Shredder Recommendations
Evelina Paxman
Garbage and recycling bins full of bank statements and credit card offers are treasure troves for identity thieves. Your best defense: a paper shredder, which chomps through sensitive documents and spits them out as confetti.
The Royal 14MC 14-Sheet Micro Cut Paper Shredder, a Costco-exclusive model (available for non-members for about $4 extra), has nearly twice the sheet capacity and a longer warranty than competing micro-cut shredders that cost the same. In other words, it offers more shredder bang for your buck.
Like other micro-cut shredders, the Royal 14MC shredder chomps documents into tiny shreds, making any sensitive paperwork all but impossible to reassemble. Through batch after batch of our paper-shredding tests, it ran jam-free and quietly (for a shredder), and we found the large buttons and indicator lights simple to understand.
As the name indicates, it can handle up to 120 sheets in a single pass in its automatic feeder. Just place the stack of paper in the tray, close the lid, and less than two minutes later you have confetti. For smaller jobs, you can use the manual feed slot, which has a 10-sheet capacity and an auto-reverse mechanism that activates if you put too many sheets in at once.
Senior staff writer Melanie Pinola has researched, tested, and written about all types of home-office gear for Wirecutter since 2019. Prior to joining Wirecutter, she covered technology and productivity for over a dozen years for outlets such as Consumer Reports, Lifehacker, PCWorld, and Laptop Magazine.
As someone who still gets way too much mail containing personal or sensitive information, she came into this guide with a vested interest in finding the best paper shredder for her household and home office.
It has a high capacity for its price, and it can handle (almost) anything you may throw at it. This 14-sheet shredder can handle nearly twice as much paper at a time as similarly priced shredders, including our former pick, the Amazon Basics 8-Sheet Micro Cut Paper Shredder. It has enough room to shred several bank and credit card statements in one go.
It can shred continuously without overheating. We were able to feed the shredder stacks of sheets for about 15 minutes straight before the bin indicator said it was full. At that point, we had to empty the wastebasket before continuing.
If you need to shred CDs or DVDs, or if the Royal 14MC is out of stock: The Amazon Basics 8-Sheet Micro Cut Paper Shredder, CD, and Credit Card Shredder is a fine option. A former pick, this model can handle a few bank or credit card statements or single CDs or DVDs at a time, and in our tests it ran without jamming or overheating. However, the gears can spin unnecessarily for almost a minute more after you pass sheets through the feeder, and the 4-gallon bin is on the small side.
To keep your shredder running smoothly, manufacturers recommend regularly oiling the blades. Advice on which oil to use varies by manufacturer, but shredder sharpening and lubricant sheets are a simple, inexpensive option that should work for any model.
This is not a comprehensive list of models we have tested. Specifically, it does not include any cross-cut models, since we no longer recommend them, and we have removed any discontinued models as well.
We tested two units of the Amazon Basics 12-Sheet Micro Cut Shredder, a former pick, but both had issues. One came with a mysterious broken plastic part and gave us a bin-full warning when it was empty, so it was inoperable. The other produced a burning smell and a weird whistling sound during shredding.
Like many cheap shredders, the Aurora AU870MA High-Security 8-Sheet Micro-Cut Paper and Credit Card Shredder has an inconvenient lift-up top. Its wastebasket is flimsier than that of other shredders, and the design tapers at the bottom, which makes it easier to knock over. Its shredding slot is also curved on the left side, which in our experience made feeding it more difficult.
The Aurora AU1210MA 12-Sheet Micro-Cut Paper and CD/Credit Card Shredder is another model we liked, but it typically costs almost as much as our upgrade pick, its 120-sheet auto-feed sibling. The AU120MA is a better value and easier to use.
Bernie Deitrick, who oversees testing of paper shredders at CR, evaluated 14 paper shredders by feeding each with standard 8.5x11-inch printer paper. He based his findings on five criteria: security, convenience, effective capacity (which was ultimately a consideration when judging convenience), speed, and noise.
Security: How secure a paper shredder is depends on the resulting size of the paper pieces. The most common paper shredders are strip-cut, cross-cut, mini-cut, and micro-cut, with strip-cut being the most commonly purchased. Micro-cut offers the highest level of security (our top-rated shredders were cross-cut and micro-cut models).
