Phone Holder for a Car Dashboard: Where to Put It and What to Do Without a Smooth Spot

Before you buy a phone holder for a car dashboard, choose the spot it will sit on. A suction base needs a smooth area that you can reach from the driver’s seat and that keeps the road and the controls clear. If your dashboard has no such area, look at the windshield, the CD slot or a vent. If the phone gets hot on top of the dash, move it lower or out of direct sun.

We sell dashboard phone holders, so read this as a shop’s notes on its own listings plus what drivers say online.

Start with the spot, not the holder

Sit in the driver’s seat with the car parked and look for a spot that passes three checks.

• It is smooth. Run a finger over it. Grain, stitching and soft-touch padding give a suction base less to seal against.
• It keeps the view and the controls clear. The phone should not cover the road, the instruments, a vent you use or a button you press.
• You can reach it. You should be able to set the phone in and take it out without leaning.

People search for this product as a car dashboard phone holder, a dashboard phone mount, a dash phone holder or a dash mount phone holder. The names differ and the placement question is the same.

If your dashboard has no smooth area

One driver wrote that their dashboard had no smooth areas for a suction cup, that this left the windscreen, and asked whether there were other options. The replies give three.

• One commenter replied that you can attach it to the windscreen, as long as it is not in the swept path of the wipers. The same commenter suggested the lower right hand corner, tucked between the A-pillar and the raised area around the dash binnacle. If you drive from the left seat, check the matching corner on your side.
• Another commenter asked whether the car had a CD slot, and said you can get phone holders that slide into it.
• A third commenter wrote that they had used vent mounts in their last three cars without issue.

Each reply is one person’s answer for one car. Use them as a list of places to check in yours. Rules on windshield mounts also differ by place, and our guide to whether a phone mount is legal in your car covers how to check.

If you go with a vent, our vent phone holder guide covers how to fit one. For the other two, see the windshield phone mounts and the CD slot phone holders.

If the phone gets hot on the dash

One driver asked where others put their phone mounts, and wrote that their phone seemed to overheat constantly when it was on the dash. That is one driver in one car, and the post does not say what caused it.

If it happens to you, try a spot lower on the dash or to the side, away from direct sun through the glass. Take the phone with you when you park.

Heat matters for the holder too. The commenter who used vent mounts wrote that windscreen suction cup mounts and sticky pads on the dash all soften and drop off on a hot day. That is one person’s experience with holders they did not name. It is still a reason to press the base down again after the car has sat in the sun, and our suction cup phone holder guide covers how to make a base stick again.

What a suction-base dashboard holder looks like

Two of our holders show the usual layout: a cradle that grips the phone, and a base with a lever that locks the suction.

Our listing for the Purple Short-Arm Suction Dashboard Phone Holder describes broad dotted side jaws, twin lower supports and a short arm above a lever-operated suction base. The same listing says to check the actual mounting surface and phone fit before use.

Our listing for the Pink Jeweled Squat Suction Dashboard Phone Holder describes a horizontal black phone cradle with pink rhinestone-style outer jaw panels and a squat decorated lever-operated suction base. That listing says to install and adjust only while parked, keeping sightlines and controls clear.

Place it in order

Work through these in order, with the car parked.

1. Find the spot. Use the three checks above.
2. Clean it. Wipe the spot and the suction base, and let both dry.
3. Press and lock. Press the base down flat, then close the lever.
4. Set the phone in and look. Check the road view, the instruments and the controls from your normal seat position.
5. Push it gently. If the base lifts or the phone slides, pick another spot.

Quick answers

Where to put a phone holder in a car?

Put it on a smooth spot you can reach that keeps the road and the controls clear. Low on the dashboard, to one side of the steering wheel, is a good place to look first.

Can a dashboard phone holder go on the windshield?

A suction base can go on glass. Keep it out of the wipers’ swept area and out of your view of the road, and check the rules where you drive.

What if my car has no smooth spot on the dashboard?

Check the windshield, the CD slot and the vents. Choose the one that keeps the phone in easy view without covering anything you need.

Where to go next

Browse the dashboard phone holders, or read how to choose a car phone holder by mount type.