Office ~$ Files

microsoft-office

If you look in a folder where you open a Office document, .xls, .doc., .pst, whatever…. it also creates a file with the same name (or close to it) preceeded with a ~$. Getting a good definition of what these file are has been tough. Try Googling it and you will see. Some call them "Lock" files. Some call them "Temporary" files.

I can tell you what they aren't…. they aren't the AutoBackup/Recovery files used to recover the documents in case the program crashes. You can tell Excel where to keep those and by default they are kept in C:\Users\Users\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel (or word or whatever).

So what are the ~$ files created in the same directory when you open a Office document?

Best Answer

These files exist so that Office can report the user currently holding the file open.

Suppose you have a document on a network share and you want to edit it. Word tries to open the file, but that operation fails because the file is in use by someone else. You really need to work with the file, so you want to find the person who's holding it open and ask them to close it. If you had sufficient access to the file server, you could use the Shared Folders snap-in for MMC, but otherwise, you're stuck.

Therefore, Office writes one of these tiny files when opening a document. It records the display name of the current user. When another Office instance tries to open the file but gets an error, the Office program accesses this file and shows you the name of the person responsible for the lock. You can verify this in a hex editor: the first byte is the length of the display name, then the next run of that length holds the actual name. Then there's also some other data, some of which appears to be the display name again (but in UTF-16LE) and the rest of which I can't make out.

From Description of how Word creates temporary files (outdated but still helpful):

Owner File (Same Directory as Source File)

When a previously saved file is opened for editing, for printing, or for review, Word creates a temporary file that has a .doc file name extension. This file name extension begins with a tilde (~) that is followed by a dollar sign ($) that is followed by the remainder of the original file name. This temporary file holds the logon name of person who opens the file. This temporary file is called the "owner file."

When you try to open a file that is available on a network and that is already opened by someone else, this file supplies the user name for the following error message:

This file is already opened by user name. Would you like to make a copy of this file for your use?

Related Solutions

How to disable irritating Office File Validation security alert

Looks like they increased security toward their old file formats in order to avoid vulnerabilities.

Here is some information on why it does this and how to convert the files so you won't get the error message.

Two updated error messages for the Office File Validation feature in Office 2007 SP3 now provide more detailed information and options. You will encounter these messages if you attempt to open files that are stored in Office binary file formats and if the files do not pass scanning and validation checks. Note: Office binary file formats are also known as Microsoft Office 97-2003 file formats.

...you can click the safer options link and then use one of the following options:

View the file in Office 2010 by using Protected View

Use the Microsoft Office Isolated Conversion Environment (MOICE) feature

Open the file inside a virtual machine

Found some possible workarounds at Microsoft Technet which might be helpful. About half way down the page are some options to control how it works.

To prevent Office File Validation from validating files you must create the following registry keys & values, and assign a DWORD value of “0” for the specified application in Office 2003 or Office 2007:

Keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\<version ie 11.0 or 12.0>\<app eg Word or Excel>\Security\FileValidation

Values:

(all) EnableOnLoad DWORD 0  
(Excel) PivotOptions DWORD 0

As an example, to disable file validation for Word 2007 you need to:

add value

EnableOnLoad DWORD 0

to key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Security\FileValidation

Windows – Uninstalling Office 2010 breaks Office 365 (Office 2013)

Response from Microsoft:

" We don't have any article\blog that says that it is not recommended to install Office 2013 along with Office 2010, but this article does states that:

You can install Office 2013 alongside Office 2010 or the 2007 Microsoft Office system on Windows 7-based or Windows 8-based computers. This configuration is supported. However, for the best experience when you start to use Office 2013, we recommend that you uninstall any earlier version of Office.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2810106 "

Basically, there is no reference to the issue of uninstalling Office 2010 on a machine which has both Office 2010 and Office 365 installed. Presumably this also applies to Office 2007, based on the above MS response.

In conclusion, it is advisable to not install Office 365 alongside Office 2010 (or 2007) if you need/would like to remove Office 2010 at a later date - without uninstalling both products and re-installing Office 365 or repairing the broken O365 installation.

Best Answer

Owner File (Same Directory as Source File)

Related Solutions

How to disable irritating Office File Validation security alert

Windows – Uninstalling Office 2010 breaks Office 365 (Office 2013)

Related Question