A cluttered desk rarely needs another complicated gadget. It usually needs a reliable place for the note you cannot lose, a pen that does not skip, or a correction tool that lets you keep writing. The Best office supplies make those small interruptions disappear without demanding much space.
This roundup covers practical desk accessories, planners, notebooks, pens, highlighters, sticky notes, and correction tape. Some are built for daily writing, while others solve one narrow problem particularly well. The single best pick for most desks is the Sharpie S-Gel Black Pens, with options ranging from monitor-side reminders to meeting planning and colorful annotation.
Comparison table
| # | Product | Award | Format or count | Key detail | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sharpie S-Gel Black Pens | Best overall | 12 pens | 0.7mm medium point | Everyday black writing |
| 2 | Post-it Super Sticky Notes | Best sticky notes | 5 pads | 3 x 3 inches, 70 sheets per pad | Visible reminders |
| 3 | Paper Mate Flair Pens | Best for colorful notes | 24 pens | 0.7mm felt tip | Expressive writing |
| 4 | Sharpie Clear View Highlighters | Best for precise highlighting | 8 highlighters | See-through chisel tip | Textbook and document marking |
| 5 | Taja Meeting Notebook | Best meeting notebook | 140 pages | 6.9 x 9.7 inches | Structured meeting notes |
| 6 | Sharpie S-Gel Fashion Pens | Best colorful gel pens | 12 pens | 0.7mm medium point | Bold writing with varied barrels |
| 7 | Taja To Do List Notepad | Best daily planner | 52 pages | 100gsm paper | Daily task planning |
| 8 | Sharpie Pocket Highlighters | Best portable highlighters | 12 highlighters | Pastel chisel tips | Bags, pockets, and planners |
| 9 | BIC Wite-Out EZ Correct Tape | Best correction tape | 4 dispensers | 39.3 feet of tape | Fast handwritten corrections |
| 10 | MDOZQ Monitor Memo Boards | Best monitor reminder | 2 boards | 11 x 3.1 inches | Keeping notes in view |
1. Sharpie S-Gel Black Pens: Best Overall
Pros
- Bold black gel ink
- Comfortable contoured rubber grip
- Medium 0.7mm point suits general writing
- Designed to resist smearing and bleeding
Cons
- Only black ink is included
- Less useful for color-coded notes
Best for: anyone who wants a dependable everyday pen for office notes, forms, and journaling.
The Sharpie S-Gel Black Pens are the set we would put in a shared desk drawer first. Their appeal is simple: the medium point feels familiar, the black ink is bold enough for quick scanning, and the contoured rubber grip gives your fingers somewhere comfortable to settle during longer notes. There is no color system to manage and no unusual tip to learn.
Each pen uses a 0.7mm medium point, a useful middle ground for forms, meeting notes, lists, and ordinary handwriting. A finer point can look cramped when you write quickly, while a broad point can consume space on small planner lines. This tip is better suited to general office work, especially when legibility matters more than decorative lettering.
Sharpie says the gel ink is designed with no-smear and no-bleed technology, and describes it as smooth, bold, clean, and quick drying. Those claims matter most when a pen is used across notebooks, loose pages, and forms where a smudged line is annoying rather than artistic. The set includes 12 black gel ink pens, so it makes sense for a team drawer, classroom, or home workspace where pens tend to migrate.
Compared with the Sharpie S-Gel Fashion Pens, this version gives up varied barrel colors but keeps the writing setup visually consistent. The Paper Mate Flair Pens are more expressive and offer a much wider color assortment, while the S-Gel is the more natural choice for contracts, agendas, and ordinary black text. The BIC Wite-Out EZ Correct Tape is a useful companion when mistakes happen, but it cannot replace a pen that writes cleanly in the first place.
The limitation is equally clear: this is a black-only writing set. It does not help with color-coded project notes, and gel ink is not the right tool for every specialized paper surface. Choose it if you want a straightforward supply of comfortable black pens, not if your desk depends on visual coding.
