Files, unlike other Resident Evil Village collectibles, remain in the game world after being read for the first time. They’re also saved under the Files heading in your journal, where you can refer to them at your leisure. Your archive of collected files will be carried with you into your next run.
In a somewhat arbitrary distinction, some documents you find may look like files but aren’t. Some are key items, but most are simply left where you found them. As such, this is a list of the 47 files required for a trophy and achievement.
Naturally, this guide will unavoidably include major spoilers for most of Resident Evil Village. As ever, try to beat the game on your own before reading this.
How to Find All Files in Resident Evil Village
Collecting all 47 Resident Evil Village files earns you the Bookworm trophy and achievement. This is also worth 14,000 points in the post-game extra content shop.
This list uses the same order as the in-game file archive in your Journal menu. It’s not necessarily the same order that you might find them in during the game, but it’s reasonably close.
Many files are hidden in various optional areas, particularly in the village proper. Completing Bookworm, as a result, requires a near-100% clear of a run through Resident Evil Village. As a happy side effect, that means you’ll also get the Mapmatician trophy/achievement/challenge as soon as you start the endgame.
Locations listed as proper nouns — i.e. Entrance Hall — are usually references to a room’s name, if any, on the in-game map.
#1: Fridge Memo
The first file in the game is on the fridge in Ethan and Mia’s kitchen. It’s easy to overlook.
#2: Old News Clipping
Read the folded newspaper on the dresser in Ethan and Mia’s bedroom.
#3: Ethan’s Diary
Check the open laptop in the study next to Rose’s room.
#4: Medical Checkup Report
Open the drawer next to Ethan’s computer desk in the study.
#5: Mission Briefing
When you wake up after the van crash, read the open folder next to the dead guy on the ground.
#6: Scribbled Note
On the corner table in the candle-lit house just west of the Maiden of War statue in the village. You end up right outside this house after your first conversation with the Hag.
#7: “Goats of Warding” Placard
Read the plaque below the first Goat of Warding, found in the village near the Maiden of War statue.
#8: Dangerous Creatures
Read the scrap of paper on the seat of the leather armchair in the front hall of Luiza’s house.
#9: Guest Book
Check the open book on the side table in the Entrance Hall of Castle Dimitrescu.
#10: Norshteyn’s Labyrinths
Read the book on the podium next to the first Labyrinth in the Duke’s room south from the Hall of the Four in Castle Dimitrescu.
#11: Winemaking History
Read the open book on the table in the center of the Wine Room on the third floor of Castle Dimitrescu.
#12: A Maid’s Diary
After you escape from one of Dimitrescu’s daughters via the Dressing Room, you’ll end up in the basement. Check the note on the rolling shelf in the corner.
#13: Treatment Candidates
Read the note on the old medical supply cart in the dungeons north of the Hall of War in Castle Dimitrescu.
#14: Observation Report
From file #12, above, circle around the blockade in the main hallway of the dungeons and look inside the eastern cell with all the equipment in it. Read the note on the table.
#15: A Cook’s Diary
Read the note on the third shelf of the intact bookcase against the east wall of the kitchen in Castle Dimitrescu.
#16: Alcina Dimitrescu’s Diary
After you eavesdrop on Alcina’s phone call in her chambers on the castle’s second floor, go inside and read the open book on the couch.
#17: Grand Chambermaid’s Notice
Check the note on the bureau on the second floor of the room between the Library and the Opera Hall in Castle Dimitrescu.
#18: Further Observations
On the second floor of the Library in Castle Dimitrescu, pick up the open book on the hutch on the southeastern side of the room. Rotate it until you get a prompt to Examine it to get the file.
#19: Insect Observations Journal
Like the previous file, you need to pick up and rotate a book to get this file. The book in question is next to the piano on the first floor of the Opera Hall in Castle Dimitrescu.
#20: Rumors of a Dagger
Read the note on the table next to the candle on the south end of Castle Dimitrescu’s Attic.
#21: Craftsman’s Note
After you defeat Alcina Dimitrescu, go inside the small shack near the exit door and read the sheet of paper on the desk next to the typewriter.
(You can find your way back to this shack right up until relatively late in the game once you have the Crank. That lets you lower the drawbridge and take the fishing boat downriver to the nearby dock.)
#22: Leonardo’s Message
When you return to the village after your run through Castle Dimitrescu, the gate that used to block off the passage leading southeast away from the Maiden of War statue is gone. Go through it, turn left immediately, go upstairs and read the open book on the table.
#23: Note on the Luthier’s House
As you’re re-exploring the southeastern part of the village, bust open the gate that’s locked “due to missing owner.” This file is tacked up next to the luthier’s house’s front door.
