If you’re wondering how to get all of the files in Resident Evil 3, you’ve come to the right place. Just as in last year’s Resident Evil 2, finding all of the Resident Evil 3 files will give you the Bookworm trophy/achievement, as well as a Record. Here’s where to find all of them.
Where to Find All Files in Resident Evil 3
There are 56 files in Resident Evil 3, scattered across the map as you progress. When you find one for the first time, you’ll need to scroll all the way through its pages to the end to get credit for discovering it. Many of them also contain useful information like safe combinations or key item locations, so it’s worth keeping your eyes open for them.
As with other collectibles in RE3, your file-collecting progress is saved directly to your profile on the spot whenever you find and read a new one. You do not have to find and read all 56 files throughout a single run through the game. However, the game is very linear, so you only have one shot at collecting most of these files before they become unavailable for the rest of that run.
Notably, the four “tutorial” files that you gradually unlock as you play through the first stretch of the game are stored in your Files menu, but they do not count towards this record. This list of files is numbered in rough accordance with the order in which they appear in the game, for organization’s sake. This order bears no resemblance at all to the order in which they’re stored in your in-game inventory menu.
WARNING: This guide to collecting all 56 files will unavoidably contain minor spoilers for the game’s later locations and fights. You’re better off using this to clean up after you’ve already beaten the game at least once.
Jill’s Apartment – Files #1-4
File #1: Jill’s Report
Once you wake up in Jill’s apartment at the start of the game, flip the light switch next to her pinboard. A piece of paper will be pinned up directly next to the light switch. Grab it to collect Jill’s Report.
File #2: Investigation Notes
You’ll see the Investigation Notes hanging on the board a bit further down to the left on the pinboard, not too far off from file one.
File #3: Unsealed Envelope
Turn left from the pinboard and you’ll see a wooden dresser. On the dresser is a stereo system with a stack of CDs beside it and some papers on top of a book. You can pick up the Unsealed Envelope file from the top of the book.
File #4: Message from a Colleague
Head into Jill’s kitchen and look for an open box of pizza on the table. Beside the pizza box is a small note that you can collect as a Message from a Colleague file.
Subway – Files #5-7
File #5: U.B.C.S. Ammo Crafting Manual
After you’ve met Mikhail and left the subway car, there should be a wooden bench directly in front of you. On the second seat from the right, you’ll find the U.B.C.S Ammo Crafting Manual as a three-ring binder.
File #6: Tabloid Front Page
On the way up to the Subway Station safe room, you’ll come across a newspaper stand. You can collect the Tabloid Front Page file from the counter top.
File #7: U.B.C.S. Herb Field Manual
Within the safe room at Subway Station, you’ll find another U.B.C.S three-ring binder on the edge of the table, which you can collect as the Herb Field Manual.
Downtown – Files #8-11
File #8: Drugstore Owner’s Journal
Use the walkway near Moon’s Donuts to reach the storage room above the drugstore. Resting on some yellow buckets is an open book just to the left of the safe. You can collect the Drugstore Owner’s Journal here.
File #9: Kite Bros. Railway Manual
Inside the Subway Control Center, you’ll find the Kite Bros. Railways Manual file on top of the computer chair. It’s right in front of the main console, so it’s hard to miss.
File #10: Subway Employee’s Memo
Look on the desk in the front office of the Subway Control Center. This file is next to the locker that contains the shotgun.
File #11: Your Charlie Doll
The Your Charlie Doll file is inside the Toy Uncle shop downtown. You’ll need a lockpick to get inside. Then, turn to the wall beside the front window and locate a Bobbing Head Dolls poster. You can collect the file by reading it.
Repair Shop – Files #12-14
File #12: Training Log
After using bolt cutters to enter the garage, you’ll find the Training Log file next to Murphy’s body on the floor beside the car.
File #13: U.B.C.S. Suicide Note
When you leave the garage, turn right to find a dead mercenary at the end of the alley. He’s got this note and a handful of bullets on him.
File #14: Electrician’s Notice
Turn around and head straight ahead from the dead mercenary (left from the garage instead of right). You should spot this file taped to the wall at eye level. It’s a tutorial message about all the conspicuously sparking generator boxes you’ve seen lying around the streets.
