It sounds like you may be experiencing a common issue with Word where temporary files are created and not properly deleted. The file with the distorted name, such as
~$uncilMinutes.doc, is a temporary file that Word creates when you open a document. It's supposed to be deleted when you close the document, but sometimes it doesn't get deleted properly.
To fix this issue, you can try deleting the temporary files manually. Here are the steps:
- Close all open Word documents.
- Open File Explorer and navigate to the folder where your Word documents are saved.
- In the search bar at the top right of the window, type "~$" (without the quotes) and hit Enter. This will show you all the temporary files in the folder.
- Select all the temporary files (starting with ~$) and delete them.
- Close File Explorer and open Word again. The temporary files should no longer appear in the Open dialog box.
If this doesn't solve the issue, you can try repairing your Word installation. Here are the steps:
- Close all open Word documents.
- Open the Control Panel and go to Programs and Features (or Add/Remove Programs, depending on your version of Windows).
- Find Microsoft Office in the list of installed programs and select it.
- Click the Change button (or Modify, depending on your version of Office).
- Choose the Repair option and follow the prompts to repair your Office installation.
- Once the repair is complete, open Word and see if the issue is resolved.