#24: Eagan’s Diary
When you reach the house with the red chimney in the village, read the book that’s open on the table next to the small chest that contains the new piece of your Winged Key.
#25: Church Computer
When you return to the church in the village after your run through Castle Dimitrescu, you’ll find an observation post has been set up there. Read this file off the open laptop.
#26: Gardener’s Diary
On your way back to the village from a successful run through House Beneviento, stop by the shack on the north side of the path. Here, you can find a Labyrinth, the Luthier’s Key, and this file in an open book on a shelf near the bed.
#27: Vasile’s Final Testament
When you return to the village’s East Old Town neighborhood en route to the Reservoir, you’ll get jumped by a wolf. If you duck into the closest building after the cutscene, you’ll find this note on a dead guy next to a lit lantern.
#28: The Reservoir and Giant Fish
Read the paper on the table inside the wrecked shack next to the boat in the Reservoir.
#29: Changing the Cranks
On the seat of the wrecked truck between the sluice control center and the first windmill in the Reservoir.
#30: Moreau’s Diary 1
After you drain the reservoir in the sluice control room, you’ll end up following Moreau down to ground level. Along the way, open a drawer inside the wrecked house and read the journal inside.
#31: Moreau’s Diary 2
After you beat Moreau in the Reservoir, you’ll have to collect another piece of the Winged Key from his little TV room. While you’re there, read the second half of the poor dead bastard’s diary, which is on a stool in front of the TV.
#32: Moreau’s Diary of Experiments
When you leave the Reservoir via the elevator, use your new crank on the mechanically locked door at ground level. Work your way through the various monsters in this side area, and you’ll find a chest at the end that contains the Wolfsbane revolver. Moreau’s final journal entry is in a book next to it.
#33: Analysis Results
When you get back to the village from the Reservoir with your new crank, one of the fun things you can do with it is backtrack to the west and lower the Drawbridge. This lets you get to a fishing boat at the dock and explore downriver to find a few secrets.
If you take the boat to the south, you’ll eventually be able to disembark near an ominous-looking cave. Inside, near its back, you’ll find a cache of ammo, a unique treasure, and this file, available on the running laptop.
#34: Ernest’s Diary
Before you go to the Stronghold, you can take a side trip to the optional area Otto’s Farm and pick a fight with a giant maniac with an axe.
The rewards for doing so include piles of dubious meat, a giant cache of ammo, a high-value treasure, a hidden Goat of Warding, and this file, which is in the same side room as those piles of dubious meat. You don’t have to kill the giant maniac (Otto, I presume?) to get there, but you do have to break three locks off the door to get inside, which precludes sneaking past him.
#35: Officer’s Diary
Check out the easy-to-miss scrap of paper that’s on the floor next to the save point before the fight with Urias in the Stronghold.
#36: Experiment Notes
After you defeat Urias in the Stronghold, escape the area via the boat in the underground river. It’ll take you back to the area behind the church in the village, but before you climb the ladder, go down the nearby set of stairs to find a hidden dungeon. It’s packed with supplies, and this file can be found on a table against its back wall.
#37: Development Note 1
On a desk next to the case where you find the Cog Mold in the Factory, north of the backup generator on MB4.
#38: Development Note 2
After you escape from the Grinder Shaft on B2 in the Factory, you’ll pass through a small storage area between the Shaft and the Ventilation Duct. This file is on a desk there, at the top of the first set of stairs.
#39: Sturm
After you use Heisenberg’s Key on B1 in the Factory, you’ll come to a short hallway with a door directly in front of you. That door leads to a small pre-boss safe room. Read the file on the machinery to your right as you enter.
#40: Heisenberg’s Diary
After you defeat the Sturm, read the open book on the desk in the factory control room.
#41: Chris’s Computer
Before you get on the tank in the Scrapheap, check the open laptop nearby. This is the last file you can find in RE8 as Ethan.
#42 -#45: Moreau’s Medical Report, Dimitrescu’s Medical Report, Donna’s Medical Report, Heisenberg’s Medical Report
In Chris’s section, you’ll spot these four books on the table in front of you as soon as you walk into Miranda’s lab. Pick up each book in turn and rotate it to open and read the matching file.
#46: Spencer’s Letter
As Chris, in Miranda’s lab, read the sheet of paper on the old desk in the corner.
#47: Miranda’s Diary
As Chris, in Miranda’s lab, read the open book on the far side of the central table.
You’ve found all of the Resident Evil Village files. Now that you’re a Bookworm, that’s one less trophy/achievement/challenge for the list. Keep an eye on our Resident Evil Village game hub for more guides, tips, and puzzle solutions.