Substation – Files #15-18
File #15: Fax from Substation Chief
In the Electrical Substation control room, look on a desk beside the red emergency box. You’ll find the Fax from the Substation Chief file.
File #16: Green Herbs: They Work!
As you leave the substation control room, go downstairs and look for the two potted green herbs. This note’s in the open book lying next to them.
File #17: Substation Internal Memo
Right before you enter the Substation’s breaker room (the door with the “danger: high voltage” sign), you’ll spot a note taped to the wall. Read it and collect the Substation Internal Memo file.
File #18: Chad’s Notes
When you reach the gangplank above the substation’s breaker room, look for an open book beside the gross cocoon of bodies on the floor.
Sewers – Files #19-24
File #19: Increased Sewer Security
This is another file that’s hard to miss. It’s taped to the wall next to the battery-locked door leading into the Sewers.
File #20: Invoice from Gun Shop Kendo
When you find the grenade launcher in the office of the Sewers, look to the right of it to see a stepladder with an open file on top of it. You can collect the Invoice from Gun Shop Kendo by reading it.
File #21: Research Assistant’s Logs
Right after collecting the gun invoice, turn around to face the desk in the Sewers office and you’ll find the Research Assistant’s Logs file.
File #22: Sewer Worker’s Notes
This is one of the easiest files to miss. There’s a T-intersection before the laboratory in the Sewers, but the right-hand fork is seemingly blocked by a “waterfall.” This isn’t actually a barrier, however, and you can walk right through it to find this file at the end of the tunnel, along with a dead guy, some shotgun shells, and a crate with some Gunpowder in it.
File #23: A Love Letter?
In the Sewers lab room, look for a desk in the corner where there are some papers and an envelope on top of them. You can read them to collect the A Love Letter? file.
File #24: Notice of Demolition Delay
Near the roof of the construction site, in the ersatz safe room, just before your first real fight with Nemesis, you can find this note next to the typewriter.
Gun Shop – Files #25
File #25: Raccoon Times Reader’s Column
When you pass through the house behind Kendo’s gun shop, climb the stairs to the second floor and read the folded newspaper on the bed.
Raccoon City Police Department – Files #26-32
File #26: Email Outbox
Before you enter the R.P.D. as Carlos, go downstairs to the Night Watchman’s room (you may remember this as the same room from Resident Evil 2, where you found your bonus weapon at the start of a 2nd Run) and read the Email Outbox note on the desk.
File #27: ID Card Security Protocols
Once Tyrell opens the gate on the West Office waiting area in the R.P.D., you can find this note next to a strongbox on the cushioned bench.
File #28: Sept. 20 Arrest Report
In the West Office of R.P.D where you’ll see the banner welcoming Leon and a row of desks, look for a desk with the nameplate “Marvin.” You’ll find the Arrest Report file opened and ready to read.
File #29: Internal Memo
In the Dark Room safe room of R.P.D., you’ll find the Internal Memo file on the table beside the typewriter.
File #30: Note to a Friend
You can find the Note to a Friend file by heading to the R.P.D Locker Room. The note is on the bench beside the basket of clothes.
File #31: 3F Locker
The next file is stuck to the whiteboard in the Secure Deposit Room in the R.P.D. Read it for a clue about Locker 3F and to gain the file.
File #32: Report on the Mansion Incident
When Tyrell tells you to take a look around in the STARS office, go into Wesker’s office through the same room where you found the Arrest Report. You’ll find the Report on the Mansion Incident on his desk.
Outskirts – Files #33-34
File #33: U.B.C.S. New Weaponry Notice
As Jill, check the bench in the Dilapidated Storage safe room, next to the mine rounds. You’ll find another U.B.C.S three-ring binder beside a white bucket.
File #34: Clock Tower Brochure
When you reach the Clock Tower Plaza, check the two red park benches facing the water for some handgun bullets and this file.
Hospital – Files #35-43
File #35: Spencer Memorial Pamphlet
The Spencer Memorial Pamphlet file is surprisingly easy to miss. It’s on the spinner rack in the hospital’s reception area, next to the locked door on its east wall.
File #36: Nurse’s Journal: Sept. 25
In the same reception area, head over to the main reception desk and you’ll find an opened binder on the right side. You can collect the first entry of the Nurse’s Journal.