2. Post-it Super Sticky Notes: Best Sticky Notes
Pros
- 3 x 3 inch size suits short reminders
- 70 sheets per pad
- 100% recycled paper
- Designed to stick and restick on vertical surfaces
- Five pastel pads encourage color coding
Cons
- Small writing area for long instructions
- Adhesive is more useful for reminders than permanent labeling
Best for: people who need visible, movable reminders around a desk or workspace.
The Post-it Super Sticky Notes are the most versatile reminder tool in this group. A 3 x 3 inch note gives you enough room for a short task, phone number, deadline, or one clear instruction without turning the desk into a wall of paper. Five pads make it easy to assign colors to projects or separate personal reminders from work items.
Each pad contains 70 sheets, and the paper is 100% recycled. The Wanderlust Pastels collection includes Washed Denim, Fresh Mint, Orchid Frost, Pebble Gray, and Pink Salt, so the colors are noticeable without being as loud as fluorescent notes. The pastel palette is especially useful when notes remain on a monitor bezel, wall, door, or planner page for several days.
The defining feature is the adhesive. Post-it describes these as having twice the sticking power of basic sticky notes, and the water-based adhesive is intended to stick firmly to walls, windows, doors, and other vertical surfaces while still allowing the note to move. That makes them more useful for temporary planning than ordinary notes that slide down a cabinet or curl away from a wall.
The MDOZQ Monitor Memo Boards keep reminders in a fixed place beside a screen, but these notes are easier to reposition and use across a whole room. The Taja To Do List Notepad is better when you want a complete daily page, while the Post-it notes win for quick prompts that need to stay visible. If your work area also includes a printer, how to keep paper tasks from taking over a small workspace is a useful consideration when deciding where reminders should live.
The weakness is the square format. A 3 x 3 inch note cannot hold meeting minutes or a long checklist, and the strong adhesive is unnecessary for a note that will stay on a notebook page. Pick these for movable, glanceable reminders rather than detailed planning.
3. Paper Mate Flair Pens: Best for Colorful Notes
Pros
- 24 assorted colors
- 0.7mm felt tip creates bold lines
- Water-based ink is designed not to bleed through paper
- Smear-proof and fade-resistant
- Durable point guard helps protect the tip
Cons
- Felt tips are less suited to tiny writing
- Color assortment is less practical for plain black documents
Best for: planners, annotations, classroom work, and anyone who wants writing to stand out.
The Paper Mate Flair Pens change the feel of a desk more than most supplies here. They are made for writing that should be noticed, from color-coded schedules to handwritten headings and notes in the margin. The 24-color assortment gives you room to build a system instead of using one accent color for everything.
Their medium point is 0.7mm, and the felt tip produces a bold line. That makes handwriting look more deliberate, but it also means these are not the pens to reach for when a form has very small boxes. On ordinary notebook paper, the tip should feel more expressive than a ballpoint and less fluid than a broad marker.
Paper Mate uses water-based ink and says the pens are designed not to bleed through paper. The ink is also described as smear-proof and fade-resistant, which suits notes that will be handled repeatedly. The durable point guard is a practical detail because felt tips can lose their shape when pressed too hard or stored carelessly.
The Sharpie S-Gel Fashion Pens also offer a colorful presentation, but their medium gel point is better for conventional writing. The Flair set is the stronger choice for visual organization, while the Sharpie Clear View Highlighters are better when you need to mark existing text rather than create new writing. A tidy desk setup can also benefit from choosing a work surface with enough room for paper, pens, and daily planning.
The trade-off is that a felt tip rewards a lighter hand. Heavy pressure can make the line broader and shorten the life of the point, and the bright assortment may be more than a minimalist desk needs. Choose these when color carries information, not merely decoration.
4. Sharpie Clear View Highlighters: Best for Precise Highlighting
Pros
- See-through chisel tips improve line placement
- Smear-resistant, quick-drying ink
- Eight assorted colors
- Slim shape is easy to carry
- Comfortable grip for extended use
Cons
- Eight colors offer less variety than the 12-pack pastel set
- Chisel tips still require attention on narrow text
Best for: readers and office workers who want controlled, clean highlighting.
