Get Rid of Your Old Documents Safely With These Top-Rated Paper Shredders

If you want to get organized at home, the piles of old documents and expired credit cards have got to go. The only problem is that it can be risky to toss these items away whole due to the sensitive personal or financial information they contain. So if you're looking to safely cut down the clutter once and for all, it's time to get yourself a paper shredder.

Instead of cutting in long, spaghetti-like strands, most paper shredders now cut in a crosscut formation, turning documents and cards into little bits of confetti that are nearly impossible to cleanly piece together. The paper shredders in our guide all shred quickly, can handle multiple papers inserted at once, and usually are equipped with other handy functions to help you reverse-shred or know when clear the bin.

The Best Paper Shredders

What to Consider

There are a few important qualities to keep in mind before you buy a paper shredder for your home office:

• Paper-slot limit: Each of these paper shredders has a different paper-slot limit, so you're only able to shred a small handful at a time. Overstuffing this slot with too many papers too quickly may cause the shredder to jam. This spec matters particularly if your household has a lot of personal documents to shred each week. But if you only shred papers occasionally or whenever you get a few pieces of junk mail, you don't necessarily need something that can handle 14 pages at a time.
• Size and bin capacity: If you have a lot to shred at home regularly, a paper shredder with a bigger bin capacity will not only hold everything you're throwing out, but it will prevent you from having to make multiple trips to the recycling bin or garbage can to toss the shreds. Just keep in mind that most of these paper shredders are roughly the size of a wastebasket (even a little bigger), so if your floor space just doesn't allow for another device, consider getting a shredder that sits right on top of your existing wastebasket like the Aurora GB AS680S Paper Shredder.
• Run Time: Most paper shredders can shred a few papers at a time or can run continuously. If you set it to run and shred continuously, the shredder will automatically shut off after a certain period for safety purposes and to let the motor cool off. If shredding marathons are a regular occurrence for you, opt for a shredder with a longer run time like the Aurora AU1460XA Paper Shredder — it can better handle the volume and continuous shredding power than other models that could get burnt out.
• Paper Jams: Even the best paper shredders jam from time to time. Fixing a paper jam can be as simple as setting it to reverse-shred so that its jammed paper comes back up again or letting it run on automatic until it clears all of the paper out of its teeth. However, after chewing through hundreds of pages, the amount of paper dust coating your shredder's teeth may cause it to jam or start making sounds. You'll want to get a dedicated paper shredder oil and apply it either directly to the machine or indirectly by moistening a piece of paper with it. There are also convenient lubricant sheets you can buy that make this even easier and less messy.

It's amazing how something as simple as a paper shredder can seriously cut down the chaos that normally clutters up your file folders and cabinets. Check out our guide to the best paper shredders here.