What does this mean "~$" in front of a file?

[oldminer1]

Word has suddenly started to save a file I might be working on by
replacing the first two letters in the file with ~$. It also saves the
original file, but it creates and saves this additional file. What is
it, why does it do that, and how can I stop it? Right now, I just
delete the file to the trash can, but it's getting annoying.
Thanks for your input

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

That is the "owner file." It should be deleted when you close the document.
See "Description of how Word creates temporary files" at
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=211632

 

[oldminer1]

Thanks for your reply. I went to the link you suggested and at least
found out what's going on. What's puzzling is why, after years of
using word, this "~$" phenomon suddenly shows up when it never did
before.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Word has suddenly started to save a file I might be working on by
replacing the first two letters in the file with ~$. It also saves the
original file, but it creates and saves this additional file. What is
it, why does it do that, and how can I stop it? Right now, I just
delete the file to the trash can, but it's getting annoying.
Thanks for your input

Those are temporary files that Word uses while you're working on a
document, as explained at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=211632.

If you try to delete a temp file while the document is open, Windows
may tell you that you can't delete it; but if it does let you do it,
you'll trash the document. Leave it alone!

Word is supposed to delete all its temp files when it exits, but it
doesn't always do a good job. And if Word crashes or hangs, it never
gets a chance to clean up. In that case, *only when Word is closed*
(also Outlook, if you use Word as your email editor), you can safely
delete them. See
http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm for the
recommended procedure.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I believe those files are Hidden; have you only recently enabled the display
of Hidden and System files?