Shred the Secrets Phone Location & Room 3 Key — Items Guide

Find the Shred the Secrets phone location and Room 3 key first, then use the complete item guide for the fake exit, Golden Shredder and badge routes.

Last updated: 2026-08-26

Quick answer

The Sketchy Coworker's phone is in Room 3, on the floor behind the shredders beside the paper stacks near the lockers. Open every Room 3 locker until you find the Room 3 key, use it on the closed-off area to meet the coworker, then pick up the phone and return it for the Let's keep this between us badge. Shred the Secrets is a collect-and-shred office simulator where progress shows up as stacks, cash, paperclips and badge objectives. Everything you can grab falls into four buckets: (1) location collectibles hidden in specific rooms — the Sketchy Coworker's phone, the Room 3 key, the crowbar, the fake exit, the 4 hidden buttons, the grocery-list secret document, cobwebs, filing cabinets and the Golden Shredder; (2) progression tools — upgraded shredders, the vacuum, the broom and the coffee speed-burst; (3) currencies — cash, paperclips and paper scraps; and (4) ending-chain items — the crowbar→planks→basement coffee machine→elevator route that unlocks Ending 2. Every item below is a confirmed badge objective, but locations are only as good as the source: most are video-verified from real playthroughs, while a few (how the Golden Shredder is actually obtained, and Dangerous Knowledge) are still Community-reported or UNKNOWN. The single most valuable item is the Golden Shredder — it pays double cash with no cranking, and it is not a game pass — see the Golden Shredder guide. Its obtain method remains disputed: returning the phone and upgrading the shredder line are both community-reported, unverified routes. Secret routes and badge context: secrets page. Run checklists: run tracker. Full badge list: badges page. Room-by-room route: rooms page.

Quick jump

Jump to the most-searched Shred the Secrets items: Sketchy Coworker's phone · Room 3 key · Fake exit · Golden Shredder · Crowbar. For secret routes and full badge context, see the secrets guide. Plan your collectible sweep with the run tracker. Golden Shredder deep-dive: golden shredder page.

Key Item Locations

Sketchy Coworker's Phone

Let's keep this between us

Room 3 — behind the shredders, on the floor next to the paper stacks by the lockers ("It was here the entire time"). You need the Room 3 key first to reach the Sketchy Coworker. Return the phone for the Let's keep this between us badge (17.7%). Community-reported reward: the Golden Shredder — see the secrets guide and golden shredder page for both theories.

Room
Room 3
Win rate
17.7%

Room 3 Key

Keymaster

Room 3 — inside one of the lockers. Open every locker until one unlocks; the playthrough that found it had skipped one locker initially. Awards Keymaster (17.4%). The key opens the closed-off area where you meet the Sketchy Coworker and start the phone quest. More Room 3 secrets: secrets page. Log it in the run tracker.

Room
Room 3
Win rate
17.4%

Fake Exit

Tricked!

Room 4 — a glowing EXIT door tucked behind the paper stacks. No key needed: open it for the Tricked! badge (21.5%). It is a decoy, not an ending. Hit it on your Room 3→4 sweep — see secrets page for the full collectible route and run tracker to log it.

Room
Room 4
Win rate
21.5%

Golden Shredder

Solid Gold

Install on any shredder for 2x cash, six stacks per pass, no cranking. Not a game pass. How you obtain it is disputed: (A) return the Sketchy Coworker's phone vs (B) upgrade the shredder branch — both Community-reported, neither officially confirmed. Full breakdown: golden shredder page. Related secrets: secrets page. Track your run: run tracker.

Solid Gold win rate
15.2%
Data confidence
Community-reported

Crowbar

Intruder

Room 6 cobweb room — in the current 12-room version the crowbar rests on the recycling bin on the Sketchy Coworker's upgrade counter (August 2026 footage); pre-update runs showed it glowing between the paper stacks, so check both if you play an older patch. Only the crowbar breaks the basement door planks — break every single one for Intruder (5.3%). Step-by-step: Intruder badge guide.

Room
Room 6
Win rate
5.3%

Grocery-List Secret Document

What? (Ending 1)

Room 5 side room — the golden, sparkling “secret document” waits on a metal table behind the door unlocked by the four hidden buttons between the paper columns (button positions vary between runs). It is the key item of Ending 1: the confidential file turns out to be a grocery list — pickles, cheese, milk, cat food, toilet paper — and the FBI arrives with a cat. That counts as escape. Deep dive: Secret file guide; full route: Ending 1 guide.

Room
Room 5 (side room)
Win rate
22.9%
shred the secrets golden shredder reward solid gold
The Golden Shredder — double cash, six stacks per pass, no cranking. Full breakdown on the golden shredder page.

Items by Purpose

Ending 2 Chain (Crowbar → Planks → Coffee → Elevator)

Ending 2: Dark Secrets

In the Room 6 cobweb room, grab the crowbar (current version: on the upgrade counter's recycling bin), break every plank on the boarded-up doorway (Intruder, 5.3%), drop to the basement, brew a 2-minute pot at the coffee machine for a shredding speed burst, then get the whole squad into the elevator cabin to ride out (Joy Ride, 8.4%). This is the route to Ending 2 — done as a full 4-player squad it earns Perfect Attendance (0.4%).

