The 9 Best Handheld Vacuums for Pet Hair in All the Tight Corners

• This review contains affiliate links. Read more here.

Dealing with excess pet hair is a pain—but the right tools can help immensely. Handheld vacuums are among the handiest of those tools. Lightweight and efficient, they can help manage the pet hair on your clothes, furniture, and in your car, plus take care of any other messes that need a quick cleanup.

Because handheld vacuums are compact, you can reach into tight corners and crevices, and they’re often much quieter than their full-sized counterparts, so your pet might not mind being in the same room with them.

Not sure where to start? Hop down to our segment on how to choose, or read on for our favorite handheld vacuums for keeping your home (and yourself, and your car, and everything else) free of pet hair.

• Best Overall: Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Cordless Hand Vacuum
• Best Luxury: Miele Triflex HX1 Cat and Dog Bagless Stick Vacuum
• Most Lightweight: Shark Wandvac Power Pet Handheld Vacuum
• Best Budget: Black & Decker Dustbuster Handheld Vacuum (Verified Review)
• Best Extra Tools: Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus Cordless Handheld Vacuum
• Quickest Charging: VacLife Handheld Cordless Vacuum
• Best Corded: Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Handheld Vacuum (Verified Review)
• Best Pet Hair Vacuum for Tight Spaces: Black & Decker Flex Vac With Pet Hair Brush
• Best Stick Handheld Vacuum for Pet Hair: Dyson V11 Cordless Stick

Best Overall: Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Cordless Hand Vacuum

The Bissell Pet Hair Eraser is an ideal and versatile handheld vacuum for small cleanup jobs, couches, and cars. It even comes with a set of specialized tools to target dog hair, including a motorized, rolling brush tool to help lift embedded hair and dirt from upholstery or car seats.

We love that it’s both cordless and rechargeable—and one of the most reasonably priced quality handheld vacuums out there. The only downside? If you have a maximum-grade shedder on your hands, this will have to be emptied and the roller de-haired after nearly every session.

Key Features:

• Motorized brush tool helps lift out embedded hair and dirt
• 17 minutes of cleaning on a battery charge
• 0.7-liter capacity dust cup

Best Luxury: Miele Triflex HX1 Cat and Dog Bagless Stick Vacuum

This brand is the gold standard (see our review of the top-notch Miele C3 canister), and the Triflex cordless stick does not disappoint. Light and maneuverable, this stick converts into a handheld and is especially made for cat and dog parents. It has a HEPA lifetime filter that reportedly captures nearly all allergy-inducing dust and dander.

Note the half-liter capacity dust cup is smaller than in other models, so you’ll be emptying this more frequently. It can be adjusted to three configurations, including one to reach under furniture and other tricky spaces and a lightweight handheld style. It works on all floor surfaces, and the car too.

Key Features:

• Automatic floor detection
• 60 minutes of run time on a full battery charge
• HEPA lifetime filter captures nearly 100% of allergy-inducing dust and dander
• Versatile three-in-one design: comfort mode, reach mode, and handheld
• The 0.5-liter capacity dust cup is smaller than other similar styles

Best Lightweight: Shark Wandvac Power Pet Handheld Vacuum

If you want a truly small and light handheld vacuum, consider the Shark Wandvac. Weighing in at under 1.5 pounds, this is one of the lightest models on the market. It’s cordless, with a lithium battery that charges in a quick 2.5 hours on an equally convenient and low-profile charging base, so the vacuum never has to be far from a charge.

Key Features:

• The LED light displays battery power, so it’s easy to know when it’s time for a charge
• The Pet Tool attachment has a bristle brush that allows you to easily clean up pet hair on couches, carpet, floors, and other surfaces
• The crevice tool makes it easy to clean pet hair in traditionally tough-to-reach spots
• Easy, push-button dust bin cleaning

Best Budget: Black & Decker Dustbuster Handheld Vacuum (Verified Review)

This cordless Dustbuster is one of the best budget handhelds for pet hair. It’s also regularly on sale for an even better deal.

In our testing, we found the anti-tangle rubber bristles of the motorized pet brush and the Powerboost feature to be a winning combo for removing stubborn pet hair. In fact, our reviewer found it did a better job of picking up pet hair from carpets and upholstery than a full-powered vacuum. A one-touch emptying tool also allows you to easily clear the large dust canister (without getting your hands covered in dirt and hair).

There are, however, some tradeoffs: the motor is on the loud side, and the materials aren’t as durable as longer-lasting, more expensive models. As with many other handheld options, this vacuum is better suited for cleaning smaller areas, as the battery life runs for about 10 minutes when using the Powerboost.

Key Features:

• Two speeds
• Comes with a crevice tool attachment (but no brush tool)
• Washable filter and pre-filter
• Four times more suction
• Four-hour charge time
• 0.75-liter dustbin, empties with the push of a button

Best Extra Tools: Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus Cordless Handheld Vacuum

The beauty of Shark is the variety of options it offers at a few different price points. This cordless handheld vacuum was designed specifically to tackle pet messes—including pet hair—on floors, carpet, upholstery, and other surfaces. It includes pet-centric tools like a detachable pet brush, a crevice tool to access hard-to-reach corners, and a scrubbing brush. Two ultra-powerful cyclonic air streams provide strong suction. This handheld is cordless, so you can take it anywhere in your home and out to your car.

