length consistently feel tight across the toes, look for the brand’s wide offering rather than sizing up in length, which adds toe room you do not need and heel slip you do not want.
What to do with your number
Your foot length in centimeters is the most portable sizing number you own. In Mondo (JP) sizing, the size is the foot length: a 27.0 cm foot is a JP 27.0. Enter your measurement into our shoe size converter to get the matching US, UK, and EU sizes.
For children’s feet, which grow in bursts and use separate toddler and youth scales, see our kids’ shoe size chart. Re-measure growing feet every few months.
Frequently asked questions
Socks on or off? Measure barefoot. If you always wear thick socks with the shoes you are buying, measure with those socks on, since they add real length.
How often should I re-measure? Adult feet change slowly, but re-measure if you have not bought shoes in a couple of years, after pregnancy, or after major weight change. Children’s feet should be re-measured every few months.
My feet differ by more than half a centimeter. What now? Fit the larger foot. If the difference is a full size or more and it bothers you, that is a question for a shoe fitter in a store, not a conversion chart.
Can I use inches instead? You can, but centimeters are the safer unit here: shoe systems convert from centimeter foot length, and inches introduce rounding that centimeters avoid.