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10 Best Paper Shredders 2024 in the United States

From leading brands and best sellers available on the web.
#1

Winner

Amazon Basics Cross Cut Paper and C

Amazon Basics

Amazon Basics Cross Cut Paper and Credit Card Shredder, 12 Sheet (New Model), Black

Available in:

7 Sizes

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#2
Amazon Basics 8-Sheet Cross Cut Pap

Amazon Basics

Amazon Basics 8-Sheet Cross Cut Paper Shredder and Credit Card Shredder - Black

Available in:

7 Sizes

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#3
Aurora Commercial Grade 200-Sheet A

Aurora

Aurora Commercial Grade 200-Sheet Auto Feed High Security Micro-Cut Paper Shredder/ 60 Minutes/Security Level P-5

Available in:

4 Styles

,

3 Patterns

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#4
Fellowes ‎Powershred 99Ci 18-Sheet

Fellowes

11%OFF

Fellowes ‎Powershred 99Ci 18-Sheet 100% Jam-Proof Heavy Duty Crosscut Paper Shredder Machine for Office and Home, Black/Gray 3229901

Available in:

2 Styles

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#5
Bonsaii Paper Shredder for Home Use

bonsaii

13%OFF

Bonsaii Paper Shredder for Home Use,6-Sheet Crosscut Paper and Credit Card Shredder for Home Office with Handle for Document,Mail,Staple,Clip-3.4 Gal Wastebasket(C237-B)

Available in:

3 Sizes

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#6
Aurora AU1210MA Professional Grade

Aurora

Aurora AU1210MA Professional Grade High Security 12-Sheet Micro-Cut Paper/CD and Credit Card/ 60 Minutes Continuous Run Time Shredder

Available in:

2 Models

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#7
Bonsaii 10-Sheet Cross Cut Paper Sh

bonsaii

6%OFF

Bonsaii 10-Sheet Cross Cut Paper Shredder, 5.5 Gal Home Office Heavy Duty Shredder for Credit Card, Staple, Clip with Transparent Window(C209-D)

Available in:

2 Sizes

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#8
Aurora AU120MB 120-Sheet Auto Feed

Aurora

15%OFF

Aurora AU120MB 120-Sheet Auto Feed High Security Micro-Cut Paper Shredder / 30 Minutes (White/Black)

Available in:

4 Styles

,

3 Patterns

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#9
Dahle ShredMATIC SM 300 Auto-Feed P

Dahle

Dahle ShredMATIC SM 300 Auto-Feed Paper Shredder, Cross Cut, 300 Sheet Bin, German Engineered, Jam Protection, Oil Free, SmartPower, P-4 Security, Shreds CDs/Staples/Paper Clips/Credit Cards

Available in:

2 Styles

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#10
Bonsaii Paper Shredder for Office,

bonsaii

6%OFF

Bonsaii Paper Shredder for Office, 110-Sheet Autofeed Heavy Duty Shredder, 30 Minutes Shredders for Home Office Use, Micro Cut/P-4 High Security Level/6 Gallon Large Bin

Available in:

2 Sizes

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Yehudah PosnickYehudah Posnick

Paper Shredders--For Secure Disposal of Sensitive Documents

In this electronic age, many transactions are performed via the Internet. But, together with the convenience, there is also the problem of a lot of vital information available online, as well as in print. Your social security number on a document, paired together with a credit card number, can do you a lot of financial damage. Identity thieves can lift details from medical records and health insurance records. And if you run a business, sensitive details can be in print or on CDs. It’s wise to find a way of destroying sensitive records. A paper shredder can help with that.

We’ll see that there are paper shredders that reduce documents to small strips of paper. The more advanced models of paper shredders cut the pages into smaller strips, making it progressively more difficult for a thief to retrieve any information. These shredders can also dispose of old credit cards, CDs, and DVDs. And in most shredders, you don’t have to remove staples or paper clips from your documents before shredding them!

We’ll go through some of the options in the Best Reviews Guide list of the best paper shredders. Whether you need it for your home or office, there’s surely a product available for your security needs!

Types

You’ll notice that paper shredders cut paper into shreds in one of three ways:

  • Strip-cut: This is typically employed in paper shredders with a lower security level. An example is the Amazon Basics 8-Sheet Strip-Cut Paper Shredder. It cuts up to 8 sheets of paper into ¼” strips, reducing an A4 sheet of paper into 40 strips. (This is sufficient for a P-2 security rating.) It also can destroy CDs, DVDs, and credit cards. It can work for 2 minutes at a time after which it shuts off for 15 minutes to cool off.

