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Power Query
Power Pivot
September 21, 2023
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I have a dashboard that functions off of 41 Excel files that I've loaded via Power Query using the From Folder option. When recently updating the data, I noticed 43 files listed under Source. When I look at the files, I see two extra files that start with ~$. It's my understanding that these are temp files and that some people add a filter to their Power Query program to exclude any files that start with ~$. Is a filter the best solution? Why is this happing in the first place? It was never an issue before. Is there a way to check the source folder for these files and delete them from there? i don't see them in the source folder and can't seem to find a way to unhide them, if they are there.
Not sure if it matters, but the source folder is on a shared drive, not my computer.
Thank you for your help!
Jennifer
Active Member
Power Query
Power Pivot
September 21, 2023
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Follow-up. I unchecked the folder option, “Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)" and can now see the extra two files in the folder. Why would the operating system create hidden copies of two of my 41 files? Seems very strange.
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November 1, 2018
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They are not copies. They are temporary files created that contain information about who has a file open (they should be pretty small files).
Active Member
Power Query
Power Pivot
September 21, 2023
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It looks like this was not my issue. Power Query automatically included a step after Source when reading in the files that appears to address the possibility of any temp files. This appears in my query as "Filtered Hidden Files1." I was getting extra records because one of my employees accidentally saved a duplicate file in the Data folder (different file name but same set of records). Ah... fun with shared folders.
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