The Sharpie Clear View Highlighters solve the most irritating highlighter problem: losing sight of the words under the tip. Their see-through chisel design lets you guide the mark across a line with more control, which is useful when highlighting contracts, textbooks, printed agendas, or dense reports.
The chisel tip can make broad marks or narrower lines depending on how it is held. That gives the eight assorted colors more flexibility than a single-width marker, although it still takes a little care around small type. The slim ergonomic body also makes these easier to carry in a pencil case or desk drawer than a bulky marker.
The ink is described as quick drying and smear resistant. That matters when you are turning pages soon after marking them, especially with printed material that can drag wet ink across the next page. The assorted colors help divide subjects or priorities, but the point of this set is controlled highlighting rather than a large decorative palette.
The Sharpie Pocket Highlighters include 12 pastel highlighters and are easier to clip into a bag or pocket. The Clear View set is the better tool when placement accuracy matters more than portability. Post-it Super Sticky Notes provide a different kind of emphasis, keeping a reminder visible instead of marking the words themselves.
No highlighter is completely immune to smearing on every type of ink, so the product guidance to let ink dry still matters. The eight-color selection may also feel limited to someone building a large color code. It is the right pick for neat, deliberate marking where seeing the text clearly is worth more than having the largest assortment.
5. Taja Meeting Notebook: Best Meeting Notebook
Pros
- Layout includes meeting details and action planning
- 140 pages of 100gsm paper
- Twin-wire spiral binding
- Double-sided pocket
- Index pages help retrieve notes
Cons
- Larger than a pocket notebook
- Structured format may feel restrictive for freeform notes
Best for: professionals who want meetings, decisions, and follow-up tasks in one notebook.
The Taja Meeting Notebook is designed for the part of office work that ordinary notebooks handle poorly: finding the decision from three meetings ago. Its layout includes spaces for details such as the date, location, objective, and attendees, so the page starts with context rather than forcing you to invent a structure every time.
At 6.9 x 9.7 inches, it has enough room for substantial notes without becoming a full-size desk pad. The 140 pages of 100gsm paper are described as smooth and resistant to ink bleed-through. That combination suits gel pens and felt-tip pens better than thin paper would, though the exact result will still depend on the ink and writing pressure.
The twin-wire spiral binding helps the notebook open flat and makes page turning easier during a conversation. A double-sided pocket gives loose handouts or reference sheets somewhere to live, while the professional index pages support quick retrieval. Those features make the notebook feel more like a working record than a stack of temporary notes.
The Taja To Do List Notepad is more focused on one day at a time, with 52 pages and multiple task sections. The Meeting Notebook is the stronger choice when a project has recurring discussions and follow-up decisions. Sharpie S-Gel Black Pens pair naturally with it because their 0.7mm point is suited to ordinary meeting handwriting.
Its main weakness is structure. If your notes jump between sketches, long paragraphs, and unrelated ideas, the dedicated meeting sections may feel like unused real estate. It is also larger than something intended for a pocket. Choose it when consistency and retrieval matter more than absolute flexibility.
6. Sharpie S-Gel Fashion Pens: Best Colorful Gel Pens
Pros
- 12 pens with assorted fashion barrels
- 0.7mm medium point
- Bold gel ink
- Contoured rubber grip
- Designed to resist smearing and bleeding
Cons
- The ink is black across the set
- Barrel colors do not create color-coded writing
Best for: shared desks and personal workspaces that want comfortable black pens with varied looks.
The Sharpie S-Gel Fashion Pens are easy to misunderstand from the assortment. The barrels come in trendy colors, but the ink is black, so this is not a color-coding set. Its appeal is the combination of familiar black writing and a more varied, modern-looking pen cup.
The 0.7mm medium point is the same useful general-purpose size found on the black-barrel S-Gel set. It is broad enough for bold notes and comfortable handwriting, while remaining practical for most planner and notebook lines. The contoured rubber grip gives the pen a secure feel during longer writing sessions.
