Quick answer
Tidy Up History is easiest to understand as a repeating museum-restoration loop: clean and repair the space, inspect what the room still needs, find and carry the correct objects, read Knowledge Books so unknown artifacts can be identified, and use keys to open the next locked wing. Those actions award XP, which feeds the ability system and lets you handle more types of restoration work. A strong first run is not about emptying every crate immediately. It is about keeping each room readable, placing confirmed objects first, and leaving uncertain items in organized staging piles until the game gives you enough knowledge to identify them.
Understand the core museum loop
Begin with the room itself. Remove visible dirt, water, cobwebs, and other damage that your current tools can handle. Repair prompts and cleaning jobs are not decorative side work: collected gameplay footage shows that they raise room condition and provide XP. When a task is not available yet, remember it and return after earning another ability point. A room can look clean while still containing a high cobweb, damaged surface, unlit fixture, misplaced artifact, unread book, or missing label.
After the first cleaning pass, sort the movable objects. Artifacts and fossil pieces belong on highlighted exhibit positions, but an object shown as unknown should not be forced into a random slot. Read the relevant Knowledge Book first, then recheck the object and its display. Keys create the larger progression chain by opening locked galleries. This makes cleaning, knowledge, placement, keys, XP, and abilities one connected loop rather than separate checklists.
- Clean and repair every interaction your current abilities allow.
- Place artifacts or fossil pieces only when their destination is clear.
- Collect keys and Knowledge Books during the same room sweep.
- Spend earned ability points with the next blocked task in mind.
- Return for labels and remaining repair types during a later completion pass.
Use deliberate room passes
A reliable room pass starts at the doorway and follows the walls in one direction. Check the floor, display cases, tables, crates, corners, ceiling edges, and any vertical space above normal eye level. Player footage repeatedly shows missed webs, objects, and key-related sparkle or sound cues outside the center of the room. Looking up matters. Finish the perimeter before crossing the middle so you know which surfaces have already been checked.
Do not carry unrelated objects through the entire museum. If the destination is locked or the artifact is still unidentified, create a temporary pile near the appropriate corridor without blocking doors or display slots. Keep fossils separate from cultural artifacts and keep known room groups together. This reduces repeated backtracking and protects limited carrying capacity. Once a key or Knowledge Book changes what the game reveals, you can move the prepared group in one trip.
Treat Knowledge Books as progression items
Knowledge Books are the bridge between mystery objects and correct placements. When the interface shows question marks or does not reveal a useful destination, the productive response is usually to search accessible rooms for knowledge rather than guessing. A book may explain an exhibit category and make matching displays readable. Because books and keys can be found while cleaning, include both in every exploration pass instead of postponing them until the museum is crowded with unknown objects.
If you have cleaned every accessible surface but cannot place the remaining collection, check whether an unread book is still available in an open room. Search shelves, tables, boxes, upper ledges, and the edges of exhibits, and listen for in-game cues. Exact coordinates for every book are not sufficiently verified in the current project research, so this guide does not invent a room-by-room list. The safe rule is to exhaust confirmed open space before assuming the save is blocked.
Spend abilities around real blockers
The confirmed helping abilities include Historian, Contractor Vision, and Lost & Found. Official update notes in the project research state that these helpers can be skipped, that Historian can be toggled, and that the skill-tree screen can be reopened while unspent ability points remain stored. That means you do not need to choose an upgrade merely because a point is available. Inspect your current rooms, identify what you cannot do, and then choose the option that removes the most immediate obstruction.
Repairs and cleaning continue to supply XP, so revisit earlier rooms when a new interaction type becomes available. This turns old unfinished tasks into progress for the next level. Avoid assuming an ability's exact unlock level or prerequisite unless the game currently displays it; the collected footage spans different runs and patches. The live skill-tree screen is the authority for your version.
Know when a room is actually finished
Visual neatness is not the same as completion. A finished room can require condition work, correct artifact placement, labels, lights or repairs enabled by later abilities, and any exhibit-specific assembly such as fossils. If the percentage stops below complete, repeat the perimeter pass and inspect high surfaces. Use the game's highlighting or assistance features when available, but do not rely on them before the relevant ability has been unlocked.
Labels are a later organizational layer, so early players should avoid treating every unlabeled display as an immediate failure. First establish the artifact, room, and knowledge relationships; then return to the label drawers or selector once that system is available. This order prevents repeated handling of the same exhibit and makes the final sweep much easier to audit.
Recover from an early progression block
When the next door is locked, work backward through four questions: Is an accessible room still below full condition? Is a key or Knowledge Book still visible or audible there? Are known artifacts waiting in a staging pile? Did a new ability unlock an interaction in an earlier room? This diagnostic order covers the confirmed progression systems without pretending that every apparent block has one fixed cause.
The built-in Cheats menu is a last-resort recovery tool, not the normal route. Project research confirms 21122124 for Level Up and 42144432 for the Egypt Key. Record a save-state problem before using either code, because the research does not confirm how every patch treats cheat-assisted progress or achievements. For ordinary play, continue with the key locations guide, then use the walkthrough when several systems become active at once.