The plaice's habitats are in the Northeast Atlantic, the Barent Sea, and the White Sea from the coastline of Murmansk south to the Mediterranean.  Sometimes it is spotted near Southwest Greenland, but not off Canada nor the USA.  In Icelandic waters it is very common in relatively shallow areas all around the country.  Its greatest concentrations are to the west and south, but less elsewhere.

It prefers sandy or clay bottom.  The smallest are found from the surface to 10 metres depth, and the larger down to 200 metres, or even deeper.  It sometimes enters river estuaries and lagoons.  It sometimes buries with only the eyes visible.  During summer it prefers shallower waters and deeper during winter.

It feed off all kinds of crustacaea, worms, and sand eel.