Sharpie describes the ink as intensely bold and designed with no-smear and no-bleed technology. Those characteristics matter in shared office settings where pens are used for forms, labels, schedules, and quick notes. Twelve pens also make this a sensible drawer supply, although the different barrels may make it harder to identify whether one has already been used.
Compared with the Paper Mate Flair Pens, this set is quieter on the page because every pen writes in black. Compared with the Sharpie S-Gel Black Pens, it offers more visual variety but no writing difference that changes the basic job. If you want the ink itself to carry information, the Flair pens are the better tool.
The limitation is the mismatch between colorful barrels and black ink. Someone expecting 12 ink colors will be disappointed, and people who prefer a uniform office look may not care about the barrel assortment. Select this set for comfortable black gel writing with a less plain desk presentation.
7. Taja To Do List Notepad: Best Daily Planner
Pros
- Multiple sections for tasks and priorities
- Undated format avoids wasted calendar pages
- 52 pages of 100gsm paper
- Transparent PP cover
- Thick paperboard back supports writing away from a desk
Cons
- One page is focused on a single day
- Less suitable for detailed meeting records
Best for: people who want a clear daily task list without a dated calendar.
The Taja To Do List Notepad is for the morning moment when a long list needs to become a manageable day. Its multiple sections give tasks and priorities a place to go, and the undated format means a missed day does not leave an awkward blank calendar page behind.
The 52 pages use 100gsm paper, which is thicker than the flimsy sheets found in many disposable pads. Taja describes the paper as non-bleeding and smooth, making it a good match for a Sharpie S-Gel Black Pen or a colored Paper Mate Flair Pen. The transparent PP cover protects the pages from dirt and wear, while the thick paperboard back gives you a firmer writing surface when you are away from a desk.
The format also has room for a motivational opening section, a small touch that may help someone begin planning rather than postpone it. It can handle work tasks, school assignments, grocery lists, and project steps, but its strength is the daily overview. You can see what needs attention without searching through several pages of meeting notes.
The Taja Meeting Notebook is a better record for recurring projects because it has 140 pages, index pages, and dedicated meeting details. The To Do List Notepad is more immediate and less demanding. Post-it Super Sticky Notes are useful for individual reminders, but they do not give you the same single-page view of the day.
The weakness is that this is not a full project-management system. A busy project may outgrow the page, and people who need dates, appointments, or long-form notes will want another book beside it. Choose it if the main problem is turning intentions into a visible daily sequence.
8. Sharpie Pocket Highlighters: Best Portable Highlighters
Pros
- Slim shape fits pockets and backpacks
- Can clip to a shirt
- 12 pastel highlighters
- Chisel tips support highlighting and underlining
- Two of each listed color
Cons
- Ink should dry before highlighting over writing
- Pastel marks are softer than vivid highlighter colors
Best for: students, commuters, and office workers who carry their annotation tools.
The Sharpie Pocket Highlighters are the portable answer to a desk highlighter set. Their slim bodies fit into pockets and backpacks, and they can clip to a shirt, which is handy when moving between meeting rooms, classrooms, and a shared work area. You are less likely to leave the entire set behind when one or two are easy to carry.
The assortment includes 12 pastel highlighters: two yellow, two orange, two red, two purple, two blue, and two green. Pastel ink is gentler on the page than a loud fluorescent mark, which can make a dense planner or printed report easier to read. The chisel tip also supports underlining and writing small notes, not just broad highlighting.
Sharpie says the ink resists smearing, with the practical instruction to let ink dry before highlighting over writing. That is especially important when marking notes made with gel pens. The Sharpie Clear View Highlighters offer more control because their tips are see-through, but these Pocket Highlighters are simpler to carry and provide four more colors.
They work well with the Taja To Do List Notepad, where pastel marks can separate priorities without covering the task text. They are also useful alongside Paper Mate Flair Pens, though the pen ink and highlighter ink should be allowed to dry when used together. Their small footprint is an advantage for anyone who does not keep a permanent stationery tray.