File #37: Nurse’s Journal: Sept. 27
Search the shelves on the east wall in the records room on the second floor of the hospital. On the left side, second row down you’ll find the second entry of the Nurse’s Journal.
File #38: Nurse’s Journal: Sept. 29
The last Nurse’s Journal entry is found on the second floor of the hospital in the Staff Room. In this dangerous area, you’ll find the file on the desk beside some computers.
File #39: Memos from Administration
The Memos from the Administration file are found taped to the wall next to the door leading into the Staff Room’s Locker Room.
File #40: Note about a Tape Recording
Another file found on the second floor of the hospital is the Note about a Tape Recording. You can find it by checking the desk at the Nurses’ Station.
File #41: Re: Lost Items
Use the hospital I.D. card to open the door to the Operating Room on the hospital’s first floor. This file is on a cart in the center of the room, although it’s a little tricky to spot.
File #42: Banquet Invitation
In the Private Lab room of the hospital, where you find Bard’s corpse, you can find the Banquet Invitation file. The blood-spattered note is next to Bard on the desk.
File #43: Email from Nathaniel Bard
This is one of two unmissable files in the game. You can access it automatically from the computer in Bard’s private lab in the hospital while following the main quest.
Underground – Files #44-46
File #44: Elevator Notice
At the base of the freight elevator in the Underground Storage Facility, you’ll find a safe room that’s labeled “Office” on your map. This note can be found next to the typewriter.
File #45: Employee Memo
While you’re hunting for fuses in the Warehouse, you’ll have to cut through a small storage room south of the office. This file is found on a stack of boxes on the west side of that room.
File #46: Unfinished Activity Log
This is the second of two unmissable files. Once you reach the Warehouse Control Room, inspect the lit screen on its control console. You’ll collect the Unfinished Activity Log file.
Nest – Files #47-56
File #47: NEST 2 Employee Regulations
When you enter the NEST 2, go south along its entrance corridor to find a storage room. This file is on a desk inside it, and picking it up also grants you the area’s map.
File #48: Isaac Graves’ Diary
At the southern end of the second floor of the NEST 2, there’s a short detour to the west that dead-ends in a blocked corridor. A zombie will reanimate as you approach. Take it out and look on the floor underneath its body to find Isaac Graves’ Diary.
File #49: Essay on Vaccine Synthesis
This file can be found by looking at one of the padded tables next to the Vaccine Synthesizer in the NEST 2 lab. It’s toward the center of the room.
File #50: Shipping Notice
Use the override key on the first floor of the NEST 2 to reach a room that’s being used to store corpses. This file can be found on a rolling table at the base of the stairs.
File #51: Weaponry Authorization Request
When you obtain the antigen sample on the second floor of the NEST 2, look on the desk next to the manipulator.
File #52: Expression of Concern
On the second floor of the NEST 2, in the lab where you find the second half of the vaccine base, read the note on the desk. (This is the point at which Jill finally learns the Nemesis’ name.)
File #53: Scientist’s Dying Message
On the balcony that overlooks the door to the Machinery Room in the NEST 2, check the corpse slumped in the corner. Underneath him is the Scientist’s Dying Message file.
File #54: Disposal Center
After you grab the vaccine and escape from Nemesis, you end up in a safe room with a heavy-duty door on it. This file is taped to the wall next to that door.
File #55: Weapon Spec Sheet
In the Staff’s Break Room, look for a metal shelf in the corner of the room. You can read the Weapon Spec Sheet file within the green book on the third shelf down.
File #56: Suspicious Contract Memo
After your final fight with Nemesis, climb the ladder to the balcony and look at the floor to the left of the exit door. You’re better off looking for the prompt rather than the file itself, as it’s exactly the same color as the walkway. This is the last file you’ll need, entitled “Suspicious Contract Memo.”
When you find and read all 56 Resident Evil 3 files, you unlock the Bookworm trophy/achievement. This is also one of the game’s Records, which rewards you with 1,000 points to spend in the in-game Shop, as well as the Lab Equipment concept art and the model for the Drain Deimos.
Be sure to head over to GameSkinny’s Resident Evil 3 guides hub for more helpful tips and tricks like this!
Published: May 22, 2024 07:29 pm