Amazon Basics 8-Sheet Strip-Cut Paper Shredder

  • Cross-cut: There are paper shredders that cut papers in a cross-cut fashion, cutting each piece twice. This meets security levels P-3 and P-4. An example is the bonsaii Heavy-Duty Cross-Cut Paper Shredder. It will cut A4 paper into pieces that are 5 mm x 40 mm. It can work for 60 minutes straight and needs only 10 minutes to cool down. It has a huge 6-gallon capacity, which is enough to hold 400 sheets of A4 paper!

bonsaii Heavy-Duty Cross-Cut Paper Shredder

Aurora High-Security 8-Sheet Professional Micro-Cut Paper Shredder

What Reviewers Have to Say

Here’s what customers say about their choice of paper shredder:

  • Worth investing in a more expensive unit: People who bought an inexpensive model with a small sheet capacity were disappointed when they saw that their unit overheats frequently and suffers from frequent jamming. If you need a lot of shredding, it’s worth investing in a unit that can grind down more pages. Also, there are shredders that can shred continuously for 30 minutes at a time, before they have to shut down to cool off.

  • Quiet: Some shredders tend to be noisy, but the Aurora Micro Cut Paper Shredder is about as noisy as operating a blender. The Bonsaii Paper Shredder operates at around 62 dB. That’s around the level of normal conversation in a room, or a washing machine.

Important Features

Here are some features of the best paper shredders, which may help you decide on one model over another:

  • Size of the bin: The size of the paper shredder bin will indicate to you how often you’ll need to empty it out. A micro-cut shredder, like the Aurora Paper Shredder, has a 3.9-gallon wastebasket that can hold 230 shredded sheets of A4 paper. But there are also shredders that don’t have a bin, such as the Aurora Professional Strip Cut Paper Shredder. You can adjust the width so that it fits over any wastebin from 12” to 15” in width.

Aurora Professional Strip Cut Paper Shredder

  • Security levels: We mentioned that strip, cross, and micro shredders are distinguished by their security levels. Here are some details about the various security levels, with the letter “P” standing for “Paper-based materials”:

    • P-1: This cuts paper into strips that are less than ½” (=12 mm) wide. A shredder shredding this big will work quickly, but it’s still possible to piece the paper together.

    • P-2: This is for non-sensitive, but personal data. It reduces an A4 sheet of paper to 40 pieces, each ¼” (=6 mm) wide. It may still be possible to read personal information on a single strip, without piecing it together with other scraps.

    • P-3: This reduces an A4 sheet of paper to 200 pieces, each less than 2 mm wide. It’s recommended for documents that have sensitive data.

    • P-4: This reduces an A4 sheet to 400 particles with a total area of 160 sq. mm. or less. It’s intended for bank statements and confidential business documents.

    • P-5: A micro-shredder is needed for this level of security and higher. P-5 means that a sheet is reduced to 2000 pieces less than 2 mm wide, and with a total area of no more than 30 sq. mm. It’s recommended for confidential personal and financial documents.

    • P-6: This reduces an A4 sheet to 6000 pieces, which is necessary for legal, military, and financial documents.

    • P-7: This is disposing of documents of military and government level security, according to National Security Agency guidelines. It reduces a sheet of paper to 12,500 pieces.

  • Protect your fingers: Some shredders have a safety feature to ensure that you don’t get hurt. The Fellowes Powershred Cross-Cut Shredder has “SafeSense” technology that will stop the machine if your hand touches the paper opening.

  • Shreds CDs, DVDs, and credit cards: Most of the paper shredders in the Best Reviews Guide list can destroy CDs, DVDs, and credit cards. (You’ll see that there are paper shredder options without the CD/DVD feature.) However, there are also credit cards with chips that contain sensitive information. This chip may be able to pass through the shredder intact. So, this is still something to consider.

  • Jam remover: You’ll see that paper shredders differ in how many pages can they destroy at any one time. It can be as low as 6 pages, and as high as 20 pages. But, if you feed in too many at once, you can cause a paper jam. The best models, such as the Fellowes Powershred 99Ci warn you when you have inserted too many pages. And if a page gets jammed, it reverses the page and reinserts the page automatically.

 Final Verdict

We went through some of the options among paper shredders. We saw that proper disposal of important documents can be a serious matter for your home or business. So it’s worthwhile investing in something that will get the job done efficiently. Check out the options on the Best Reviews Guide list–you’ll surely find a shredder that answers your needs!