WTF ~WRL

June 10, 2009 6:55 PM

Computer Filter: What does ~WRL2334.tmp mean? And why do I have a million of these "files" (with different numbers after the WRL part) in my folders?
posted by cachondeo45 to computers & internet (6 comments total)

I think they're Word temp files.
posted by blenderfish at 7:03 PM on June 10

They're temporary clipboard files created by Microsoft Word. They should only get left behind if Word crashes or otherwise does not shut down properly.
posted by musicinmybrain at 7:03 PM on June 10

And you can delete them all.
posted by jessamyn at 7:32 PM on June 10

you can select them all and hit delete. if they're being used, click OK on the error message and use ctrl-click to deselect the top file. Then hit delete again. Rinse and repeat for every in-use file (which there shouldn't be any if Word isn't open).
posted by rhizome at 7:48 PM on June 10

Word is incredibly annoying about this, especially because the files are not small. You can find and delete them by searching for files called *.tmp.

@rhizome: Unlocker is made for this problem.
posted by katrielalex at 8:29 AM on June 11

Thanks to all. So annoying! I'm about to go on a deleting spree. Thanks again!
posted by cachondeo45 at 6:27 PM on June 11