The compromise is intensity. Pastel colors may not stand out enough on some documents, and the need to let ink dry is not unique to this set but remains relevant. Pick these for portability and a broad, soft color range, not when the strongest possible mark is the priority.
9. BIC Wite-Out EZ Correct Tape: Best Correction Tape
Pros
- Applies dry and can be written over immediately
- Four dispensers
- 39.3 feet of correction tape
- Tear-resistant film
- Clear dispenser shows remaining tape
- Self-winding wheel can reset loose tape
Cons
- White tape is intended for light paper
- Less suitable for correcting large areas
Best for: handwritten forms, notes, homework, and other work that cannot wait for liquid correction fluid.
The BIC Wite-Out EZ Correct Tape earns its place by removing the waiting involved with liquid correction fluid. The tape applies dry, so you can write over the correction immediately. That is a small but meaningful difference when taking notes quickly, filling in a form, or correcting a line during a class or meeting.
The pack includes four dispensers, with 39.3 feet of correction tape in total. Each dispenser is sized for a backpack, pencil case, or classroom drawer, so it is easy to spread them across several work areas. The film-based tape is described as tear resistant and designed to stay put on the page after application.
The clear dispenser lets you see how much tape remains. Its self-winding wheel can also reset the tape if it becomes loose, a useful feature because a loose strip can turn a simple correction into a frustrating mess. The correction point tears cleanly, helping the page look more orderly than a ragged patch of liquid fluid.
This is a different kind of tool from the Taja Meeting Notebook or Sharpie S-Gel Black Pens, but it complements both. A notebook with structured pages is more useful when mistakes can be removed cleanly, and a bold gel pen is easier to live with when correction tape is nearby. If your desk includes frequent document handling, how to keep an office printer area organized can help separate paper correction supplies from printing supplies.
The limitation is the white tape itself. It is designed to cover writing on light paper, not colored sheets or large blocks of text, and it cannot match the flexibility of an eraser for pencil. Choose it for quick, narrow corrections where continuing to write matters.
10. MDOZQ Monitor Memo Boards: Best Monitor Reminder
Pros
- Two transparent acrylic memo boards
- Keeps reminders beside the screen
- Suitable for notes, business cards, and to-do items
- Lightweight and designed for removal
- Can also be used on cabinets, walls, and other surfaces
Cons
- Requires a wide enough monitor edge
- Should not be attached directly to the screen
- Adhesive placement needs care
Best for: anyone who forgets notes placed flat on a desk and needs reminders in the line of sight.
The MDOZQ Monitor Memo Boards take a simple idea and put it where many reminders are actually needed: beside the display. The two transparent acrylic panels can be attached to the left and right edges of a monitor, keeping meeting notes, business cards, planning reminders, and to-do items close to the screen rather than buried under paperwork.
Each board is listed at 11 x 3.1 inches, and the acrylic is described as lightweight, waterproof, dirt resistant, and durable. The transparent material keeps the note visible without creating another opaque object in front of the workspace. Two pieces also let you separate urgent reminders from reference information.
Installation is straightforward but not careless. The instructions call for removing the protective film, cleaning dust from the monitor edge, and applying the board to the black border. It should not be attached directly to the screen, and the product specifically warns that a narrow edge is not recommended. Those limitations are more important than the attractive promise of fitting most monitors.
The Post-it Super Sticky Notes are the natural companion here because they provide the movable reminders that the boards hold in view. The boards can also be used on cabinets, dressers, refrigerators, and walls, making them more flexible than a monitor-only accessory. Still, the Taja To Do List Notepad is better for a complete daily plan, while this product is better for the one or two reminders you must see repeatedly.
The real weakness is compatibility with the physical edge of your display. Strong adhesive can be useful, but it also makes careful placement essential, and a screen with a narrow border may not be suitable. Choose this set if your monitor has a broad, clean black edge and your main problem is forgetting notes that are already on your desk.
How to choose best office supplies
The right supplies depend less on having a full drawer and more on matching each tool to the task it must handle.
