word documents starting with ~

[jjpb]

Can anyone please tell me what a word document means when its file name begins with the squiggly line ~
E.G. ~ing.doc

[squarebear]

Yes. It means that Word has created a temporary copy of your document in case your computer crashes out. These should be deleted automatically when exiting from word but on occasions are left behind eg computer crash, power off.

[jjpb]

On closer inspection they have a dollar sign as well:
~$ing.doc

[AlBags]

That's a "tilde"
One is created when a doc is open (by Word) and in same folder. (A temp file of sorts)
It is also used by Windows to shorten a know location/path to a file.

[MarkRae]

And, when Word starts up, it should detect the presence of these files and give you the option to recover them...

[AlBags]

If Office apps are all closed, and data is all ok, you can delete them.

[jjpb]

Thanks all, anyone know how to search for them in Vista, when I search for ~ it finds all files

[squarebear]

Try searching for .doc or .docx
That will bring every word doc up then you can sort them by name and delete if necessary.