Noise: Levels for each machine were measured using a decibel meter set at ear height for a seated user, with the paper shredder placed next to the desk, similar to how a shredder might appear in a typical office setting. One caveat to keep in mind: Noise levels are higher when sheets of paper are fed into the machine one by one; stacking paper and then shredding it together is less noisy and is faster.
After researching over 50 paper shredders over the last six years, our home office experts have settled on the top 13 to put through rigorous hands-on testing. In our test lab, we tear through thousands of (recycled) pages to evaluate the power and speed of each model. We also push these machines and their blades to the limit with tougher items like CDs, credit cards, and junk mail envelopes. Whether you end up with mountains of documents that need to be shredded into the smallest bits possible or want to go that extra step to protect your peace of mind, this review can help you find the best paper shredder for your needs and budget.
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If you're currently staring at boxes of files ready to shred, the Fellowes PowerShred 99Ci can tackle that stack swiftly. During our tests, it clocked a maximum shredding speed of 180 pages per minute. Furthermore, this machine readily gobbles up everything you throw at it, from thick envelopes to CDs to credit cards. Despite the power, the PowerShred 99Ci is one of the quietest models we had the pleasure of testing. Your cubicle mates will undoubtedly notice the sound, but they won't request a desk switch due to the noise.
The PowerShred 99Ci is a cross-cut model, meaning it produces long strips instead of the confetti-style shreds produced by micro-cut blades. Still, cross-cuts offer a very decent level of security, and disposing of lots of shreds at once makes piecing the information back together even less feasible. The biggest downside, however, is the cost. It is noticeably pricey and a rather sizeable investment, but we think it's worth the price for those who regularly shred 100+ page documents. If you only plan on shredding a small handful of documents at a time, the Aurora AU1230XA Anti-Jam 12-Sheet Crosscut will get the job done while saving you some money.
The Amazon Basics 12 Sheet Micro-Cut offers high-quality and high-security shredding at a more-than-fair price. This powerful machine turns stacks of 12 sheets into piles of 5/32-inch confetti pieces and exceeds its advertised limits by chewing through stacks as thick as 16 pieces. While it comes equipped with a credit card and CD slot, the 12-Sheet Micro-Cut also tears credit cards to bits through the main slot. This makes junk mail a breeze; no need to open up those pre-approved credit card envelopes anymore. The interface is also intuitive and informative, offering error lights and straightforward commands.
The designated credit card slot merely cuts your card into two pieces, which is subpar in the security department, but our biggest gripe with this shredder is its drawer. For such a user-friendly device, the sticky pullout basket is a significant inconvenience. In the grand scheme, the few nitpicky issues we experience with this shredder are minor blips on an otherwise well-thought-out, high-performing machine. The Amazon Basics 12-Sheet Micro-Cut is a great small office or household shredder. Those who prefer the convenience of an easy-to-remove basket may prefer the Fellowes PowerShred 99Ci.
The Aurora AU1230XA Anti-Jam 12-Sheet Crosscut offers fast shredding at a budget-friendly price. Although the name suggests that it maxes out at a 12-sheet stack, this device happily chews through 13 sheets at a time. It averages 171 sheets per minute, which is right up there with some of the more expensive top performers in our review. It easily slices up junk mail, although it does not do so as thoroughly with particularly thick envelopes. Its compact body makes for easy storage when it's not in use. The uncomplicated user interface is easy to navigate, with a simple sliding button clearly labeled off, forward for shredding, and backward for de-jamming.
While we can push the limits a little with 13-sheet stacks, the Aurora AU1230XA routinely jams at 14 sheets, so it is best to stick with 12 or 13 sheets per load. It is easy to tell when the 5.2-gallon bin is full, but cleaning it out is a hassle. Because the bin is not on drawer slides, you have to remove the heavy shredder top when it is full. This is a minor inconvenience, but an inconvenience nonetheless. It also struggles with sufficiently shredding credit cards, indicated by a distinct, higher-pitched, try-hard noise. Overall the Aurora AU1230XA 12-sheet is a great option for the casual shredder looking for speed and budget-friendliness. However, folks who want a powerful model that can tackle credit cards should look to the fast Fellowes PowerShred 99Ci.
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