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What are ~$ files?
These are temporary , lock files created by Office 365 (replaced by Microsoft 365). When In the past when a user opens opened an Office file, their computer creates created an accompanying file that is was named after the original file, but with a “~$” added to the beginning.
If another user tries tried to open that same file at this the same time, their computer will notice would have recognized the lock file and not allow allowed the second user to open the Office file. This is how the lock file gets received its name.
When the first user closes closed the Office file, the lock file will automatically delete deleted itself.
Why am I seeing these files now?
These files are usual usually set to “hidden”“hidden,” which means they are invisible in File Explorer (Windows) and Finder (macOS). However, the automatic deletion event that should remove the file when you close the Office file doesn’t always happen. Therefore, an orphaned file remains. This file is no longer connected to the source file, and it will sit there forever. This usually isn’t an issue due to the extremely small file size of the lock file, and they’re “hidden” which means they are never seen.
However now that users are being migrated to SharePoint, these files are becoming visible. The data migration tool used by ITS moves these lock files as if they were any other file. None of the files migrated into SharePoint will be set to “hidden”“hidden,” and all the previously hidden files are no visible to all users.
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