With the end of the year growing ever closer, it's time to think about end-of-the-year finances and ultimately, 2022 tax filing soon after. And that means getting all your documentation in order. For every document you need to save, you'll probably be left with a half-dozen or so that should be junked, some of them containing sensitive financial information. Fortunately, shredders have come a long way since the days depicted in the movie Argo. (A key plot point: the failure of government shredders to destroy sensitive photos.)
With most of today's shredders, you can be reasonably sure that your documents will be sliced up finely enough to be in no danger of being pieced back together by any group...short of, perhaps, a national intelligence service. See below for the top models we've tested in recent years, then some deeper advice on how to shop for a shredder.
The Fellowes Powershred 99Ci 100% Jam Proof Cross-Cut Shredder ($299.99) is an excellent choice as a heavy-duty shared shredder for a micro office or small workgroup. It's speedy, it has good paper capacity, it cuts paper into pieces small enough for disposing of sensitive documents, and unlike many lower-priced shredders we have reviewed, it's capable of shredding for up to a half-hour straight without needing to cool off. If you need to shred secret documents, you will want to look at a micro-cut shredder, but for more typical shredding, the cross-cut 99Ci earns our Editors' Choice.
The Fellowes AutoMax 130C ($329.99) is a versatile and capable shredder. It can automatically shred a stack of up to 130 letter-size sheets placed in its auto-feed tray, as well as shred paper fed into its manual-feed slot. It matches its rated speed for manual shredding, and its feed slot can hold more than twice as many sheets as its rating indicates. All this is enough to make the AutoMax 130C our Editors' Choice shredder for a small or home office or a personal shredder.
With its black, plastic frame, the AutoMax 130C measures 21.4 by 13.6 by 20 inches (HWD). Paper inserted in its 9-inch-wide feed slot ends up in the 8.5-gallon pull-out bin at the bottom of the shredder. Fellowes rates the manual-feed slot to hold eight sheets, but I found it could shred up to 18 sheets at a time without jamming. It also matched its rated speed for manual shredding of 11 feet per minute (fpm). It's rated to shred for 10 minutes before it needs a 25-minute cool-down period.
The Swingline Style+ Super Cross-Cut Shredder is small, stylish, and lightning fast, and it holds more shredded paper than you might expect in its tiny basket.
If ever a document shredder could be called stylish, the Swingline Style+ Super Cross-Cut Shredder ($159) is it. Small, with gentle curves and a two-tone, glossy color scheme, it is one model you won't be tempted to stash out of sight when guests are over. Intended as a personal shredder, the Style+ ($114.18 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) is best for light-duty use. It lacks the capacity to shred large volumes of paper at once, unlike the Fellowes AutoMax 130C Auto Feed Shredder ($446.26 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , our Editors' Choice small-office/home-office shredder. But it is inexpensive, lightning fast, and holds more shredded paper than you might expect in its tiny basket. The Style+ certainly has pizzazz, and earns our first Editors' Choice for personal shredders.
The TRU RED 16-Sheet Micro Cut Commercial Shredder does nearly everything right, combining secure shredding of up to 20 sheets at once, good basket capacity, the ability to shred many non-paper items, and sustained shredding before required cool-down periods.
In this age where cyber attacks and hacking incidents make regular headlines, businesses can't afford to forget that sensitive physical documents are also at risk of being pilfered. Even shredded documents can be recovered, as anyone who has seen the film Argo can attest to. The TRU RED 16-Sheet Micro Cut Commercial Shredder ($219.99) can slice up paper into tiny bits that nothing short of a very motivated government intelligence service might even try to piece together. Factoring in its combination of micro-cut security, the ability to shred more than 16 sheets of paper at once, its large waste bin, and its knack for shredding items beyond paper, the 16-Sheet Micro (as I will refer to it from here on) is our new Editors' Choice shredder for small businesses that have medium to heavy shredding demands.
The Fellowes Powershred 99Ms Micro-Cut Shredder ($499.99) is a good choice for accountants, attorneys, and other professionals who need to destroy sensitive documents. This micro-cut shredder, designed for use in a small office by up to three people, cuts paper into much smaller pieces than even the best cross-cut shredders that we've seen. If you don't need the 99Ms' ($504.04 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) level of security, for $170 less you can get the Editors' Choice Fellowes AutoMax 130C Auto Feed Shredder ($446.26 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , which can chew through large stacks of documents unattended.
The Fellowes Powershred 79Ci ($239.99) is a good choice as a shredder for your home office, or as a personal model for your small office or home. It's easy to use and reasonably fast. It can also chop paper into small enough shreds to be secure for most documents, and shred CDs, plastic cards, paper clips, and other items in addition to paper. The 79Ci ($269.98 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) doesn't look flashy, but it's dependable, priced well for its capabilities, and gets the job done.
One way of classifying shredders is by the way they cut paper. Strip-cut shredders cut sheets of paper into long strips. They are fast, but they don't provide much security, as the strips are usually large enough that they could be reassembled by a patient, determined person. Cross-cut shredders, somewhat more secure, chop the paper into short, thin strips. And micro-cut shredders dice paper into tiny diamonds or bits of confetti, and are suitable for shredding confidential—and in some cases secret—papers.
Shredder security, measured by the smallness of the shredded bits, is determined by the internationally accepted DIN 66399 standard. The range of security runs from P-1 (insecure) to P-7 (suitable for shredding top-secret documents). A P-4 security level is fine for most offices, while ones needing to dispose of particularly sensitive documents may want to up that to P-5.
Modern shredders can handle more than sheets of paper. Many of today's models can slice through CDs, credit and ID cards, paper clips, and staples. Some can make quick work even of thick envelopes full of junk mail.
Speed, based on the number of sheets you can feed through the shredder, one after another, is important. So is the feeder capacity (how many sheets you can shred at once) and the size of the basket where the shredded paper ends up. Run time—the length of time you can continuously feed paper through the shredder before it needs to cool down—and the length of the cooling-down period are other factors.
The best shredder for you depends on your particular needs: Consider its speed, capacity, run time, and security (or the size of its shred). For example, a smaller office may want a fast shredder to run through a modest amount of paper quickly, while a larger office with more paper to dispose of may want a higher capacity or a longer run time. Offices that handle very sensitive documents will want a micro-cut shredder to dice the paper into fine confetti. Note also that the smaller the shred size, the more paper that will fit in the waste bin before you need to empty it. Strip-cut shredders tend to generate large, airy bundles of shredded materials; the finer shredders' output is easier to compact.
Compact shredders can fit in small spaces, and these may be best for home-office use, or as personal shredders in either a home or an office. Some offer safety features such as automatic shutoff if one's hand touches the feeder slot. Others offer jam protection. Shredders, as a group, are not known for their exterior elegance, but some compact shredders are stylish enough to blend in nicely with an office's décor.
Don't put a price on security—a shredder can be a terrific investment. And though you may find it most useful in the spring, after you've prepared and submitted your taxes, it can help you protect your finances and your identity throughout the whole year, all with just a few minutes of work. The shredders featured here run the gamut from personal and home-office models to ones suitable for heavy-duty shredding in a large office.
One final note: Before you start shredding, you might want to check out our reviews of the top scanners we've tested for digitizing your documents before destruction.
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