In a method for operating an electrically adjustable vehicle seat which has at least one electrically adjustable upholstered seat element and a sitting weight measuring device for sensing the weight of a vehicle occupant sitting on the vehicle seat, prior to an initial sensing of the weight by the sitting weight measuring device, the upholstered seat element is automatically moved into a measuring position. An adjustment range of the upholstered seat element is predefined as a function of the current sensed weight value.