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I removed lots of them because it was easier to remove the drywall that way. Some of these screws were also used for carpentry work by the contractor who built the bathroom.
The only problem I am seeing is that some of them have drywall dust in the threads so my first impulse is to say no.
If you are going to reuse them for drywall there is no issue, unless the heads are starting to strip. You have to think about the amount of screws you put in a sheet... old screws are not a problem.
For anything else, I would just say no because they suck at handling shear forces and if you have reused and reused drywall screws before you know that they break/snap.
Reuse them for hanging drywall? So long as they're not rusted and the heads aren't stripped, sure, why the heck not?
Reuse them for general construction work? Eh, no, not so much. They're really not designed for high shear loads in construction, so they're not recommended for that. However, I screwed together a storage rack many years ago using (new) drywall screws. It's held multiple 4x8 sheets of drywall, OSB, dimensional lumber and the other accumulated cruft of life for more than 2 decades with no signs of failure imminent.
Could you imagine if your reclaimed screws failed in the near future after you've finished your project? You will forever curse your own name.
Get a box of new screws; they cost like $.02/screw if you get a 5 pound box or $.008/screw in a 25 pound bucket.
This way if there is a failure then at least you won't blame yourself.
In all honesty you're probably fine to re-use them for drywall since it's unlikely that every single screw would fail over time; it's a numbers game.
Just don't use rusty ones because you never know how deeply the rust has compromised the integrity of the metal.
I say no to reuse. I've found they when they've been overtightened they are much closer to their "snapping" point so that on subsequent re-tightenings, they are more like to break off. One never knows if they've been over-tightnened so why take the chance.
For repair jobs where looks and rework don't matter, then reuse makes more sense.
My finial argument for not reusing them: the thread is filled up with old cemented drywall dust. If I reuse them I would either have to remove that dust or take the risk to have the screw entering the drywall sheet with the first half of the thread clean an then next one comes after and it levels the thread created by the first half (from practical and empirical observation the dust sticks mostly on the second half) So I say no unless you have time to put them in water and hopefully the dust will be softened and it will come off by itself. All this for 13CAD ? (300-400 screws coarse thread)? No way I am going to wait and waste that much time. Maybe I will reuse them in other type of projects but not with this one
