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This is a screw on the side of an IKEA drawer. On line videos say turn it left or right to level the front of the door. Instructions are to use a Phillips screwdriver. It's not a Phillips head and the local hardware store doesn't recognize it. enter image description here

enter image description here

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    Yep, Pozidriv, pretty much only seen on cabinet hardware. I've got a couple of the bits in a drawer somewhere, for use on a cabinet I think we got rid of about 10 years ago.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Jan 17, 2017 at 0:08
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    @HotLicks that's weird, almost all my screws are pozidriv. I thought that it displaced Phillips long ago and only cheapest knockoffs still use the old standard.
    – Agent_L
    Commented Jan 17, 2017 at 8:52
  • @Agent_L you're in Europe accoridng to your profile, as am I. I believe HotLicks is the other side of the Atlantic though their profile doesn't say. Pozi screws haven't displaced Philips to the same extent over there.
    – Chris H
    Commented Jan 17, 2017 at 9:51
  • @ChrisH Well, they're both are American inventions so that's even more confusing.
    – Agent_L
    Commented Jan 17, 2017 at 10:52
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    @nigel222 It are Phillips screws and the Dutch corporation is Philips. It is difficult to see on some screens and with the i's surrounding, but the former is with two l's and the latter is with one l.
    – Xenan
    Commented Jan 17, 2017 at 15:45

4 Answers 4

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That's a Pozidriv head that might have been chewed up a little by the inappropriate use of a Phillips screwdriver.

enter image description here
Public Domain Image

Phillips #2 on the left, Pozidriv #2 on the right.

Pozidriv screwdrivers come in three main sizes, usually named PZ3, PZ2 and PZ1 from largest to smallest. There is also a rarely seen PZ0. The most common is PZ2. You should use the largest bit that will engage the screw fully.

Here are some examples of Pozidriv screwdriver bits for interchangeable-bit screwdrivers (hand screwdrivers and power screwdrivers)

enter image description here

It is essential to

  • Use a Pozidriv bit, never a Phillips bit
  • Use the correct sized Pozidriv bit.

Used correctly, Pozidriv bits are much more positive than Phillips and are far less likely to "cam-out" (lift and slip under torque).

Phillips screws often don't stand up to repeated use unless you are exceptionally careful. For use in the home, Pozidriv predominates in the UK and much of Europe. Canadian homeowners seem to prefer Robertson (square recess), others Allen (hexagonal recess). It may be that IKEA's European roots explain why it used Pozidriv for this application (although they seem very fond of Allen bolts).

Useful resources

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    From the looks (i.e. quite blunt) of the bottom of the hole in the screw head, it might be worth trying a #3 bit first.
    – Andrew Morton
    Commented Jan 16, 2017 at 18:42
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    @ColeJohnson No, you're supposed to use a Pozidriv. Note the straight (not slanted) edges on the screwdriver and the star markings on the screw.
    – AndreKR
    Commented Jan 17, 2017 at 7:54
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    Robertson screw heads are unknown over here, Allen is referred to as 'in-bus', and is extensively used by e.g. IKEA. At the local hardware store, you'd mostly get PH2 and PZ2 screws, with Torx making a huge entry nowadays. BTW, you can still use PH2 and PZ2 interchangeably but you have to apply much more pressing down force. And of course this brute-forcing would not work when lot of torque is necessary. This is quite a common practice when you don't have the right driver/bit at hand, and/or you're lazy to fetch it. A flat head philips driver also works perfectly if it fits the groove.
    – user47093
    Commented Jan 17, 2017 at 13:08
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    +1 for the wikipedia link! I dislike Pozidriv because here in the US, I will grab the ever prevalent Philips screwdriver and after torquing out, will belatedly put on my glasses and then say bad words. If only Robertson had allowed Ford to license his screw. (I read the link)
    – Jim
    Commented Jan 17, 2017 at 14:20
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    @DavidRicherby: My Leatherman pocket tool came with a space-saving set of flat bits including one for Phillips, It only engage two of the four edges inside the recess. Maybe that is the sort of tool user47093 means?
    – RedGrittyBrick
    Commented Jan 17, 2017 at 21:08
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Definitely a pozi-drive screw. A pozi-drive bit fits tight but a regular phillips will cause the damage in the first pic.

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This looks like a Pozidrive screw. The little shallow star shape is easy to spot.

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Ikea is Swedish so it's definitely not philips! Pozidriv two normally works unless really chewed up. This screw rotates an eccentric cam so is a bit stiff. Place a wide rubber band under the screwdriver tip and a lot of feed (pressure) holding the drawer firmly. Sometimes gives you a bit more grip.

I work on these most weeks....

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    What does Ikea being Swedish have to do with whether or not it's a Phillips (note spelling) screw? And Ikea's world headquarters are in the Netherlands, for what it's worth. (Which isn't much, given that "Phillips" with two l's refers to the Phillips Screw Company, which is American, not Philips with one l, the Dutch electronics company.)
    – David Richerby
    Commented Jan 18, 2017 at 13:38
  • Apologies for the suggestion that Swedes won't be using Phillips screws, just that I've been living in Scandinavia for years, often working on IKEA kitchens (among others) going back decades and it's been Pozidriv, Torx, or hex all the way. Sorry about the spelling mistake, but you understood what I meant yes?
    – handyman
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 15:50
  • I wasn't sure if the spelling mistake was relevant -- I wouldn't have pointed it out if I knew it wasn't relevant. (And, actually, I only noticed that Phillips screws and Philips electronics have different spellings myself a couple of days ago.) I think your answer would be much better if you said that it's not Phillips because you've been putting together Ikea stuff for years and never seen them use that. That's completely believable, whereas "It's not Phillips because Ikea are Swedish" isn't something where you can say, "Oh, I see the logic of that -- sounds like he's right."
    – David Richerby
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 16:00
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    Actually it's worse than that David! I fired off the comment quickly, and for some bizarre reason I was thinking that Phillips=old=imperial and Pozidriv=new=metric=European, which is of course rubbish. Pozidriv is just an improved Phillips, both American so nothing to to with Europe or metric... Oops.
    – handyman
    Commented Feb 1, 2017 at 8:47

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