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ms-wordms-office

ghost document appearing on my desktop after opening a Microsoft Office Word

After opening a microsoft word document I saw this appear on my screen. After trying to open it I got a messege saying it cannot be opened because there is a problem with the contents/ the file is corrupted.

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I don't it's some kind of virus, I'm just intrested in knowing why this happens. (also the full name is: ~$w Microsoft Office Word Document (3).docx and the name of the file I opened is: Microsoft Office Word Document (3).docx so what is the ~$w for?)

Solution

  • It is a temporary file created by Word itself. Word merges them with your original file on close. Read up on it f.e. here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/211632/description-of-how-word-creates-temporary-files

    A simplified view of the scheme used to save an edited file

    Create temp file Create ~wrdxxxx.tmp Write temp file Save example data to ~wrdxxxx.tmp Delete original file Delete EXAMPLE.DOC Move temp to target name Move ~wrdxxxx.tmp to Example.doc