Writing point and ink
A 0.7mm point is a practical middle ground for everyday office writing. The Sharpie S-Gel Black Pens and Sharpie S-Gel Fashion Pens use that size for bold, readable gel writing, while the Paper Mate Flair Pens use a 0.7mm felt tip for a more expressive line. Choose gel pens for routine forms and notes, and felt-tip pens when visual emphasis matters.
Paper weight and page format
Paper weight affects how confidently you can write, especially with gel ink and felt tips. The Taja notepads use 100gsm paper, while the Post-it notes are intended for short reminders rather than long entries. A structured notebook helps with recurring meetings, whereas an undated to-do pad is better for one-day planning.
Adhesive and placement
Sticky notes should stay where you put them without becoming permanent obstacles. Post-it Super Sticky Notes are made for sticking and repositioning on vertical surfaces, while the MDOZQ boards use adhesive to create a fixed reminder area beside a monitor. Check the surface before attaching anything, particularly when the product is intended for a monitor edge.
The best reminder is not the largest one. It is the one that appears exactly where the next decision happens.
Tip shape and visibility
Chisel tips support broad highlighting, narrow underlining, and short annotations. The Sharpie Clear View Highlighters add a see-through tip for more accurate placement, while the Sharpie Pocket Highlighters prioritize portability and a larger pastel assortment. Pick vivid or pastel ink based on how strongly the mark needs to stand out from the page.
Portability and storage
A desk supply that stays in a drawer cannot help when you work in another room. Pocket highlighters and correction tape are easy to distribute among bags, pencil cases, and drawers. Larger notebooks need a more deliberate home, but their extra page area and binding make them more capable for meetings and project work.
Frequently asked questions
What should every office desk have?
A dependable black pen, a way to capture tasks, and a method for marking or correcting paper are a useful starting point. The Sharpie S-Gel Black Pens, Taja To Do List Notepad, and BIC Wite-Out EZ Correct Tape cover those basic jobs without requiring a complicated setup.
Are gel pens or felt-tip pens better for office notes?
Gel pens are usually the safer general-purpose option because they suit forms, lists, and ordinary handwriting. Felt-tip pens such as the Paper Mate Flair Pens are better when you want bold, colorful, expressive marks. Paper type and writing pressure still affect bleed-through and drying time.
What is the difference between the two Sharpie S-Gel pen sets?
The Sharpie S-Gel Black Pens have black barrels and black gel ink. The Sharpie S-Gel Fashion Pens have assorted barrel colors, but their ink is also black. Choose the first for a uniform desk supply and the second for more visual variety.
Are 3 x 3 inch sticky notes large enough for work?
They are large enough for short tasks, reminders, labels, and phone messages. They are not intended for meeting minutes or a long project checklist. For more detailed planning, use the Taja Meeting Notebook or Taja To Do List Notepad.
Can correction tape be written on immediately?
Yes. The BIC Wite-Out EZ Correct Tape is designed to apply dry and allow immediate writing over the covered area. It is intended for white or light paper and works best for narrow corrections rather than large sections.
Which highlighter is better for carrying to meetings?
The Sharpie Pocket Highlighters are the more portable option because their slim bodies fit pockets and backpacks and can clip to a shirt. The Sharpie Clear View Highlighters are preferable when accurate placement over printed text matters more than compact carrying.
Will monitor memo boards fit every computer screen?
No. The MDOZQ boards should be attached to the black edge of a monitor, not directly to the screen, and the product advises against narrow edges. Measure and inspect the border before applying the adhesive.
The bottom line
The Best office supplies in this group are the Sharpie S-Gel Black Pens for dependable everyday writing and the Post-it Super Sticky Notes for reminders that need to remain visible. Together, they handle two of the most common desk problems without taking over the workspace.
Choose the Taja Meeting Notebook if your work revolves around recurring meetings, decisions, and action items. Choose the Paper Mate Flair Pens if color and visual organization matter more than plain black writing. For a smaller, specific problem, the BIC correction tape and MDOZQ monitor boards are useful additions rather than replacements for a basic writing setup.
If you are undecided, start with the Sharpie S-Gel Black Pens and add the tool that matches your most common interruption.
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