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 usRoom 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
KeymasterRoom 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 GoldInstall 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
IntruderRoom 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%

Items by Purpose
Ending 2 Chain (Crowbar → Planks → Coffee → Elevator)
Ending 2: Dark SecretsIn 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 GoldIn 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 CoworkerTwo 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 KnowledgeBadge 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
| Item | Room | Use | Related Badge | Data Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sketchy Coworker's Phone | Room 3 | Return to coworker (Let's keep this between us); Golden Shredder link unverified | Let's keep this between us | Video-verified (phone location) |
| Room 3 Key | Room 3 (in a locker) | Opens the locked area to reach the Sketchy Coworker | Keymaster | Video-verified |
| Glowing Crowbar | Room 6 (between paper stacks) | Breaks the planks on the boarded-up doorway | Intruder (chain) | Video-verified |
| Boarded-up Doorway (planks) | Room 6 (bottom wall) | Break EVERY plank → enter basement → Ending 2 chain | Intruder | Video-verified |
| Basement Coffee Machine | Basement (below Room 6) | Brew 2-min pot → speed burst + unlocks elevator | Dark Secrets (chain) | Video-verified |
| Basement Elevator | Basement | Everyone aboard → ride out → Ending 2 / Joy Ride | Joy Ride | Video-verified |
| Fake Exit | Room 4 | Open it → Tricked! badge (a decoy, not an ending) | Tricked! | Video-verified |
| Hidden Buttons (x4) | Room 5 | All 4 → open side room with golden document → Ending 1 | What? (Ending 1) | Video-verified |
| Grocery-List Secret Document | Room 5 (side room) | Golden document (pickles, cheese, milk, cat food, toilet paper) → Ending 1 | What? (Ending 1) | Video-verified |
| Golden Shredder | Anywhere (install on any shredder) | 2x cash, six stacks per pass, no cranking; NOT a game pass | Solid Gold | Community-reported |
| Cobwebs (x20) | Room 6 + later rooms | Clear with broom | Housekeeping | Video-verified |
| Filing Cabinets (x20) | Room 3 (cluster) | Open 20 (pure counter, no loot) | Nosy Coworker | Video-verified |
| Dangerous Knowledge | STILL UNKNOWN | Hidden discovery — undocumented | Dangerous Knowledge | Badge-confirmed existence |