Dark Secrets win rate
7.9%
Joy Ride win rate
8.4%
Intruder win rate
5.3%

Phone Quest (Key → Sketchy Coworker → Golden Shredder)

Keymaster → Let's keep this between us → Solid Gold

In Room 3, open every locker until one gives up the key (Keymaster, 17.4%), unlock the closed-off area and meet the Sketchy Coworker. His phone is on the floor behind the shredders by the lockers ("It was here the entire time") — see #sketchy-coworker-phone. Return it (17.7%) for Let's keep this between us. One community video links the return to the Golden Shredder; another links the Golden Shredder to upgrading the shredder line — both obtain routes are unverified. See the golden shredder page and secrets guide. Track with the run tracker.

Keymaster win rate
17.4%
Let's keep this between us
17.7%
Solid Gold win rate
15.2%

Ending 1 Chain (Hidden Buttons → Grocery List)

What? (Ending 1)

In Room 5, a wall prompt reads "Find the hidden buttons in the room to unlock the secret document". Four buttons glow green between the paper-stack columns — clear every second column to reveal them. All four open the side room holding a golden document that turns out to be a grocery list (pickles, cheese, milk, cat food, toilet paper) plus a cat, which triggers Ending 1 (What?, 22.8%).

What? (Ending 1) win rate
22.8%

Housekeeping Collectibles (Cobwebs + Filing Cabinets)

Housekeeping + Nosy Coworker

Two pure counter badges. Clear 20 cobwebs with the broom (Housekeeping, 10.4%) — most spawn in the Room 6 cobweb room and later rooms. Open 20 filing cabinets (Nosy Coworker, 28.3%) — the cabinets cluster in Room 3 and hold no loot, they are pure counters. Whether the counter is cumulative across runs or resets per run is unconfirmed.

Housekeeping win rate
10.4%
Nosy Coworker win rate
28.3%

Fake Exit

Tricked!

A glowing EXIT door tucked behind the paper stacks in Room 4. No key needed — open it and you get the Tricked! badge (21.5%). It is a decoy, not an ending.

Tricked! win rate
21.5%

Dangerous Knowledge

Dangerous Knowledge

Badge text: "You weren't supposed to see that" (9.2%). No guide or video transcript has documented the trigger or the location. Community suspicion points to a hidden readable document, with the basement as the prime suspect — UNCONFIRMED. Location: STILL UNKNOWN.

Dangerous Knowledge win rate
9.2%

All Items at a Glance

ItemRoomUseRelated BadgeData Confidence
Sketchy Coworker's PhoneRoom 3Return to coworker (Let's keep this between us); Golden Shredder link unverifiedLet's keep this between usVideo-verified (phone location)
Room 3 KeyRoom 3 (in a locker)Opens the locked area to reach the Sketchy CoworkerKeymasterVideo-verified
Glowing CrowbarRoom 6 (between paper stacks)Breaks the planks on the boarded-up doorwayIntruder (chain)Video-verified
Boarded-up Doorway (planks)Room 6 (bottom wall)Break EVERY plank → enter basement → Ending 2 chainIntruderVideo-verified
Basement Coffee MachineBasement (below Room 6)Brew 2-min pot → speed burst + unlocks elevatorDark Secrets (chain)Video-verified
Basement ElevatorBasementEveryone aboard → ride out → Ending 2 / Joy RideJoy RideVideo-verified
Fake ExitRoom 4Open it → Tricked! badge (a decoy, not an ending)Tricked!Video-verified
Hidden Buttons (x4)Room 5All 4 → open side room with golden document → Ending 1What? (Ending 1)Video-verified
Grocery-List Secret DocumentRoom 5 (side room)Golden document (pickles, cheese, milk, cat food, toilet paper) → Ending 1What? (Ending 1)Video-verified
Golden ShredderAnywhere (install on any shredder)2x cash, six stacks per pass, no cranking; NOT a game passSolid GoldCommunity-reported
Cobwebs (x20)Room 6 + later roomsClear with broomHousekeepingVideo-verified
Filing Cabinets (x20)Room 3 (cluster)Open 20 (pure counter, no loot)Nosy CoworkerVideo-verified
Dangerous KnowledgeSTILL UNKNOWNHidden discovery — undocumentedDangerous KnowledgeBadge-confirmed existence
shred the secrets crowbar on the upgrade counter recycling bin room 6
Where the crowbar sits now: on the recycling bin at the Sketchy Coworker's upgrade counter.
shred the secrets golden coffee machine gold espresso machines room 11 storage shelves
The "golden coffee machine": gold-bronze espresso machine spares shelved in the Room 11 storage room.
shred the secrets coffee machine drink it and take coffee machine prompts basement espresso
The basement espresso machine: a fresh pot every 2 minutes; drink for Caffeinated — a one-minute shredding-speed buff. The whole machine can be picked up and carried.

Items FAQ