P-5 vs P-7 Shredders: What the Security Levels Mean

P-5 and P-7 are both high-security paper levels, but they are built for different jobs. Here is what each level guarantees, when an NSA/CSS listing matters, and what you give up in capacity.

What the levels require

Level	Max particle area (DIN 66399)	Max strip / particle width
P-4	160 mm²	6 mm
P-5	30 mm²	2 mm
P-6	10 mm²	1 mm
P-7	5 mm²	1 mm

Limits from DIN 66399-2 for paper (material class P).^[1] The same seven levels are used in ISO/IEC 21964-2.^[2]

Where the NSA comes in

For classified paper in the U.S. government, the reference is not DIN but the NSA/CSS requirement that particles be no larger than 1 mm × 5 mm, and the device must appear on the current NSA/CSS Evaluated Products List for paper shredders.^[3][4] A P-7 rating alone is not the same as an NSA listing: check the exact model on the current EPL revision (the NSA lists revisions dated October 2026).^[4] In our catalog, 27 shredders are listed with an NSA/CSS evaluation in their source.

The trade-off: capacity

Smaller particles take more cutting work, so high-security heads usually take fewer sheets per pass and need oil more often. In our catalog the median stated sheets per pass is 14 for P-5 models and 11 for P-7 models (medians of sourced figures, models that state one). Fellowes says high-security shredders should be oiled every 15 minutes or when capacity drops.^[5]

Which one do you need?

P-5: personal, legal, HR, medical or financial records where your rules call for more than P-4. Most offices that need “high security” mean this.
P-7 with NSA/CSS listing: classified or government material where the contract or agency requires an EPL-listed device.
P-7 without a listing requirement: possible, but you pay in throughput. Confirm someone actually requires it.

P-5 models in our catalog

P-7 models in our catalog

Open the High Security preset · All security levels · HDD shredder vs degausser

Sources

Catalog figures on this page are counted live from the sourced spec sheets in our paper shredders catalog (176 models), so they match the category page. We don't test machines or publish prices, and model lists here take each maker in turn, alphabetically within a maker; they are filters, not rankings.