It appears that Sketchup makes many copies of a file while I am working. They usually have a squiggly dash next to them. Is this necessary and can I delete them? I only need one file but have multiple versions. It’s getting confusing which one I am presently using.
The Squiggly dash is a tilde and it is appended to the file name for the backup file. You should only get one backup file for each working file. If you’ve had no problem with the working file, you can delete the backup file.
Like @DaveR said, there should only be one backup copy per file.
If you have multiple tilde’s (~) in one filename, you have opened a backup allready, or, there is something else going on.
Do you have your files on icloud ?
Yes but I think it’s only making one backup. I just keep deleting them and they reappear. I’ll stop deleting them and see what happens.
Go to Window/Preferences/General and untick Create Backup and you will never see those files again, you’ll also not have backup files unless you manually save them.
Personally I turn off create backup and autosave for every version I use, and save manually.
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I keep shaving my beard and it keeps growing back. 
That says SketchUp is doing what you have it set up to do. Like Box, you could set it up to not create backups and live on the edge that you won’t need it. Or be disciplined like he is to save his work frequently. I have never had any problems with SketchUp’s backup creation and autosaving so I let them run. The backup files don’t hurt anything and on more than one occasion I’ve been glad to have the backup file. Every so often when I think about, I will do a wholesale purge of backup copies of SketchUp files to clear a little space on the drive.
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I didn’t realize Sketchup was alive. Like my ■■■■ face and hair. Thanks. I wasn’t clear on the backup thing either. I thought it was weird that it was the only program on the face of the earth that doesn’t do auto backups. So good. I feel a little bit better about it now. Do I have to hit save all the time?
You don’t have to but if you turn off the backup creation, you only have your saved SKP file and it’ll only be current to the last time you hit Save. If your computer or SketchUp crashes at some point, you’ll only lose the work you did since the last time you hit Save. Some folks like to live on the edge. 