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Best shredders
Joel has spent six years testing pizza ovens, camping gear, binoculars and more. He’s cooked a criminal amount of pizza, and swallowed the evidence.
Shredders serve an important role in home offices and businesses, providing an easy way to dispose of personal data and avoid identity theft.
We’ve tested shredders from popular brands and retailers - including Fellowes, Rexel, Ryman, Argos and ProAction - to find out how easy they are to feed and empty, how many sheets you can shred before emptying the bin, how fast and noisy they are, and whether you can shred other items, such as credit cards and CDs.
Our results revealed two shredders worthy of our Best Buy recommendation, as well as a lower priced shredder that we've named great value.
The best shredders
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| Shredder | Type | Speed | Ease of clearing jams* | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sign up to reveal Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations Unlock tableDigital Access for £8.99 a month, cancel at any time. Already a member? Log in | Very fast | Very easy | ||
| Fast | Very easy | |||
| Average | Easy | |||
| Very fast | Very easy | |||
| Average | Average | |||
| Average | Hard | |||
| Fast | Very hard | |||
| Average | Hard | |||
| Very slow | Average |
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Date tested: December 2023. Page last checked: January 2025. We are not able to show every retailer and cheaper prices may be available.
*Based on the rating of the reverse function.
The shredders we tested
All the shredders we've tested are listed in alphabetical order below.
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Amazon Basics Strip Cut Shredder
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Warranty 1-year limited warranty
Need to know Strip-cut, two minutes claimed runtime, 12 litre bin (approx. 25 sheets A4 paper), accepts staples, paper clips, CDs and credit cards
Bonsaii Paper Shredder
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Warranty 1-year machine warranty
Need to know Cross-cut, three minutes claimed runtime, 13 litre bin (approx. 45 sheets A4 paper), accepts staples, paper clips and credit cards
Duronic Paper Shredder PS410
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Warranty 1-year guarantee
Need to know Micro-cut, three minutes claimed runtime, 22 litre bin (approx. 100 sheets A4 paper), accepts staples, paper clips, and credit cards
Fellowes AutoMax 90M
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Warranty Up to 3-year warranty - register for an extra year (2+1)
Need to know Cross-cut, 10 minutes claimed runtime, 17 litre bin (approx.140 sheets A4 paper), accepts staples, paper clips, and credit cards
Fellowes P-30C Shredder
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Warranty 1-year product and service; 3-years cutters
Need to know Cross-cut,three minutes claimed runtime, 15 litre bin (approx. 40 sheets A4 paper), accepts staples, paper clips and credit cards
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Fellowes Powershred 6M Micro-Cut Shredder
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Warranty 1-year product and service; 3-years cutters
Need to know Micro-cut, five minutes claimed runtime, 13 litre bin (approx.90 sheets A4 paper), accepts staples, paper clips, and credit cards
ProAction Micro Cut Shredder
Available from Argos (£43.99)
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Warranty Manufacturer's 1-year guarantee
Need to know Micro-cut, two minutes claimed runtime, 15 litre bin- (approx. 60 sheets A4 paper), accepts staples and credit cards
Rexel Momentum X308 Shredder
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Warranty 2 years
Need to know Cross-cut, three minutes claimed runtime, 14 litre bin (approx. 45 sheets A4 paper), accepts staples and paper clips
Take a look at our reviews of the best printers and printer ink
Rexel Secure X8 Shredder
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Warranty 2 years
Need to know Cross-cut, three minutes claimed runtime, 15 litre bin (approx. 70 sheets A4 paper), accepts paper clips and staples
How we test shredders
We independently select and purchase shredders sold at UK retailers. We regularly revisit the shredders on sale to see if there are any more popular models that need testing and when we find them we do.
Find out more about how Which? is not influenced by product manufacturers or retailers and how your support helps us to stay editorially independent.
Each shredder is assessed on the following:
Ease of use
We rate how easy the shredder is to set up, feed paper into, empty the bin, and clear out any loose paper.
Maximum number of pages per feed
We determine the maximum number of pages that can be fed in simultaneously and whether the manufacturer's claims stack up. All are able to exceed this figure, except one which failed.
Shredding ability
We test each machine's ability to shred paperclipped documents, credit cards and CDs. All were able to manage paper clips and cards, but one failed the CD test.
Clearing blockages
We create a paper jam to determine how well the shredder can clear it with the reverse function.
Speed and noise
We measure how fast each machine shreds paper and how noisy it is while doing so.
Continuous shredding
We shred paper continuously until the bin is full and record how much shredder paper it can fit inside.
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How to unblock a shredder
Many shredders experience a blockage at some point.
Sometimes, this can be cleared by cycling between the reverse and go functions. Alternatively, it may be that the bin is full and needs emptying.
Clumps of paper sometimes get caught in the blades, which need to be removed carefully when the shredder is unplugged. A tough bit of card can sometimes be effective.
Sometimes, the overheat function kicks in and you will need to let the shredder cool down before clearing the jam.
Find out more detailed information about how to unjam a shredder.
Types of shredder
There are three main types of shredder:
- Strip-cut - Also known as ribbon-cut - models that shred the paper into thin strips, which are less common now as they are less secure than the other types and it may be possible to reconstruct the strips into a legible document.
- Cross-cut - Sometimes known as diamond-cut, these shred the paper into small pieces a bit like wedding confetti, so it would be much harder for someone to reassemble them.
- Micro-cut - The most secure type slice paper into such tiny pieces that a criminal would find it extremely difficult, near impossible, to put them back together.
We'd advise you to go for either a cross-cut or micro-cut shredder to maximise your security.
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