Shred the Secrets Endings Guide — All 3, Step by Step
All 3 Shred the Secrets endings — What?, Dark Secrets, Whistleblower — with routes, badge requirements and the Room 12 vault puzzle. Full walkthroughs inside.
Last updated: 2026-08-11
Quick answer
Three numbered endings, all confirmed by official badges. Ending 1 ("What?", 22.8% of players): press the 4 buttons hidden between paper-stack columns in Room 5 (clear every other column to spot them), grab the golden "secret document" — a grocery list — and the FBI arrives with a cat; that counts as escape. Ending 2 ("Dark Secrets", 7.9%): grab the glowing crowbar in Room 6, break the planks into the basement, brew coffee, and ride the elevator up with everyone aboard — a full 4-player squad also earns Perfect Attendance (0.4%, the rarest badge). Ending 3 ("Whistleblower", 4.9%, added July 30): the run now spans 12 rooms — repair the broken ladder in Room 9 to open the attic, take the Mad Scientist's blueprint quest (Industrial Revolution, 3.4%), then solve the Room 12 vault dial puzzle (number = order, arrow = direction). Full Whistleblower route: Ending 3 guide. Ending 1 & 2 walkthroughs: all endings guide. Related secrets: secrets page.
Ending 1 Chain (Confirmed by Multiple Video Walkthroughs)
- 1
Progress room by room (the run had 8 rooms when this chain was recorded; the 30 июля update extends it to 12).
- 2
In Room 5, read the wall prompt: "Find the hidden buttons in the room to unlock the secret document".
- 3
Find the 4 hidden buttons tucked between paper-stack columns — tip from the videos: clear every other column of paper to spot them.
- 4
With all 4 buttons pressed, enter the unlocked area and grab the "secret document" — a golden sheet that turns out to be a grocery list (pickles, cheese, milk, cat food, toilet paper).
- 5
The FBI shows up with a cat, the absurd reveal plays out, and it counts as an escape — one recorded run ended with 175 paperclips awarded after 53 minutes.
Ending 2: The Dark Secrets Route
The chain is documented in both a solo and a 4-player video walkthrough — high confidence. The route branches off in Room 6: grab the crowbar, break into the basement, brew coffee, and ride the elevator up with your whole squad. The reveal recontextualizes the whole game: the company spiked the coffee with illegal artificial sweeteners to force overtime, and every document you shredded was you destroying the evidence for them. One caveat from the transcripts: whether the basement detour is a hard requirement is not 100% confirmed, but every recorded Ending 2 run took this route.
Ending 2 Chain (Video-Reported, High Confidence)
- 1
Reach Room 6, the cobweb room, and pick up the crowbar — in the current 12-room version it rests on the recycling bin on the Sketchy Coworker's upgrade counter (pre-update runs: glowing between the paper stacks).
- 2
Use the crowbar to break every plank off the boarded-up doorway at the bottom of the room — this also earns the Intruder badge — and head down into the basement.
- 3
Start the basement coffee machine: the fresh pot takes 2 minutes. Drinking the coffee gives a burst of shredding speed ("Caffeinated").
- 4
Open the elevator and get everyone inside the cabin — in a 4-player run, all four must board. Riding out earns Joy Ride.
- 5
The elevator reaches an "under renovation" area; clear the final room (hidden buttons again) to trigger the ending reveal: the company used illegal sweeteners in the coffee to force overtime, and your shredding helped hide it all.
Ending 3: The Whistleblower Route (July 30 Update)
The [ENDING 3] update extends the run to 12 rooms and adds a third ending, confirmed by the official "Whistleblower (Ending 3)" badge (4.9% of players). The route: repair the broken ladder in Room 9 to open the attic, meet the Mad Scientist and recover his blueprints (Industrial Revolution badge, 3.4%), push through the Room 10 testing lab and Mesa Corp offices, then crack the Room 12 bank vault dial — 4 turns; the room's note encodes each turn's order (number) and direction (arrow) — there is no fixed code, the combination changes every run. The vault reveal awards the badge. Step-by-step with screenshots: Ending 3 guide. Ending 1 & 2: all endings guide. Secrets: secrets page.
Ending 3 Chain (Video-Verified)
- 1
Progress into the new rooms — the run now spans 12 rooms, with $5,000,000 goals up top.
- 2
In Room 9 (green lights, yellow catwalk), find the missing ladder parts and repair the broken ladder — "The attic has been opened."
- 3
Talk to the Mad Scientist in the attic (PROJECT: CAFFEINE chalkboard) and accept his quest: recover the blueprints from the floors below — awards Industrial Revolution.
- 4
Clear Room 10 (the red-lit testing lab) and Room 11 (Mesa Corp — "THERE'S ALWAYS MORE WORK!") to reach Room 12.
- 5
In Room 12, clear the paper in front of the bank vault and interact with the dial: 4 turns; the room's note gives each turn's order (number) and direction (arrow). SPACE backs out. There is no fixed vault code — the combination changes every run, so read Room 12's orange notes.
- 6
The vault opens: Badge Awarded — "Whistleblower (Ending 3)" — plus the whiteboard reveal ("TAKE CARE OF THE ROGUE SCIENTIST… THE SUIT PEOPLE SCARE ME") and the OVERVIEW - ENDING 3 screen.
What Is NOT an Ending
FBI Capture
Getting caught awards "It's Not What It Looks Like" (1.2% of players) — a secret badge event. Fan wikis explicitly warn against calling it an ending.
Fake Exit
Opening the fake exit in Room 4 awards "Tricked!" (21.5%) — a collectible secret, not an ending. Whether it relates to either numbered ending is unknown.
Basement Elevator
Riding the elevator out of the basement awards "Joy Ride" (8.4%). Badge guides say it means you have "pretty much completed the game" — a milestone, not a numbered ending.