Key Features:

• Cordless design and long-lasting lithium-ion battery make for easy on-the-go pet hair removal
• The extra-large dust cup holds nearly half a quart of dust and pet hair
• The bagless design makes cleanup easy
• Very light—2.8 pounds
• 0.42-liter dust cap capacity

Quickest Charging: VacLife Handheld Cordless Vacuum

VacLife isn’t exactly a household name—but don’t let that deter you! Between the powerful suction (strong enough to pick up coins), extended battery life, enhanced HEPA filters, and ergonomic design, this handheld vacuum is a powerhouse when it comes to removing pet hair. A built-in LED lights your way to clean in dark corners and under furniture, and it recharges more quickly than others on our list, for about 20 minutes of run time.

Key Features:

• Powerful suction allows for deep cleaning and pet hair removal
• Six 22.2V Lithium-ion batteries provide 30 minutes of continuous battery life
• Ergonomic design allows you to vacuum comfortably
• Sixty-day money-back guarantee and three-year warranty
• 2.5-3 hour recharge for 20 minutes of run time

Best Corded: Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Handheld Vacuum (Verified Review)

This little dust buster is perfect for getting pet hair out of cars, furniture, dog beds, or cat stands, and for cleaning up small messes. It’s lightweight, handheld, and boasts a nozzle with rubber comb-like bristles to grab dog and cat hair. While it’s not cordless, the long power cord gives great reach and you don’t have to think about battery life or recharging. In our own product testing, we found this vacuum to be best suited for grabbing pet hair specifically rather than regular old dirt.

Key Features:

• 16-foot power cord allows you to reach where needed
• Relatively lightweight at 4 pounds
• Great for pet hair-specific clean-ups

Best Pet Hair Vacuum for Tight Spaces: Black & Decker Flex Vac With Pet Hair Brush

This unusual-looking powerful handheld vacuum is cordless, lightweight, and strong. It’s also ultra-compact, with a flexible head that makes it perfect for everything from vacuuming the car to sucking up furballs from floors. The included pet hair brush does a great job of removing fur from upholstery. Reviewers love the Flex Vac’s portability and flexibility, and it’s a favorite for sucking up cat litter in particular.

Key Features:

• 0.55-liter dustbin
• 4-hour battery charging time
• Pet brush and 4-foot flexible hose attachments included; main nozzle converts to dusting brush

Best Stick Handheld Vacuum: Dyson V11 Cordless Stick

If you’ve got your eye on a Dyson vacuum but also want something flexible and lightweight, this cordless stick vacuum might be just right. The Dyson V11 is very popular with pet parents thanks to its efficient motor; it’s much more powerful than other stick vacuums on the market and, like most sticks, converts handily into a handheld vacuum. It has lots of useful attachments, including a crevice tool and a mini motorized tool for especially stubborn pet hair, and it works well on (and successfully detects) both carpet and hardwood floors.

Like other Dyson vacuums, the filtration system is excellent and the battery life is really good, at about an hour. The charging time is between 3.5–4.5 hours, which does mean you’ll have to take a breather between heavy cleaning sessions. The wall-mounted storage and charging set up, however, makes that easy to do.

Key Features:

• Up to 60 minutes of run time in eco mode, 4.5 hours of charging time
• Automatically senses floor type
• Whole-machine filtration captures 99.97% of dust down to 0.3 microns
• Docking station stores and charges the vacuum as well as attachments

What To Look for in a Handheld Vacuum for Pet Hair

When shopping for a handheld vacuum for pet hair to suit your household, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Type of pet hair: Does your dog or cat have short, medium, or long fur? Longer fur will do better with vacuums that tout “no tangle” brushes.
• Cordless or corded: The benefit of cordless vacuums is they can go anywhere—but batteries need to be recharged. Many corded handheld vacuums have extra long power cords that help you reach a lot of corners, but they can be messier to store.
• Surfaces: Consider where pet hair collects. Hard floors are pretty easy for most handheld vacuums to handle; carpets and rugs, on the other hand, need more suction power and robust brushes that don’t let hair tangle them.
• Ease of use: Handheld vacuums are generally pretty lightweight, but even within that, there’s a range of options, plus ergonomic considerations.
• Budget: If you can swing it, go for a more expensive model, as the best handheld pet hair vacuums often have impressive longevity. Look at warranty details too.

How We Chose

The handheld vacuums featured here were selected based on a combination of our own hands-on testing and a comprehensive look at customer reviews across a wide variety of retail platforms. We prioritized handheld vacuums that are powerful and designed to deal with pet hair at a variety of price points and styles. We’re also guided by the experience of living and playing alongside our own much-loved and strongly opinionated pets, who are never stingy with their feedback or their furballs.

Further Reading

• The 15 Best Pet Hair Vacuums, From Carpet Powerhouses to Cordless Wonders and Robots
• Best Robot Vacuums for Pet Hair
• The 6 Best Carpet Rakes for Pet Hair According to Rover Pet Parents